Cup Run Shattered

Any hopes Slough Town may have had of a lucrative FA Cup run this season were shattered at Wexham Park on Saturday, when a thoroughly abysmal performance coupled with a nightmare display from goalkeeper Frank Parsons saw them crash out of the competition at the hands of Wokingham Town. This display from the Rebels, in the second qualifying round of the competition, must go down as one of their worst for a very long time.

But one should not take anything away from Wokingham who from the start always looked the much better side and showed far more application, determination and commitment for the task in hand.

And one person who will certainly not forget this match in a hurry is Parsons, who was badly at fault with the first three Wokingham goals as he produced the kind of performance which all goalkeepers must have bad nightmares about.

After the match Slough's caretaker manager Vic Akers, in charge for the last time before handing over to Terry Reardon, said: "I was was really disappointed with our display.

"We only competed for 10 minutes in the first half and about 15 minutes in the second half.

Akers added: "I thought we were fortunate to be only two goals down at half-time, we just did not compete.
"However when we scored our goal we were in with a chance, but their third goal ended all that."

And Akers refused to the accept the fact that several Slough players were suffering from the effects of flu as an excuse for defeat.

From the start Wokingham always looked ah the better side and after 15 minutes George Torrance the missed a golden opportunity to put his side ahead.

However after a shaky start, the Rebels did have a brief spell mid-way through the half when they tested the Wokingham defence.

Goalkeeper Andy Beales was forced to make fine saves to foil Roy Butler, Dave Russell and Keith White but generally Slough lacked the penetration which could well have brought a goal during this period.

And then after 29 minutes Wokingham scored the goal they had been threatening. A corner on the right from Torrance had Parsons in all kinds of trouble, when put under pressure by Terry Brown at the near post, and the ball finally fell to Shawn Price who headed into an empty net.

Brown then twice missed great chances to increase this lead, before right on the stroke of half-time Wokingham went further ahead. The lively Neil Stanley beat Joe Moloney on the left and broke clear for goal and then saw his shot slip through the hands of the advancing Parsons and virtually trickle over the line.

However within three minutes of the second half commencing, Slough were back in the match when Eggie James was brought down in the penalty area by Tom Ryan and Barry Friend scored from the spot
This goal brought new hope that the Rebels might stage one of their now famous second half comebacks, but 17 minutes later another error from Parsons gave Wokingham their third goal and Slough's hopes were buried.

Torrance received the ball on the left and noticing Parsons hopelessly out of position he let fly from 25 yards and his swerving shot went home just inside the post with Parsons stumbling desperately across his goal in an effort to retrieve the situation.

From this stage onwards Slough got progressively worse and they were barely able to string a decent pass together.

Meanwhile Wokingham grew in confidence and their direct style of football and series of testing crosses had the Slough defence in tatters.

And in the closing 15 minutes further goals from Brown, who had a fine game against his former club, and Derek Cottrell completed Slough's misery, and humiliation in one of their largest ever home defeats.

At half-time Steve Hardwick replaced Joe Moloney, who had apparently been feeling ill before the match and also had collected a booking in the first half for a foul on Stanley.

For Akers it proved a disappointing end to his brief spell as caretaker manager as previously he had an unbeaten record, while it provided Wokingham with one of their finest ever victories and certainly the shock result of the day in the competition.