Slough Slump To Defeat

A goodly number of persons attended on the Dolphin ground on Saturday to witness the fixture between these elevens in the Allied county senior competition. Earlier in the season Slough be the United by four to one, but the south of the county team have, in the opinion of many persons, deteriorated very much the last few weeks.

New blood seems to be wanted, and several changes are necessary. The absence of Fisher back keenly felt and on Saturday the side was still further weakened by the absence of Summersby and Padwick, the latter still suffering from the injuries to his knee sustained in the Maidenhead Norfolkian match.

It was a poor game and Slough never seem to get together. At the outset the visitors appeared rather the stronger, and once or twice they were dangerous. Slough then got away, no material advantage ensued.

Young was very weak, and kicked poorly. A foul on Smith by one of the Aylesbury men improved matters for the locals, and a good chance was offered for a goal, but Wright sent over the bar.

For some minutes the home side had the better of the argument. The ball was continually hovering in the Aylesbury 25, and several good openings were afforded, but the Slough forwards were too slow to take advantage of them.

Half an hour from the start the letter was rushed into the home territory and the foul was given the United men. Simms took the freekick and placing the ball, nicely dropped in front of goal and went off Young's head into the net. Werrell tried to save and handle the ball but could not save, although many on the ground thought Georgie should have been able to satisfactorily deal with it.

A few minutes afterwards another foul was given against Slough for not throwing incorrectly, and Adam sent in a swift hard shot which completely beats the Slough custodian and a second goal was scored.

Soon afterwards young, by a poor piece of play in front of goal, nearly that the visitors in for a third time, but Werrell managed to save at the expense of a corner. This advantage was not improved upon and half-time arrived with the score: Aylesbury United two goals. Slough nil.

After restarting, Slough went off with a rush. Wright to put in a smart piece of work, and running up the field centred to Smith, who transferred to Cox. The last named dropped a nice shot in and nearly scored.

A foul for impeding the goalkeeper relieved the United, and play was carried to the Slough end. Hearn sent in a good shot, but he was not rewarded with success.

The same player shortly afterwards got through the home defence again, and sent in a flying shot which skimmed the bar. The ball was worked at the field, and Wright, running through, passed across to Denton, who scored. When the ball was in the net the referee blew his whistle, and gave a penalty kick for a foul on one of the Slough team. A perfect hullabaloo ensued, and the home supporters were naturally indignant that they should be robbed of a goal in this manner. Smith took the penalty kick, send the ball a bit wide, and it went out.

Thus the hopes of Slough were dashed to the ground. The sympathy of the crowd was all with the home team and they were requested to buck up. A corner fell to Slough but it was rushed away, and a good piece of work by Aylesbury because Werrell to kick out twice in quick succession.

Again a corner fell to the cupholders. H. T. Smith took the kick and placed it beautifully in goal and Bennett in attempting to clear, fisted it into his own goal.

This success seemed to put new life into the home team and for the last 10 minutes they played up determinedly. Young made a splendid shot, fast, low and straight as a die, but it was kept out. The score was further increased and in an interesting game ended in a victory for the Aylesbury United scores being Aylesbury United two goals, Slough one goal.

Little criticism is needed. It was unquestionably the most unsatisfactory game which has been played on the Dolphin ground this season. On the day's play the United were the better team, and if Slough is to figure in this year's final of the cup there will need to be some radical alteration in the team.

However, the result of Saturdays exposition should have been a draw. A feature of the game was the number of fouls given, and generally the weak refereeing. We understand that the Slough committee will probably protest against the decision of the referee in giving a penalty after a goal had been scored. They would seem to have good grounds for their complaint, the rule reading: "the referee may refrain from putting the provisions of the law (the penalty law) into effect in cases where he is satisfied that by enforcing them he would be giving an advantage to the offending side."

That the referee did give a distinct advantage to the offenders is blatant. Slough scored a fair goal, and yet the referee used his power and gave a penalty kick. In other words he deprived him of a certain goal and gave them a chance by no means a certainty to score a goal. There was a demonstration at the conclusion, and had it not been for the club officials, regrettable incidents might have happened.