Men’s 2s welcomed Oxford 3s to RAF Halton on Match day 6 of the 2022- 23 season. Aylesbury were without regulars Clive Chandler and Tom Richards from last week’s squad but welcomed Ed Atkins and Ross Dickie who missed last week’s game and there was a first appearance of the season for Jake Hodgins. Oxford were second bottom of the league but had a tough run of fixtures at the start of the season. Aylesbury were coming off the back for a 5-3 loss to Leighton Buzzard last week, Oxford picked up a 2-2 draw away at Oxford Hawks.

The game started at a fast pace and Aylesbury could have had the opening goal within the first minute. Young forward Matty Cobb picked up the ball at the top of the circle and quick turn and shot cannoned into the inside of the near post and across the line but stayed out to keep the score level. After this quick start, the game became very sloppy and the first half was littered with misplaced passes and running into flat sticks which saw few chances for either side to score. Oxford had a couple of short corners but the first of these the drag out was well off target and went off the sideline. The second was more successful but Dave Skinner in the Aylesbury goal made a good double save. The last chance of the half fell to Jake Hodgins who skipped past the Oxford defender but the tame effort couldn’t get past the Oxford goalkeeper.

Half time came with the score at 0-0. Aylesbury pressed the reset button at half time and knew they would have to up their game in the second half if they were to come away with all three points in the game as the first half was a poor display by the home side. Aylesbury did come out from the half time break looking more confident on the ball and passing around the pitch well. However it was Oxford who had the first chance of the second half when the ball was given away on the half way line and the oxford forward broke the final line and into the circle, however good scramble defence by the home side forced the forward into a mistake and the ball went out of play for a 16.

Both sides knew this was not going to be a high scoring game and the first goal could prove critical. Oxford were pushing hard but it was Aylesbury who claimed it. Chris Hunter who was filling in at sweeper picked up the ball half way between the half way line and the Oxford 25. Hunter fired the ball into the D through a tight gap in the Oxford defence. Captain Stephen Best stepped away from his marker to meet the pass by Hunter and deflected the ball past the helpless Oxford keeper to give Aylesbury the lead. Goals turned out to be like London buses as Aylesbury doubled their lead soon after. Chris Hunter turned from provider to scorer as good skill at the top of the circle from a free hit saw Hunter beat his marker and fire a shot from top D through a crowd of players and passed the keeper. Best had a chance to add a third but the shot had no power behind it and the Oxford keeper cleared easily.

Oxford pushed forward in the last 10 minutes of the game knowing they needed to pile more men forward to get back into the game. And with 7 minutes to go, Oxford found a way through. The Oxford skipper made his pay into the d and fired a reverse strike low into the Aylesbury goal to make the final minutes of the game nervy. Aylesbury did hold on and claimed their 3rd win of the season. Aylesbury know that they will need to up their game from this week’s performance if they are to continue picking up points. Next week Aylesbury travel to Oxford Hawks where they will hope to make it back to back wins.