Battling Basingstoke

When referee Colin Grady blew the final whistle bringing to a close this pulsating FA Cup tie at the Camrose Ground on Saturday, players , supporters and officials of Slough Town let out a huge sigh of relief - because they knew the Rebels were extremely fortunate to have kept their cup hopes alive.

Leading by two goals at the interval Terry Reardon's side looked to be coasting into the third qualifying round of the FA Cup, but in the second half Basingstoke staged a superb comeback and at the finish Slough were extremely lucky to have a second chance against their Southern League opponents.

For the first 45 minutes Slough showed the kind of total commitment and drive which has been lacking slightly in their recent performances as they produced some fine football to delight the large crowd. But the warning signs were always there that given time and space Basingstoke were a formidable proposition, and after the break the Hampshire side turned out to be just that as at times they literally had Slough running around in circles.

The heavy rain made the pitch heavy with surface water in places, but both sides quickly adapted to the conditions to serve up a thrilling cup tie in which at times the standard of football produced was quite exceptional.

Slough started positively and within nine minutes were ahead. Francis Araguez broke on the right and his hard low cross skidded off the leg of Basingstoke defender Wayne Hams and went just past the unfortunate Jim Greenwood.

From the start Basingstoke's former Reading and Aldershot midfield dynamo Wayne Wanklyn caught the eye with his silky skills and tigerish determination, and twice he went close to putting his side level.

However after 40 minutes the Rebels increased their lead, and once again the goal resulted from one of Keith White's now "famous" blockbusting free kicks. From 25 yards out, White struck the ball sweetly, and Greenwood could only push it onto a post and Dylan Evans had the simple task of knocking the rebound home.

It then took a header off the line by Araguez to foil Billy Coombs, while at the other end a superb Slough move from one end of the pitch to the other, in which no Basingstoke player even touched the ball, ended with Alan Paris firing over the bar when clean through and only 12 yards out.

The introduction of substitute Dave Green at half time seemed to give Basingstoke's play a new purpose in the second half as they stormed forward desperate to get back in the match. The action became non-stop and at times somewhat frantic, as first Dean Pearce went close for the home side, and then Evans just failed to make contact with a White free kick when a goal looked almost certain.

Joe Moloney saw a cracking shot headed off the line, and then Rowan Dodds broke clear only to see his final effort deflected narrowly past the post by the advancing Greenwood.

Had those two near misses resulted in goals what was to follow in the remaining 30 minutes would probably never have come about. After 59 minutes a long ball by Green eluded Araguez and let Dave Eddie clean through and the Basingstoke striker calmly slid the ball past Parsons.

Slough now lost total control of the midfield as Basingstoke surged forward, and their use of the long ball had the Rebels defence in all kinds of trouble. Time and time again they were caught hopelessly out of position, and it came as no real surprise when on 72 minutes Eddie cracked home a splendid shot to put the Southern League side back on level terms.

For the last 15 minutes Slough looked a very disjointed side, and on numerous occasions Basingstoke came desperately close to winning the match. However somehow the Rebels held out, and at the finish were more than lucky to have kept their cup hopes alive - if only just. Vaughan Powell and Eric Young were both booked in the second half by Mr Grady.