Wendover 5 Aylesbury Town 4

OK its cliche time! A game of two halves. Its at this moment i feel like Tony Blair - knowing that in this report there is no need for sound bites although like him i do feel the hand of history on our shoulders!!!

The team talk in the dressing room was clean crisp and to the point, with the occasional interruption from a keen Kristian determined to hand out his sweets whilst his Dad delivered the talk to what looked like a quiet, uninterested, sleepy squad.

Had the 1 hour lack of sleep due to the clocks changing affected our players?

First half started well and within a few minutes its was 1-0 with Ben W (Man of the Match) shooting a looping shot from distance. The 2nd goal came from Ben S and almost immediately after Ben W was on the score sheet again. It could have been so different if Ben W had actually listened to Nick to drop deeper but Ben being Ben didnt listen and luckily the ball landed at his feet for him to neatly finish. At 3-0 it seemed as though Wendover could go on and score many more, but a mix up of huge proportions lead to Ayelsbury watching a shot dribble past 2 defenders and a keeper to pull the game back to 3-1.

Whilst the half continued the opportunites were coming and we needed to get on the end of some superb through balls by Dan to finish this game!

On 18 minutes Adam and Georgi were on for Alex and Rory. Josh had a great chance to score after a run which saw him skip by 3 Aylesbury defenders to see his shot finally saved by the keeper.

Jack was looking as strong as ever with many a kick out of his hands clearing the half way line. Ben W headed the ball backwards for Ben S to follow up on but only to see his shot just fly wide of the goal - so unlucky! Goal 4 came soon after with Ben S passing the ball inch perfect through the middle of the Aylesbury defence like a hot knife through butter, Josh finished sweetly. Aylesbury were not offering much and it was felt that another AFC scoreline could be on the cards when Ben W completed his hat-trick with the goal of the game. A huge clearance by Jack saw the ball bounce twice for Ben W to volley into the right side of the net. 5-1.

Second Half - WHAT A CONTRAST

After being in control - all seemed to go pear shaped. Aylesbury scored 2 very quick goals after the restart both with through balls through the middle of defence cutting us apart and making it 5-3 with 25 minutes still on the clock!!! Aylesbury took control, Wendover looked out of shape and the midfield had all but vanished. This was also made worse when a one on one with Jack ended up in a studs up challenge leaving Jack injured on the ground and it could have been so much worse than thankfully it was! The Aylesbury player was quick to apologise and the ref (who had a great game) had a quiet word and that was that.

Wendover did have their chances whith Ben W putting a great ball through to Josh who hit it just wide - i think he had more time but after such a great performance it's harsh to criticise. Brandon worked exceptionally hard in the game with some solid defensive work and ensuring that his position was solid. Adam had a speculative shot which went wide and then went in for a challenge on the Aylesbury player that had previously hurt Jack this time leaving the opposition on the floor in pain! At 5-3 all were starting to get worried about the potential outcome which was going to be in Aylesburys favour as our performance in the second half didnt warrant a result. One break forward lead to a goal making it 6-3, a fantastic cross from Georgi on the left to see Ben S delicately finish, the shock came when the linesman raised his flag for offside, which according to the mums near the linesman it was a very dodgy decision!!! It remains 5-3 and the panic is starting!!! Aylesbury scored again to make it 5-4 but this proved just too late with the final whistle going almost immediately after the goal was scored.

Some learnings from this game. We need to play better if we want to stay in the division and Nicks point of it being 3-0 in the second half to Aylesbury was a strong one - we must learn and play better. Nevertheless it was 3 points and some great performances - WELL DONE BOYS!