Match shouldn’t have been played - Arpino

Slough Town manager Joe Arpino, who had told the referee before the game that he thought the condition of the pitch was unfit for play, left Dagenham claiming that his side had been robbed of at least a draw in Saturday's Isthmian League spectacular.

Mr Arpino said: "One side of the ground was like a lump of concrete and it was a wonder nobody was hurt. The players couldn't keep their footing.

Dagenham boss Laurie Wilkinson agreed with him. Mr Wilkinson commented: "I don't think the game should have been played - the conditions were atrocious. We simply tried to get the ball behind the Slough defenders and that is what led to our goal."

Slough have gained an unwanted reputation for being poor starters after conceding early goals in four of their recent matches.

Against Woking they crashed out of the F. A. Cup to a goal in the fourth minute; at Tooting they also conceded a fourth minute goal and at Tilbury they went 1-0 down to a seventh minute penalty.

The latest lapse came in this match at Dagenham. Slough conceded the only goal of the match in the eighth minute and this left them in a middle of the table position while Dagenham went top.

Despite the difficult surface, Slough showed a lot of skill and created some good chances. But due to a mixture of poor luck and weak finishing they failed to take them.

Mr Arpino declared: "We were all over Dagenham in the second half, had a good ‘goal’ disallowed and missed a stack of other chances. Our luck is unbelievably bad at present."

Slough again conceded an early goal - an occurrence which has happened far too often this season - and it seems they lack concentration in the first ten minutes.

They gave the ball away in the eighth minute and a back-heeled pass from Terry Harris enabled Jimmy Holder to run on and shoot home, leaving keeper Trevor Porter no chance.

With Roy Davies dominating the midfield, Slough soon switched play to the other end. Davies himself went close following a lively run through the middle, while young Dave Russell had two near misses. When a defender failed to clear Russell tried to dribble around keeper Hutley, but the keeper got his fingers to the ball. Lee then crossed from the left to Russell who only managed a slight touch and Hutley saved again.

Dagenham skipper and centre-back Dennis Moore, making a record 734th appearance, was prominent at both ends, breaking up a Slough attack by robbing Terry Brown and later seeing a free kick well saved by Porter. The Slough keeper also showed lightening reflexes to foil Harkins.

The fans were provided with more goalmouth thrills in the second-half. Centre-half Currie presented Russell with a chance by making a dreadful pass but Russell's shot went wide with Hutley slipping off balance.

Slough continued to press and actually found the net. From a corner by Russell, the bustling Brown challenged the keeper, who failed to get the ball, and Lee slammed it home. Unfortunately for Slough the referee had decided that Brown had committed a foul.

Dagenham eventually broke through and when Harris laid the ball back, ex-Spurs player Frank Saul shot just over. Holder also found enough space to try a shot which the agile Porter did well to reach.

The coolness of Dennis Malley prevented any other Dagenham moves developing and Slough looked the more dangerous side. They almost grabbed a late equaliser but Brown's goal bound shot was cleared by a defender.