AVDFC 1-4 Leverstock Green

Team: Dan McAteer; Dan Wilson, Luke Nugent, Paolo Bagatti, Terry Griffiths; Tom McElroy, Alfi Touceda, Ollie Lemon, Will Foley, Callum Shortt; Jake Baldwin

Subs: Archie Clarke, Charlie Ogle, Chris Shennan, Dan Ball, Marcus Rivers

After the disappointment of the FA Cup loss, Chris Juraszek took control with Phil Granville away. Jake Baldwin was back in the squad and Will Foley was in the starting eleven too, making his debut. An early free kick given away by Dan Wilson saw the Leverstock free kick snatched by Dan McAteer, making his 40th start in a Dynamos shirt. Alfi Touceda then won the ball in the middle and set up Callum Shortt but his shot was straight at the keeper.

Thirteen minutes in and Will Foley beat a couple of players with great skill but ballooned his shot high over the bar. TheDynamos had started well and Foley and the returning Jake Baldwin both had half chances to break the deadlock. Leverstock though were battling well and had a couple of chances themselves, one going over the bar and Paolo Bagatti getting an important block on another attack. In a somewhat scrappy match, with both sides not playing any fluid football, was summed up with a comedy moment. Luke Nugent took a free kick, tapping it to Dan McAteer, but he picked the ball up to “set up” the free kick. The referee penalised Macca giving Leverstock an indirect freekick which was cleared by Terry Griffiths. A couple of minutes before half time, Leverstock broke through the Dynamos defence and their player tapped the ball past the helpless Dan McAteer.

Half Time: AVDFC 0-1 Leverstock Green

The second half started with both teams again looking poor in possession however Leverstock were gaining more control and on 54 minutes this proved fruitful. Another attack down the Dynamos left side saw Leverstock hit a low cross which was easily converted making it 0-2. Aylesbury made a couple of changes to try and improve bringing on Archie Clarke in the middle for Tom McElroy and then a few minutes later Charlie Ogle was introduced, replacing Ollie Lemon. On seventy three minutes it was Leverstock again showing the way, another low cross from their right winger was again sidefooted past Dan McAteer to make the game out of reach for Dynamos. 0-3. With fifteen minutes to play 75 minutes a rash tackle from the clearly frustrated Captain, Terry Griffiths, resulted in a Yellow card for the defender. A minute later and Jake Baldwin was taken off and replaced with Chris Shennan. There was a brief moment of hope as Chris Shennan battled well and hit a cross finding Callum Shortt who controlled and hit his shot past the keeper. 1-3.

Could The Dynamos make a classic comeback again??? Simple answer was not a chance…two minutes and Leverstock were back in control and worked the ball wide, hitting a decent cross which they put away making it 1-4. Only a long range effort from Alfi Touceda was left as the home side heads dropped even lower and the final whistle went.

It is early days in the campaign but clearly the squad is taking time to gel. We go again on Saturday at home to Crawley Green.