Late goal rescues point for Aylesbury United

Dom Petrucci’s late strike salvaged a 3-3 draw for old rivals Aylesbury United, who fought back from 3-1 down at Bell Close.

With top scorer Eddie Smith unavailable for three matches, Slough were boosted by the return of Danny Burnell on a short-term basis, and he was in the thick of the action in the opening thirty seconds, winning a corner after a shot was deflected wide.

Just a couple of minutes later, Alex Tokarczyk made a fine save to tip away a header from Scott Harris after Dave Woozley had flicked on a long throw. Slough were the dominant force in the opening twenty minutes, but several corner kicks and long throws were either wasted or cleared well by the Ducks.

Slough’s clearest sight of goal in this time came when Ryan Lake curled in a cross, which Burnell killed with his first touch, however his second was too heavy and Tokarczyk was able to gather the ball.

An even clearer chance was spurned when Ben Edwards side footed over the bar from inside the six yard box following another long throw.

Slough should certainly have been in the lead before Aylesbury started to gain a foothold in the match, and instead the Rebels were punished as Jack Wood scored for the hosts in the 28th minute.

Richard Armstrong was upended 25 yards out, resulting in a yellow card for Guy Hollis and a free kick which Keith Williams curled towards the far bottom corner. Jake Somerville parried the shot, but only back into the middle where Wood pounced to turn the ball into the net.

Almost immediately, Aylesbury could have doubled their lead as Somerville came rushing out of his penalty area to head away a long ball forward, and Slough were lucky to escape with only a corner kick conceded.

Slough seemed to have lost their way since conceding, but responded well towards the end of the half and Tokarczyk made another good save to keep out a free header from Scott Harris. Then from a Darren Wheeler free kick, Woozley crashed a header against the crossbar, with the skipper unable to nod in the rebound. The ball was cleared, but only to Scott Harris, and again Tokarczyk saved superbly from close range.

There was a flashpoint towards the end of the first half, as a heavy challenge from striker Jason Blackett led to James McClurg needing treatment, though he was fine to continue.

Slough began the second half on top, winning a number of corner kicks, but most were wasted, with the ball not beating the first man. However, Aylesbury came close to doubling their lead when former Slough man Paul Edgeworth crossed low for striker Jason Blackett who casually stroked a shot towards goal, but the ball rebounded off the post with Somerville well beaten.

In the 62nd minute, the Rebels scored the first of three goals in a seven minute spell, to turn the game completely on its head. First, Darren Wheeler scored a deserved equaliser. Having been frustrated on a few occasions previously by the uneven playing surface, this time he was able to drive directly towards goal and fire in a low shot which beat Tokarczyk.

With Slough now well on top, Tokarczyk claimed a cross as Scott Harris looked certain to head in, but Slough took the lead just a minute later as Warren Harris found the bottom corner from the edge of the box, after Ryan Lake had pulled the ball back across goal.

Danny Burnell went close when he span and shot having been fed by Warren Harris, but Slough did score a third when a Darren Wheeler corner was met as the back post by the unmarked Ryan Lake, who played the ball back across goal for Scott Harris to turn the ball into the goal.

Slough looked completely in control of the game, but Aylesbury were clearly not out of the game, and five minutes later pulled one back to give them fresh hope of rescuing something from the match. Lee Grace fired in a shot from just outside the area which took a big deflection to deceive Somerville.

The play went from end to end, and Burnell should have done a lot better when he was set free by a Scott Harris flick on, but he shot straight at Tokarczyk when feeding Wheeler may have produced a fourth goal. Wheeler dragged a shot wide minutes later as Slough looked to kill the game off.

James McClurg found space to run into, but poked the ball wastefully wide, and then Aylesbury broke away and Joey Acheampong was put through by Blackett’s header, but Woozley recovered superbly to block and deny what looked a certain goal.

Aylesbury then forced a number of corners, the first of which flew all the way across goal, with nobody able to get a touch, and another being clawed away superbly by Somerville as the ball looked to be destined for the top corner.

Ultimately though, Slough were made to pay for sitting deep and inviting pressure from the Ducks, and the equaliser was not entirely unexpected. After Armstrong held up the ball, a rushed clearance led to the ball breaking for Petrucci just outside the box, who struck a fine shot into the bottom corner, giving Somerville little chance – and the comeback was complete.

Still, this topsy-turvy game was not over, and Slough twice came close to scoring a winning goal in stoppage time. Matt Grave emerged from the bench to make his debut and join the attack, and after Tokarczyk saved from Warren Harris, Guy Hollis saw a header deflected wide from a free kick, and the resulting corner led to a scramble, with the ball going wide after Burnell stretched but failed to make contact with the ball.