Rebels Win Over Royals

They played the Abba hit 'Waterloo' as the Windsor players were running out on Tuesday night, and that's what Wexham Park proved to be for The Royals, who bad waited 10 years for the chance to pit themselves against Slough Town.

It was back in 1971 that the teams last met in a Berks and Bucks Senior Cup tie at The Dolphin, when Slough won 6-1, and although Tuesday night's Hitachi Cup tie was more closely fought, there was never any real doubt that Premier Division Slough would not pull rank on their neighbours from the Isthmian Division Two.

Two Eggie James goals, the first of which was a truly memorable effort, and a late one from Les Barrett, took the cup holders safely through to the next round even though they allowed Windsor to dominate much of the second-half.

And yet of the two managers, Windsor's Geoff Chappell was the happier when spoken to them after the game.
Said Chappell: "We've had a bad spell lately and I thought we did well tonight. There are young players in this side and I saw signs that they are maturing well. We dominated most of the second-half and missed a 'gift' which would have put us back in with a chance. Had we scored then I think we would have forced a replay." While the Windsor boss was finding cause for optimism, Slough's caretaker player/manager, Vic Akers, was deliberating on a Jekyll-and-Hyde performance from the Rebels.

"I was happy with the result but not with the overall performance. We played some great football in the first-half but went to sleep and allowed them to take over after the break. Luckily for us they missed the best chance of the match and we went on to win comfortably," he said.

That missed opportunity was certainly a turning point, and it will haunt the culprit, Windsor's Alan Lewer, for some time.

Slough were sitting lazily on their 2-0 interval lead and Windsor were coming back strongly when Mark Davies delivered a low cross from the left in the 75th minute.

Goalkeeper Frank Parsons and Vic Akers got into a terrible tangle in attempting to clear, and the ball ran on to the completely unmarked Lewer at the far post. But Lewer lost his nerve completely and hit the most timid of shots, giving Akers the time to scuttle back and clear off the line.

Eight minutes later it really was all over for the Royals when a determined Roy Butler cut the ball back from the bye-line, presenting Les Barrett with a clear chance which was not wasted.

Most of the worthwhile action had taken place in the first-half, through which Eggie James had plagued the Windsor defence, and his goal was the highlight of the match.

Apart from two fruitless breaks by Chris Yates, Slough had been pressing forward practically non-stop when James finally broke through with a spectacular 37th minute goal.

Chris Yates missed the opportunity to clear Russell's low cross from the left, and James stepped in with his back to goal, teed up his shot and smashed the ball past Alan Wills as he swivelled perfectly on the edge of the box. Pele couldn't have done it better!

Wills might be faulted for Slough's second, headed home by James on the stroke of half-time after Russell and Yerby had combined well on the right flank. Wills was behind the header but succeeded only in helping le the ball into the roof of the net.

The half-time scoreline was a fair reflection of the play, for Slough had made many chances with Rob Yeats clearing Eric Young's header off the line, Wills coming out at the feet of Butler after White and James had exchanged passes, and Barrett's volley going straight at Wills when it could just as easily have ended up in the back of the net.

Just over a thousand people watched the game.