United halt their downward trend
Aylesbury United in action
THE past 12 months have seen Aylesbury United fall to their lowest level of football in 33 years but realistically, was 2010 as good as they could have hoped for?
United entered 2010 with just five points and were in complete disarray but manager Tony Joyce has managed to steady the ship and give them something to build on.
Wins against Bromsgrove Rovers, Arlesey Town and Sutton Coldfield Town gave the Ducks something to cheer about in the 2009/10 season and then Joyce assembled a team during the summer, which has seen his side finish the year in the top five.
And it is this which pleased the manager the most as he looked back at the highs and lows of 2010.
Joyce said: “The form and promise that we have shown at the beginning of this season is the highlight for me – the new squad has shown we have something to build upon.
“And if you reflect on it our year hasn’t been bad at all. I arrived at the end of 2009 and the club had no points and were going no where.
“I know we only got 18 points but we gave it a go and going into the last four games we had a chance of staying up.”
Only two players still remain from the team which was struggling so badly last year and although many around the club were worried in the summer when so many players moved on, Joyce remained confident he had formed a decent squad.
Questions were asked before the season kicked off when United lost to the likes of Bierton and Winslow United but Joyce stood true to his word and always predicted a strong season from his newly assembled team.
“A lot of people expected us to lose every week,” Joyce said.
“But I really wasn’t worried at all, if you look at it I was without seven of my first team for most of the pre-season.
“It meant I was playing people who perhaps weren’t good enough but I would much sooner find this out in pre-season then when the league got started.”
United went on to lose their first two league matches but soon got into winning ways as they took maximum points from their next three games.
United’s frontmen continued to help the Ducks rack up points and they finish 2010 in a battle for fourth spot.
In fact the only major disappointment of the season so far came when they lost to St Ives Town in the FA Vase, which Joyce described as the worst moment of the year.
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Weather for Aylesbury
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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