Aylesbury's first league win '˜not far away' after Bicester defeat

It was the first time Aylesbury took to the pitch at Ostler’s Field this season but they couldn’t make it a winning start at home with the defeat leaving them second bottom in Southern Counties North.

Smith said afterwards: “It was another very close encounter for us against Bicester at the weekend.

“This was our first home match of the season and seeing all the massive improvements to the environment at the club is exciting and bodes well for the long-term future.

“However, on the field we are still in the building process and striving for the first league win. Again we had the upper hand in terms of territory and possession, but turning this advantage into points is the challenge.

“At half-time we turned around seven points down despite Bicester only having one visit into our 22.

“In the second-half we significantly upped the tempo and intensity. With the score 10 all with just 10 mins remaining Bicester found the decisive score and left us reflecting on several missed chances.

“Most encouraging was that in the second-half we found that aggressive, competitive edge which has been missing. With greater accuracy and that performance edge we can be confident that first league win is not far away.”

With the club house packed full of guests attending the chairman’s lunch, Ay’s were not short of supporters for this encounter and the home side were fired up for the visit of Bicester as they attempted to overcome their stuttering start.

Smith took charge in the absence of head coach Jon Lambden and from the get-go Aylesbury were quick in the Bicester half and applied early pressure, however it was the visitors who scored the only points of the first period through a converted try.

But the Ducks came out strongly after the restart and within minutes they were back on level terms when a powerful drive from the pack saw Cory Neighbour touch down at the base of the scrum, with Dave Stow slotting the tricky touchline conversion.

An excellent long-range kick put Bicester back in front but Stow replied in kind as a penalty of his own brought the scores level at 10-10 to set up a tense final few minutes.

And it was Bicester who prevailed, the visitors notching the decisive score 10 minutes from time when breaking through the home defence and going over for a converted try.

The final score of 17-10 at least afforded a losing bonus point for Aylesbury but that was scant reward for a team who have been used to battling at the top of the league in recent years. Aylesbury visit Bletchley this weekend.