Horsham
3
Cocozza (7), Browning (2-1), Carter (75)
Slough Town
2
Wise (14, 2-2)
League
Terry Wise
A heavy, cutting wind, a light ball and a hard surface spoilt what promised to be a game of cut and thrust between two skilful sides at Queen Street. The result was that too many passes went astray, the ball was too often in the air when it should have been on the ground, and at least a score of chances were missed.
Both sides had sound defences, powerful wing-halves and hard-striking centre-forwards and, in the first half when they faced the wind and the slope, Horsham were quicker to the ball and made the most of their chances while Slough frittered several away with hasty shooting.
The game was only seven minutes old when Jimmy Carter put Billy Bell away on the right and the half-back’s long centre was beautifully deflected wide of the goalkeeper by Don Cocozza’s head. Seven minutes later Slough were on terms when inside-right Wise hit a first-time shot past the surprised Dave Stripp. It could well have been 5-3 to Slough at the interval, for Stripp made two good saves from inside-left Woodford before Wise and Gogan missed a couple of perfect opportunities. Then John Boniface hit the bar for Horsham, and Mick Browning just failed to hook the ball past the goalkeeper.
With the wind and the slope behind them in the second half it seemed Horsham could not fail to win by several goals, especially when Browning took control of a Carter lob, beat two men and flashed a great shot past the goalkeeper. Even when Wise broke away through the middle and took up a perfect position to receive the return centre from left-winger Fear to equalise, it did not seem to matter.
But as time went on, the Slough goal bore a charmed life, and Horsham seemed to be able to do anything but score. Two Stillwell shots were well taken by goalkeeper Redford, a Boniface drive was blocked and Carter’s header was just wide. Then, after half an hour of the second half, came the winner when Carter raced through to force home a Stillwell shot the keeper had only been able to parry.
Both sides had sound defences, powerful wing-halves and hard-striking centre-forwards and, in the first half when they faced the wind and the slope, Horsham were quicker to the ball and made the most of their chances while Slough frittered several away with hasty shooting.
The game was only seven minutes old when Jimmy Carter put Billy Bell away on the right and the half-back’s long centre was beautifully deflected wide of the goalkeeper by Don Cocozza’s head. Seven minutes later Slough were on terms when inside-right Wise hit a first-time shot past the surprised Dave Stripp. It could well have been 5-3 to Slough at the interval, for Stripp made two good saves from inside-left Woodford before Wise and Gogan missed a couple of perfect opportunities. Then John Boniface hit the bar for Horsham, and Mick Browning just failed to hook the ball past the goalkeeper.
With the wind and the slope behind them in the second half it seemed Horsham could not fail to win by several goals, especially when Browning took control of a Carter lob, beat two men and flashed a great shot past the goalkeeper. Even when Wise broke away through the middle and took up a perfect position to receive the return centre from left-winger Fear to equalise, it did not seem to matter.
But as time went on, the Slough goal bore a charmed life, and Horsham seemed to be able to do anything but score. Two Stillwell shots were well taken by goalkeeper Redford, a Boniface drive was blocked and Carter’s header was just wide. Then, after half an hour of the second half, came the winner when Carter raced through to force home a Stillwell shot the keeper had only been able to parry.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Geoff Redford
- 2 Ralph Miller
- 3 John Ford
- 4 Roy Nairn
- 5 Alec Nairn
- 6 Brian Percy
- 7 Ronnie Bloom
- 8 Terry Wise
- 9 Bernie Gogan
- 10 Micky Woodford
- 11 Peter Fear
Substitutes
Horsham Lineup
David Stripp, Ron Hartley, Geoff Crowther, Billy Bell, Glyn Jones, Roy Mobsby, Denis Stillwell, Jimmy Carter, Don Cocozza, Mick Browning, John Boniface.