Rebels Go With Youth

At last Slough Town have a manager who believes in giving home - grown talent a chance.

Terry Reardon has stepped in where his predecessors feared to tread by strongly lacing the side with local talent, and his brave gamble looks like paying off.

For the Rebels earned a well deserved point at high flying Croydon on Saturday, and with a little more luck, could have scored a significant victory.

Reardon already shows all the signs of being a bold and ambitious manager, and he will be warmly applauded at Wexham Park for giving local lads their chance especially if it brings results.

Slough is a hot-bed of footballing talent, and yet many youngsters find their way into League football without even catching the eye of the Wexham Park management.

That's an unhappy situation Reardon hopes to remedy by paying more attention to the local leagues and to local players currently with other clubs.

Croydon will be first to admit that Reardon's new policy worked well on Saturday, for of the two sides, they were more content with a point than Slough, who felt they should have had all three on the strength of their second-half performance.

The absence of Eric Young, Eggie James and Roy Butler gave Reardon the chance to pursue his home - grown experiment, and no fewer than eight of the 12 at Croydon were local players. Alongside established names like Frank Parsons, Keith White and Dave Russell were Steve Norman, now back in favour, Rowan Dodds, who has waited patiently for his chance, Joe Moloney, fast emerging as Slough's outstanding defender, Graham Maskell, given his first real opportunity by Reardon, and Peter Wesson, a versatile player and a worthwhile addition to the squad.

They came back splendidly after Croydon had shaken them with a 20th minute goal, scored by Alex Jackson whose wickedly swinging shot deceived Frank Parsons.

For the next 15 minutes the Rebels were on the rack as Croydon pressed forward and Parsons did well to prevent Whitton from adding what might have been a fatal second goal.

But a typical surge forward by Rowan Dodds in the 39th minute brought Slough an equaliser when Dungey managed to reach his shot but couldn't prevent it from crossing the line, and from that point onwards the Rebels looked much more assured as they took control of the midfield.

Dave Russell, again moving forward impressively, tested Dungey with a 20-yarder, but Croydon seemed more and more content with a point as the game progressed and their tactic of pulling back the midfield players en masse gave the Rebels little chance to create a match winning move.

In the last minutes it was the Slough goal that was under threat and Dave Yerby's diving header prevented a certain goal, with Parsons beaten.

Anything less than a point, though, would have been harsh on the Rebels who with a little more imagination and impact up front, would have seriously damaged Croydon's bid for the Isthmian top spot.