Rebels score five times - but still only draw

AN injury time equaliser from Keith White gave Slough Town a much deserved point at Granleigh Road on Tuesday evening, in a dramatic match which saw the Rebels concede two own goals and lead 2-1 with eight minutes remaining.

During the first 45 minutes Slough produced a disappointing performance and looked a totally disjointed team, in this Berger Isthmian League, Premier Division match.

However after the interval they were like a different side, and they had soon rocked Leytonstone & Ilford with two goals in the space of as many minutes.

Once again there were injury problems for Rebels' manager Laurie Churchill. Pat Morrissey and Vic Akers were both ruled out and Dave Russell had not recovered from flu.

Then while kicking in before the match, full back Dave Yerby limped off with an ankle injury. This meant White switched to full back and Bruce Poynter came in for his first team debut this season.

During the first half Slough struggled to find any rhythm or pattern to their play, especially in midfield where Leytonstone won the early battle for domination. However Slough still created chances during this period. On three separate occasions Eggie James broke clear of the shaky Leytonstone defence; twice he was off target and once Dave Danson saved well.

But it was the home side who were gifted with a goal after 20 minutes. A long ball was headed on and John Beyer, under strong pressure from the challenging Micky Dingwall, hit his attempted back-pass wide of Richard Teale and into the corner of the net.

Teale then had to snake splendid saves to foil first Keith Hayzleden and then Steve Scott just before the interval.

The second half saw Slough start out as a completely different side. Aided by the strong tackling and running of Micky O'Sullivan, they took control of the midfield while the forwards showed more determination.

Two minutes later Slough went ahead. After a run into the penalty area James pushed the ball square to the unmarked Poynter, and he calmly placed his shot wide of Danson for a superb goal.

Just when it looked as though Slough were about to pull off a superb win came the Leytonstone revival. With eight minutes left a cross on the right was finally put home by Neville Fox. Although it certainly looked as though Fox had fouled Richard Teale in originally winning the ball before he scored. Despite strong protests from the Slough players the goal was allowed.

With one minute of normal time left disaster struck for the Rebels when a cross from Dingwall was turned into his own net past a helpless Teale by Young. This was tragedy for the central defender who otherwise had a magnificent match, and it looked likely to cost Slough three vital points.

However all was not lost for Slough because in the second minute of injury time, they saved a point with the goal of the match.

Poynter did well before laying the ball back to White who from all of 20 yards cracked it home past a despairing Dingwall into the corner of the net.

This goal was just reward for a Slough side which battled superbly in the second half. However, it was a pity they did not produce that display for 90 minutes. In his emergency role at left back White had a superb match while the diminutive Poynter also impressed with his skills and clever touches on his debut.