Rebels made to work for place in semis

Slough Town

Slough Town

3
Brown (51), Stanley (53), Dodd (84)
Hungerford Town

Hungerford Town

1
Baddock (75)
B&B Senior Cup Attendance: 176 Unknown
Slough moved into the last four of the Berks and Bucks Cup on Tuesday evening, but did not have everything their own way against a spirited Hungerford. The goals took their time in coming, but once the Royals had taken the initiative they let it drift. As a result, they suffered a few anxious moments before Gary Dodd finally put the result beyond doubt in the 84th minute.

This was always going to be a tricky tie for the Rebels, whose morale must have reached a new low after Saturday's dismal showing. Fortunately, manager Alan Davies managed to gee his side up sufficiently to avoid what would have been a humiliating defeat. Despite the improvement upon Saturday's game, Davies was not entirehey happy.

"For 30 minutes in tricky conditions we played good football at times and created chances. However, the longer it went on, the more it looked like becoming one of those nights," he said. Playing into the bitter wind, Slough started strongly and almost grabbed the lead after just two minutes. Former Slough keeper Peter Rackley could only parry a Neal Stanley shot, but centre-back Dean Bailey was on hand to block and clear from the goalline as Jimmy Jacobs tried to force the ball home.

Bailey came to the rescue again in the 11th minute when he made another goalline clearance, this time from Stanley's header. The visitors' first opening came after 26 minutes and Slough were almost caught napping. The powerful Steve Baddock burst through on the right side of the area and centred to an unmarked David Wood. Fortunately for the Rebels, new signing Trevor How recovered enough ground to intercept and knock the ball behind for a corner.

This appeared to give Hungerford just the lift they required and they were soon causing a few more problems. Keith White, celebrating his 400th competitive game for the Rebels, made a crucial block on the line in the 29th minute to see his side through to half-time with the scoresheet still blank.

Slough finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when a towering ball from Jacobs was dropped by Rackley, leaving Brown to follow up and bundle the bouncing ball into the back of the net. Then, just two minutes later, Stanley supplied their second when he rode a strong challenge from Bailey before striding clear to slot the ball past the helpless Rackley.

The visitors got the ball in the back of the Slough net in the 63rd minute, but substitute Nigel Packer had headed home from an offside position. However, Baddock was not to be denied in the 75th minute when a terrible mis-kick from Tony Knight left him with only keeper Trevor Bunting to beat. Baddock complied in style, placing his shot past the keeper and into the far corner from 15 yards out.

Hungerford attacked strongly in search of an equaliser and the Rebels had a fright or two before Dodd's persistance brought the killer goal. The midfielder saw his first shot blocked, but followed up to force it across the line from close range.

Hungerford Town Lineup

Rackley, Wollen, Dubber, Goodwin, Bailey, Baker, Wood, Cowan, Baddock, Bale, Hughes. Subs: Packer (for Cowan 57mins.), Dodds (not used).

Rebels

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