Sparkling Rebels bewilder Bideford

Slough Town fired a seven goal salute as they romped into the first round proper of the FA Cup at Wexham Park on Saturday, producing a memorable second half display in which they scored five times to leave Bideford a totally bewildered side.

And the Rebels heroes in this fourth qualifying round tie before a crowd of around the 1,000 mark were their young strikers Rowan Dodds and Gary Attrell - who both bagged super hat-tricks.

Slough's second half performance, in a pulsating match, must rate as one of the finest ever seen at Wexham Park, as they totally destroyed Bideford with a superb display of effervescent approach work and lethal finishing.

However, although Slough dominated the second half, for the first 45 minutes they had a real battle on their hands against a lively and well-organised Bideford side who on their first half performance must have wondered what they had done to finish up conceding seven goals.

It was not until Dodds had put the Rebels 3-1 up early in the second half that Slough's dream of a place in the first round proper looked anything but safe, as Bideford provided much sterner opposition than their Western League rivals Frome had done in the previous round.

Showing the necessary commitment and drive from the start, Slough gave the Bideford defence several anxious moments before on 17 minutes Dodds latched onto a through ball from Attrell and confidently placed it past the advancing Robbie Robinson.

However, with Nigel Brown posing a threat on the left wing, within five minutes Bideford had stunned Slough with an equaliser. A free kick to the far post from Keith Bowker was not properly cleared by the Rebels' defence, and the North Devon side's player/manager John Hore, latched onto the loose ball and from just inside the penalty area cracked home a superb shot which gave Frank Parsons no chance.

The game now developed into a typical cup-tie with the action switching from end to end, and Alan Paris wasted a good chance for Slough when he headed straight at Robinson when well placed.

Bideford suffered a blow when after 42 minutes they lost central defender Phil Berry with a leg injury, and it was while they were down to 10 men that Slough struck a killer blow right on half time. Keith White sent Dodds racing clear of the Bideford defence on the left, and once again the Rebels leading marksman showed tremendous composure and coolness as he cut inside the penalty area and curled the ball past Robinson.

This was just the goal Slough needed to settle their nerves, and it could not have come at a better time, as after the interval they turned on a truly memorable display producing some sparkling moves and completely destroying Bideford with their greater pace and decisive finishing.

The rout started on 55 minutes, when after he had cleverly jinked his way into the Bideford penalty area Paris was brought down by Bowker, and from the resultant penalty Dodds made no mistake to complete his hat-trick.

And then Attrell, who game by game is growing in confidence and ability took over the show. Within the space of 23 minutes the youngster had completed a quite superb hat-trick, as on three separate occasions he displayed razor sharp finishing inside the Bideford penalty area.

The scoring was completed when White added Slough's seventh goal from close range, after the now bubbling Attrell sent over a cross from the right following a fine move involving Dave Yerby and White.

For their part Bideford kept battling away and only a goal-line clearance from Francis Araguez kept out a header from substitute Steve Ford when the score stood at 4-1.

However, Slough were quite simply in a different class in the second half, and to complete Bideford's misery they had Hore, Nigel Menhenick and Paul Horrocks all booked.

The absence of Eric Young, who had signed for Brighton during the week, did not seem to weaken the Rebels' defence, and Eddie Hutchinson formed a solid partnership with Joe Moloney in the heart of the back four, while Araguez had his best game of the season at left back and Yerby was his usual immaculate self at right back.

In midfield Devon Petty gave a sparkling performance, while Attrell and Dodds were simply lethal up front on a day in which it would have been hard to have seen a better game of football anywhere in the country.

Rebels manager Terry Reardon said after the match; "I thought it was an excellent match, and I was very pleased with our performance". He continued " Bideford were a good side with a lot of experienced players and I was very worried in the first half.

It was not until we scored our fifth goal that I could sit back and relax knowing the game was safe., as they were still having a fair amount of the match".