Report by Jools Thomas

FC continued to cast a spell over Aylesbury United thanks to a 1st half goal from Brian Haule, the archetypal man for the big occasion. It was a match of few chances and in a way not too dissimilar to the stalemate El Quackico played out towards the end of last season. Two glaring mistakes, one from each side, could have affected the scoreline but in the end a single goal was all that was required to send the Moles to the top of the league.

Ryan O’Toole’s 1st minute cross caused home keeper Alex Tokarczyk to pluck the ball from the air and that was as good as the opening exchanges got as both teams failed to find any sort of rhythm. On the quarter of an hour mark, James Dobson put in a cross which the Ducks’ Steve Hatch headed only just past his own post. From the corner, Jeanmal Prosper just headed over the bar.

A few moments later, Taylor Collins played in Billy Adcock with the winger hitting the ball from distance and seeing it flash wide of the FC post. Collins then delivered a decent cross but full back Shane Wood just couldn’t connect. Eoin Casey was the next man in green to have a go and his sparkling drive was blocked by the alert Jeanmal Prosper.

The Ducks were made to pay for these missed chances as FC took the lead with their next attack. A series of swift passes by Jamie Rudd and Ryan O’Toole on the right hand side ultimately led to the ball being crossed to Brian Haule and the big target man, a consistent scorer in these derby games, guided the ball home past a sprawling Tokarczyk.

A Dobson free kick on the stroke of half time was thumped against the bar by Prosper as FC finished the half in the ascendancy.

Jamie Rudd could have profited from a delightful James Dobson cross early in the second half, had he been more alert and Rudd then attempted to play in Brian Haule but the chance went begging. All of the Moles’ good work could have been undone on 48 minutes when Prosper gave away a penalty for a handball. Steve Hatch, on an afternoon he would rather forget, blasted the ball well wide with FC keeper James Weatherill diving the other way.

A Greg Williams challenge on Weatherill could have turned affairs nasty but the experienced Williams earned a card for his trouble with young FC defender Kyle Anthony also earning a card for a bit of afters.

The FC midfield partnership consisted of the old master Davis Haule with his young apprentice Rob Tomlin. Tomlin was a constant thorn in the Ducks’ attack, breaking up opposition play and starting FC attacks instead. This restricted the home team to shots from distance for example Casey’s hopeful shot on the FC goal on 57 minutes. Jeanmal Prosper was desperately unlucky not to increase FC’s lead a minute later with the best chance of the half for either side. Cutting in, he let out a rasping shot which beat Tokarczyk before slamming against a post and out again.

Casey made Weatherill earn his money with a well struck shot on 68 minutes for one of United’s better second half chances and as the clock ticked down ex-Mole Alex Collard headed just over from a right handed throw in. A last minute corner saw FC hit the Ducks on the counterattack with the Ducks keeper stranded. All Ryan O’Toole had to do was keeping composure and sidefoot the ball home. On this occasion he fluffed his lines in a moment of uncertainty as he miscued the shot allowing the home defence time to recover.