More late drama

Kempston came into their last fixture of the calendar year off the back of two dramatic comeback wins, breaking a much talked about poor run of form. Players and fans have spoken that the atmosphere around the club has changed, even before the victories.

Both sides exchanged early sights at goal, Max Hercules hit a rather tame free kick into the arms of Thomas Wyant in the Rovers goal before moments later Shane Bush tried a speculative long volley, that was gathered in by Davis for Aylesbury. The visitors took the lead just after ten minutes, a ball was played into Hirst with his back to goal. He cleverly turned and got his low shot away and into the far corner to the delight of the visiting fans. The Ducks almost undid their great start to the game as a bad back pass from Tucker was seized upon by Scott Joseph, but his toe poked shot was smothered by Davis who was smartly off his line. Midway through the half Rovers front man Izale McLeod nearly levelled the scores in a bizarre moment. A ball was played in from the right hand side and a short spell of penalty box ping pong saw the ball divert off the cross bar and over, the final touch coming off of McLeod’s knee. Bush, Joseph and Nathan Tshikuna all had half chances for Kempston before the break, but a combination of stout defending and good shot stopping kept the visitors lead into half time.

The first half nearly began in spectacular style for Rovers, Tshikuna spotted Davis off his line and launched an effort goalward from the half way line. Aylesbury hearts were in mouths as the ball dipped toward the net, clipping the bar and going behind. Half time sub Ben Shepherd placed a volley inches wide of the post as Rovers turned the screw toward the hour mark. It took until the sixty sixth minute for the endeavour to pay off, Scott Joseph clipping a delightful through ball over the top toward Izale McLeod, who timed his run to perfection to beat the offside trap. A magnificent first touch allowed him to turn inside his man on the edge of the box and place a left footed curling effort beyond the desperate grasp of Davis to make it one all. With fifteen minutes left, Tshikuna hit the woodwork again. After good play wide on the left, he cut back and whipped a right footed cross in on goal, it took a brilliant hand from Davis to turn it onto the post. As the Ducks broke to the other end, Thomas Wyant produced a magnificent point blank range save to deny Aaron Berry’s header from a driven free kick. In the eighty third minute, Rovers took the lead as McLeod found space enough to turn and play in Shane Bush on the edge of the area. The forward managed to get the ball out of his feet and fire into the top corner from close range. In the dying moments of normal time, the Ducks clawed their way back into the game as sub Tre Mitford bustled his way down the left flank and into the box. His low cross-shot was parried by Wyant, but fellow sub Benji Aghadiuno was on hand to bundle the ball over the line for two two. Deep into stoppage time, Shane Bush headed a free kick over the bar which could have won the game for Rovers, Tre Mitford did the same at the other end for Aylesbury United.

The draw keeps Rovers in sixteenth place in the table, but the increased belief and spirit among the Kempston players has been clear to see. The club ends to calendar year three games unbeaten and look forward to their visit to bottom of the table North Leigh on New Years’ Day.