Vic's cracker kills off Barton Rovers

SLOUGH Town gained revenge for their FA Cup defeat against Barton Rovers, when they beat the Division 2 side to move into the last eight of the Hitachi Cup at Wexham Park.

Two goals in a ten minute spell during the second half laid the foundations for a well deserved Slough victory after a tragic mistake by John Beyer had let Barton back into the match within seconds of the second period starting.

This third round match was played in a typical cup tie atmosphere, although towards the end the action became rather too physical and two players from each side were booked as tempers began to boil. With no injury problems Rebels manager Laurie Churchill was able to name a full-strength side - one of the few occasions he has had that luxury this season.

During the first half the game followed a similar pattern to when the sides met in the FA Cup last month. Barton relied a lot on quick breaks to set up dangerous attacks as Slough tried to break down a solid Rovers' defence. Both Eggie James and Keith White went close for Slough, while the skilful play of winger Terry Nicholas almost let in Bob Springfield to score.

After 29 minutes Slough got the break they were looking for when the referee awarded them a penalty after Billy Baldrey was adjudged to have fouled Pat Morrissey. The decision looked rather harsh, but Morrissey made no mistake from the spot kick.

The closest Barton came to scoring in the first half was nine minutes before the interval. Richard Teale missed a long ball pumped into the penalty area, but Eric Young, who had another outstanding match, was on hand to clear Springfield's shot off the line.
Then at the other end James saw a shot kicked off the line by Dave Lawson after some fine work by Micky Kiely in a confined space on the right.

During the closing stages of the half Barton lost central defender Andy O'Dell with a mouth injury which required hospital treatment, and he was replaced by Joe Brown.

There was a sensational start to the second half. Within 11 seconds a terrible mistake by Beyer let Steve Hodge in to equalise. Beyer underhit an attempted back pass to Teale, and the Barton striker ran on round the 'keeper and scored.

However it took Slough just five minutes to regain the initiative. A superb ball from Pat Morrissey over the top of the Barton defence let James in. He kept his composure, despite the presence of a defender, to slip the ball home just inside the post and past Bob Taylor.

Then 10 minutes later Slough virtually clinched victory with one of the finest goals ever seen at Wexham Park. The ball broke to full back Vic Akers some 30 yards out, and the defender let fly a tremendous shot which rocketed into the top corner of the net, without Taylor ever really seeing it. To appreciate this goal one had to be there to witness it.

This goal heralded Slough's best spell of the game as they pushed the ball around with confidence and authority and made large inroads into the Barton defence. However the match gradually deteriorated into a constant stream of free kicks conceded by both sides, and the standard of football dropped dramatically.

Baldrey and Springfield of Barton were both booked for bad fouls, while Kiely, dissent, and Micky O'Sullivan, foul, also went into the referee's notebook.

In the dying seconds a fine header from James was superbly pushed over the crossbar by Taylor.

From the start Slough showed total commitment to the task in hand and gained just revenge for their earlier FA Cup defeat. Once again Young had an outstanding game, shutting out the danger of Barton's striking partners, Springfield and Hodge, while in the second half Akers effectively stifled the skills and danger of Nicholas.