Another home defeat for Leverstock Green, but they were unlucky to come away from this one with nothing. It was probably their best performance of the season so far against the team second in the league, and Leverstock looked the better side in a game of few chances, but the difference in the end was that Aylesbury took their chance and the Green did not.

There were some very familiar faces in the Ducks line-up, including former skipper Lee Bircham, Steve Hatch and Ben Butler. The Leverstock side featured a new signing at the back - Sam Lyon - who has joined from Colney Heath.

The opening exchanges were very cagey, with a scuffed effort from Brad Wadkins in the 4th minute being the only effort on goal. On 15 minutes Tobi Akin broke forward and found Wadkins, who put Adam Hallissey through, but the linesman's flag was up before Hallissey shot over the bar. Two minutes later Adiel Mannion played the ball down the line to Akin, who took on Bircham in the box, but his effort was blocked by Hatch.

Aylesbury won the first corner of the game on 19 minutes, from which Hatch headed over, and Zac Reynolds shot over the bar from a free kick on 24 minutes. A minute later another Aylesbury free kick was blocked and fell into the path of Hatch six yards out, but Mark Shadbolt got in a block which brought shouts for handball from the visiting contingent, but nothing from the referee.

One of the game's key moments came on 34 minutes. Akin took advantage of Hatch dithering on the ball outside the box to snatch possession and go clean through. Akin slotted the ball past keeper Jack Sillitoe, but it agonisingly hit the outside of the post and deflected wide. Two minutes later there was another chance for Akin as he combined with Curt Dizon to win the ball on the edge of the box before darting through the defence, but shot over the bar.

Leverstock had been getting on top in a good period, but they were to rue those missed chances as Aylesbury took the lead against the run of play on 37 minutes. Stacey Field crossed from the left, and Paul Edgeworth came in to head home from close range.

The Green were unfortunate to be trailing at half time having played well, and that continued in the second half as they had most of the possession. Wadkins hit a good volley on 57 minutes which Sillitoe gathered comfortably, but in the end that was as much as the Aylesbury keeper was tested during the match. Alfee Robbins made a great run down the left on 64 minutes before pulling the ball back for Akin, but his effort was blocked by a defender.

A fourth former Green player came onto the pitch on 69 minutes as Louis Austin replaced Edgeworth, but two minutes later Aylesbury were reduced to ten men as John Mulholland received his second yellow card inside ten minutes for a late challenge and was shown the red card.

A shot from Mannion slipped just past the post on 72 minutes, but the experienced Aylesbury defence continued to dig in and deny the Green forward line clear opportunities. The pace of Austin caused problems on the break, and three minutes from time Austin might have got away but for a challenge from Lyon which might have had further consequences had Austin not been honest and stayed on his feet.

As the game went into injury time Leverstock continued to press, and Akin eventually wriggled his way into the box to get in a shot at goal, but again it went agonisingly just wide as the last chance to save the game went away. The Green side certainly deserved to get something from the game, but it was not to be as they were blanked for the first time this season.

Green manager Steve Benitez felt that it was his side's best performance of the season so far, in terms of a complete team performance. He felt that they had ironed out a lot of the mistakes from previous games and played the kind of flowing football that they had worked on in training. Although the result didn't go their way, Benitez wants his young side to see the performance as an encouragement and to build on it.

A win would certainly boost confidence at the moment, and Leverstock will hope to get that on Tuesday night when Division Two side Old Bradwell United are the visitors in a Challenge Trophy first round tie.