Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 1 v 0 Wembley

Saturday 17th August 2019
Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division
Haywood Way, Aylesbury
Admission : £6.00
Programme: Full version online, 4 page printed version free with entry
Attendance: 85

Today I decided to tick off another ground in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division as I near its completion, for an interesting looking game where something would have to give, both clubs having made 100% starts to their league campaigns.

Haywood Way is about a 20 minute walk from Aylesbury Vale Parkway train station, and the entrance to the ground is in one corner, to the side of the brick clubhouse building, the interior of which has been recently redecorated with a stylish black and grey colour scheme, with two video screens show rolling advertisements, and a projector screen shows BT Sport games - in today's case, Arsenal against Burnley. The clubhouse is perched quite high above the football pitch, with a small balcony offering an elevated if quite distant view by the corner flag. Below the clubhouse, there are a row of benches more familiar at train station platforms, while straddling the half way line there is a pleasantly dated, rather unique wooden stand supported by scaffolding poles, with 3 rows of seating inside, and a tea bar in the rear wall. There is a stand behind the goal closest to the entrance, covering a flat area to stand on, with just hard standing available around the rest of the pitch. It's quite a charming ground with a very green and rural feel to it, surrounded by countryside. As for the programme, the club has got it absolutely spot on in my opinion. A very decent 28 page edition is downloadable from the club website, containing plenty of interesting reading material and more than enough stats to digest, and it made for ideal reading on the train journey before the game. However, a 4 page printed version is also offered at the turnstile, containing a good welcome message from the manager, upcoming games and the matchday squads for both clubs - all one needs during their time at the ground.

Both clubs have had fantastic starts to their seasons, both winning their two opening league games, and both progressing past the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round after a replay. Aylesbury Vale Dynamos, as Aylesbury FC before their merger with Bedgrove Dynamos in the summer, suffered relegation from the Southern League Division One Central after nine seasons at that level. Although they finished in a relegation spot, second from bottom, they played the second half of last season in the knowledge that they would be relegated no matter where they finished, as the match officials' changing room would be smaller than required by the FA. Wembley finished in twelfth place in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division last season.

On a sunny, fairly warm afternoon, but with a blustery wind, the first half was very even, with only the odd half chance being created, as both teams cancelled each other out to a large degree. The wind, which was behind Aylesbury in the first half, certainly played a factor. On 40 minutes, the home took the lead, when a long range free kick, fully 30 yards out, was powerfully struck hard and low by Bruno Brito, and the ball took a sizeable deflection off defender Juachim Ejinfor to wrong foot his keeper and the ball flew into the net. Right on the stroke of half time, Brito fired in another free kick from outside the outer corner of the penalty area, heading for the top left corner but denied by a very good finger tip flying save by the keeper. Immediately after that, the referee blew the whistle for half time.

Wembley would have the wind behind them in the second half, but they did not really use that to their advantage, instead they found it tricky to judge aerial balls, and so despite enjoying quite a lot of possession, they did not really threaten to get back in the game. On 58 minutes, Brito was in the action again, perfectly send a low ball into the danger area, and a defender just stuck a leg out before the striker to divert the ball only just past his own post. On 62 minutes, a Wembley looping strike from 25 yards only just went over, whilst on 66 minutes, Brito struck a shot that was going well wide but deflected off his team mate Drew Tappin, and the ball went only just the wrong side of the post in the end. On 76 minutes, Wembley had another good chance, a free kick from close to the corner flag was played in and after the keeper couldn't claim it, the ball dropped just beyond the far post. On 85 minutes, Wembley saw a shot smack back off the post from a central position following a good lay-off, whilst a minute later, a Wembley defender failed to cut out a low cross into the box, and a powerful first time shot by Ryan Tamplin was well saved by the keeper. In the final minute, Wembley had one last chance to claim an equaliser when a low cross was just missed by the striker and a defender sliced the ball just over his own bar, as Aylesbury Vale Dynamos claimed the three points to retain their 100% league record.

The programme for this match can be viewed by clicking here