Slough Ease Through With First Half Goals

For all the hard work and effort Maidenhead United put into this Isthmian League Subsidiary Cup match at Slough on Monday they had nothing to show at the end.

It was Slough Town all the way and by the end the match had ceased to be of any great interest. Slough were a comfortable two goals ahead by half-time and the second period proved to be rather bore.

This result ended any hopes Maidenhead had of rescuing something from unmemorable season. After a fine win over Staines in the first round the Magpies might have expected to carry on their good work in this second round tie, bur Slough never gave them anything in a disappointing local derby.

Maidenhead made two changes from the side that lost at home to Bromley on Saturday, Phil Powell came in for Pat Hatt and Paul Mounteney for the injured Mick Sampson.

Right from the outset the pattern for the game emerged with Slough pressing forward and Maidenhead trying to contain them by getting as many players behind the ball as possible.

A succession of Slough chances followed this constant pressure. After five minutes a Gane cross found Brown steaming in for a header that went just over the bar.

Then eight minutes later Bartlett shot wide after a fine passing movement that started In defence and ended with a positive finish.

A free kick conceded by John Page after 21 minutes provided Slough with an ideal chance to show their class from just outside the area. A tapped pass by Gane was latched onto by Beyer who neatly chipped the top corner of the net with Keith Gillett well beaten.

Barry Baker quickly replied for Maidenhead with a long range effort that was on target but straight at Barron. Powell then had a similar shot from an angle stopped by Barron after a Magpies counter attack. These two efforts were sandwiched between two clearances off the line by the Maidenhead defence and a splendid save by Gillett from a Brown shot.

Slough’s second goal came after 42 minutes when Brown got the final touch to a Gane free kick after a flick from Lee.

Most of Maidenhead's efforts in the second hall seemed confined to keeping Slough's goal tally tie a Minimum Although they succeeded they were hardly convincing in doing so. Stray back passes, hurried clearances and nervous buildup work barely helped as Slough relentlessly pressurised them into mistakes.

There were several flashes of inspiration from Raker, Watt and McPhee but nothing that brought any worthwhile reward. The nearest Maidenhead came to threatening the Slough goal, was a cross from Watt after 48 minutes that had to be headed away from the danger area and a Lawson shot that slid wide.

Slough were also unable to create much goalmouth incident as the game faded rapidly. Towards the end Maidenhead committed so the unnecessary fouls and McPhee was booked in the last minute by referee, Mr. C A. Gregory of Woking. The match could not have ended earlier for the Magpies who had long since resigned themselves to losing. While Slough were merely going through the motions without ever looking interested enough to increase their lead by a bigger margin.