Kiely double sinks Wycombe

TWO second half goals from Slough's leading goalscorer Micky Kiely helped the Rebels to a memorable Christmas holiday double over local Berger Isthmian League, Premier Division championship rivals Wycombe at Wexham Park on New Year's Day.

A crowd of almost 2,000 - Slough's best league crowd for many seasons - watched another tremendous battle between the two sides, and in the end Wycombe can perhaps feel slightly unlucky that they did not leave with at least a share of the points.
However full credit must be given to the Rebels for another fine win, especially as they had to overcome the blow of losing central defender Eric Young with a shoulder injury after just 24 minutes.

Wycombe, determined to wipe away memories of their crushing defeat against Slough at Loakes Park just five days earlier, made five changes from that beaten side.

Both sides took a while to adjust to the blustery conditions which made accurate passing difficult, although after just five minutes, Kiely almost presented Pat Morrissey with a goal. But with the goal virtually at his mercy, Morrissey could not turn quickly enough to score.

After 20 minutes the Rebels received a major blow when Young injured his shoulder after falling heavily following a header. He struggled on for a further four minutes before being replaced by Micky O'Sullivan. Terry Reardon moved to left back, Steve Norman went into the centre of the defence and O'Sullivan came into his usual midfield position. But this re-organisation did not worry Slough with Norman doing a splendid job with Beyer to stifle the danger of Wycombe striker Terry Glynn.

The best chance of the half fell to Kiely after 38 minutes. A Barry Friend cross fell to Morrissey who delicately chipped the ball over the Wanderers' defence to put Kiely clear. But with only Chris Way to beat, he lashed his shot high over the bar. At the other end, Richard Teale was forced to make a smart save to foil Tony Price after good work by Glynn.

The match really sprung into life when Kiely gave Slough the lead after 60 minutes. A short corner on the right between Friend and Morrissey, resulted in Friend crossing for the unmarked Kiely to head home past a flatfooted Way.

This goal brought the best out of Wycombe as they mounted a tremendous series of attacks on the Slough goal. After 65 minutes Teale bravely saved at the feet of Glynn, and then 11 minutes later, following a free kick from Steve Hardwick, it seemed certain that Wycombe would equalise.

His kick found Gary Toll unmarked at the far post and he squared the ball for Paul Birdseye. But from three yards he blasted the shot over the bar. Sandwiched between these Wycombe attacks was a brilliant shot from Dave Russell which just scraped the bar, with Way well beaten.

Then with 15 minutes left, Wycombe finally equalised. A corner from George Borg was finally put home by Birdseye, after another scramble in the Slough penalty area.

But Wycombe's joy was shortlived, because within five minutes the Rebels were ahead again. Dave Yerby slipped the ball through to Morrissey on the left and he in turn, with another superb ball, put Kiely clear. This time the Rebels' striker made no mistake calmly slipping the ball past the advancing Way for his 17th goal this term.

Kiely then went close to completing his hat-trick, only to be foiled by the legs of Way. Eggie James then placed the rebound wide.

Slough then had to survive a nerve-racking final two minutes in which Wycombe twice went close to salvaging a point. First Glynn headed a Jimmy Jacobs cross narrowly wide, and then Teale deflected a good shot for Birdseye onto his far post before seeing the ball roll to safety.

As in the previous match at Loakes Park five days earlier, the real winners were the spectators who witnessed another fine attacking match. Perhaps Wycombe deserved a draw, but at the end of the day it was a case of Slough taking their chances and Wycombe missing theirs.

Again the match was played in fine spirit and extremely well handled by the referee. The only booking was Wycombe's Keith Mead for a foul on Kiely in the first half.