Croydon
1
Jackson (29)
Slough Town
1
Young (90)
League
Eric Young
A LAST gasp goal from Eric Young gave Slough Town a draw at bottom side Croydon on Saturday, after a terrible first half performance had looked likely to cost the Rebels three vital Berger Isthmian League, Premier Division points.
For the first 45 minutes Slough produced their worst performance this season, against a side who despite being at the foot of the table are unbeaten at home this season.
The Croydon goalkeeper, Bobby Knock never had a direct shot to save during the first half, as the few moves Slough did create broke down with poor final passes once they reached the home side's penalty area. Croydon, who at times did not look much better in a generally scrappy match, relied almost entirely on quick breaks with long balls hit down the middle of the field.
On several occasions this policy threw the Slough defence into chaos, and after 29 minutes it produced a goal. A long clearance by Knock was first missed by Young, as he appeared to slip when looking to have the ball under control. It then fell to John Beyer on the edge of the penalty area. With little apparent danger the Slough defender had a slip of concentration and allowed the ball to go through his legs and let Alec K. Jackson in for a simple goal.
Jackson, in fact, seemed so surprised by his good fortune that he almost missed the chance, with the ball just beating Richard Teale and trickling over the line into the corner of the net.
During the interval Rebels manager Laurie Churchill replaced Keith White with Barry Friend and this certainly added a new dimension to Slough's play in the second half.
Playing wide on the left Friend produced a string of dangerous crosses which on several occasions almost created goals. However, after 50 minutes it was Croydon who came closest to scoring again. A cross on the left was not cleared by a hesitant Slough defence and fell to Jackson. After getting the ball under control his shot finally hit the crossbar and then Teale made a fine save to foil Barry Constable, who had picked up the rebound.
This heralded a tremendous assault on the Croydon goal by Slough as at long last they started to produce the kind of football that has made them championship challengers this season.
Twice the lively Eggie James went close with fine efforts as corner after corner was forced. Just when it looked as though Slough would never score the vital equaliser came. Friend took the Rebels' 12th corner of the half on the left, and Young rose above the Croydon defence at the near post to head home into the roof of the net.
Generally this was a disappointing Slough performance. Had they produced their second half display for the full 90 minutes then they would have probably returned with three points instead of having to settle for one in the end.
For the first 45 minutes Slough produced their worst performance this season, against a side who despite being at the foot of the table are unbeaten at home this season.
The Croydon goalkeeper, Bobby Knock never had a direct shot to save during the first half, as the few moves Slough did create broke down with poor final passes once they reached the home side's penalty area. Croydon, who at times did not look much better in a generally scrappy match, relied almost entirely on quick breaks with long balls hit down the middle of the field.
On several occasions this policy threw the Slough defence into chaos, and after 29 minutes it produced a goal. A long clearance by Knock was first missed by Young, as he appeared to slip when looking to have the ball under control. It then fell to John Beyer on the edge of the penalty area. With little apparent danger the Slough defender had a slip of concentration and allowed the ball to go through his legs and let Alec K. Jackson in for a simple goal.
Jackson, in fact, seemed so surprised by his good fortune that he almost missed the chance, with the ball just beating Richard Teale and trickling over the line into the corner of the net.
During the interval Rebels manager Laurie Churchill replaced Keith White with Barry Friend and this certainly added a new dimension to Slough's play in the second half.
Playing wide on the left Friend produced a string of dangerous crosses which on several occasions almost created goals. However, after 50 minutes it was Croydon who came closest to scoring again. A cross on the left was not cleared by a hesitant Slough defence and fell to Jackson. After getting the ball under control his shot finally hit the crossbar and then Teale made a fine save to foil Barry Constable, who had picked up the rebound.
This heralded a tremendous assault on the Croydon goal by Slough as at long last they started to produce the kind of football that has made them championship challengers this season.
Twice the lively Eggie James went close with fine efforts as corner after corner was forced. Just when it looked as though Slough would never score the vital equaliser came. Friend took the Rebels' 12th corner of the half on the left, and Young rose above the Croydon defence at the near post to head home into the roof of the net.
Generally this was a disappointing Slough performance. Had they produced their second half display for the full 90 minutes then they would have probably returned with three points instead of having to settle for one in the end.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Richard Teale
- 2 Dave Yerby
- 3 Vic Akers
- 4 John Beyer
- 5 Eric Young
- 6 Micky OSullivan
- 7 Dave Russell
- 8 Keith White 12
- 9 Micky Kiely
- 10 Pat Morrissey
- 11 Eggie James
Substitutes
- 12 Barry Friend 8