A late strike from Will Grocott settled a rollercoaster affair in Valley’s favour on a heavy surface at Leighton’s Lake Street ground.

The midfielder struck the winner with just two minutes of normal time remaining, after Town had twice previously taken the lead – only to be pegged back both times by the Ducks.

The Rugby team showed two changes from their previous match, with Sam Youngs returning to the midfield and Seb Lake-Gaskin also back in the starting line-up after an absence through injury.

Unfortunately Lake-Gaskin was soon withdrawn after suffering a recurrence to this, and in the nine minutes he was on the pitch, it was the home side that had created the early chances – with both Stacey Field and Shaun Owens putting in weak efforts.

Town’s first real threatening moment of the game came when Grocott lifted his shot over the target from Sam Youngs’ lay-off on eighteen minutes.

Shortly after, David Kolodynski clipped the bar from twenty yards out, and then Youngs also shot inches wide, as Rugby began to increase the pressure on the home defence. This pressure told in the 29th minute when Justin Marsden slotted his shot past home keeper Jack Sillitoe - after a neat pass from the left by Lewis Rankin.

In the lead up to the interval, Valley were clearly in the ascendancy - with both Kolodynski and Youngs having decent chances to increase the lead. Rankin put one wide after the restart, but Aylesbury got back in to the game in the 58th minute when Field bundled home John Mulholland’s flick-on to a hoisted Owens’ free-kick.

The equaliser fired up the hosts, and Steve Hatch's header went agonisingly wide, although Rugby also continued to create chances and they regained the lead when Rankin scored his first goal for the club by finishing off a whipped-in Kolodynski cross from close range.

United were soon level again though, with Alex Gudger appearing to get the last touch to another Mulholland flick-on – this time to a long United throw into the box.

However there was still time for late drama, when Grocott’s cracking shot from the edge of the area took a slight deflection as it sailed past Sillitoe, after the Ducks’ keeper had initially done well to beat away an equally well-struck effort by Rankin.

Valley Line-up: Morris; Austin, Kelly, Rowley, Gudger; Blythe, Grocott, Youngs, Marsden (Banks); Lake-Gaskin (Rankin), Kolodynski (Bishop). Subs not used: None. Booked: None.

Aylesbury Utd line-up: Sillitoe, S Wood, Bewley, J Wood, Mulholland, Coulter, Hatch, Owens, Joao, Field, Edgeworth. Subs: Morgan, Blackett, Acheampong, Freshwater, Waites.