Unbeaten home record ends

There was no Christmas cheer for Slough Town at Wexham Park on Monday, as they surrendered their unbeaten Servowarm Isthmian League, Premier Division home record with John Griffiths's 87th minute goal giving lowly Wokingham the three points.

It was another disappointing performance from the Rebels and means that the year ends on a somewhat sad note for them, as they have not won a league match since November 9 and during that time collected just four points from a possible 18.

This disastrous run of results by Terry Reardon's side has seen their championship hopes start to slump, and although they are still reasonably well placed to make a challenge for the title Slough will have to certainly improve on recent performances if they are to seriously once again threaten the leaders.

At present the team is going through one of those spells when literally nothing will go right. Again they had more than their fair share of the play and created enough chances to have won the match comfortably, but the sparkle and confidence which only two months ago was setting Wexham Park alight has now gone.

There is little doubt that this current Slough side has the talent and flair to live with, and beat the best in the division. However, currently too many players are struggling to find their best form and once again this was in evidence against Wokingham.

From the start one could not fault Slough's enthusiasm and endeavour on a difficult pitch, but in the early stages they seemed to be still suffering the after effects of the Christmas festivities as they struggled to find any rhythm or pattern to their play.

It seemed easier for both sides to pass to the opposition rather than their own team whenever they had possession, although Wokingham did string together a fine move after 27 minutes involving Roger Steer and Jimmy Sweetzer, which finished with Derek Cottrell firing wide when well placed.

At the other end Slough's best chance fell to Dylan Evans when a fine pass from Vaughan Powell split the Wokingham defence and sent the striker clear. However, Doug Hatcher was equal to Evans' effort making a fine save to keep the scores level at the interval.

Things certainly started to liven up in the second half and for a period it looked as though tempers would boil over. Gary Attrell and Kirk Corbin became involved in a running battle on the left wing, and Wokingham's Cottrell was booked for a foul on Devon Petty.

With Attrell starting to cause problems with a series of darting runs into the heart of the Wokingham defence it looked as though it would be only a matter of time before Slough broke through. The young striker saw an effort deflected off of Hatcher's legs for a corner, and then Dave Russell had a curling free kick well saved by the Wokingham 'keeper.

Kevin Mitchell then made a flying save to keep out Cottrell's long range effort on 78 minutes, before Hatcher again came to Wokingham's rescue twice foiling Attrell and then producing a marvellous save to tip over an effort from Russell.

And three minutes from time came Wokingham's winner - a goal Slough certainly felt should never have been allowed. When Terry Brown sent Sweetzer, without doubt the outstanding player on view, clean through, the Rebels defence stood appealing for offside. However, although Sweetzer certainly looked well offside when he received the ball, play continued. He rounded Mitchell and then appeared to have lost his chance as Dave Yerby desperately tried to retrieve the situation, but the ball broke to Griffiths and he scrambled it home to end Slough's unbeaten home record.

While Slough might have enjoyed the better of the match - they forced 11 corners to Wokingham's two - no one could deny Wokingham victory. They worked hard for their success, and until the Rebels can start to convert their chances into goals again they will continue to struggle.

Slough have the chance to gain quick revenge for Monday's defeat when they travel to face Wokingham in the return league match. It will certainly require an improved showing from the Rebels if they are to start the New Year on a winning note and get back into the championship battle, but they should be boosted by the return of leading scorer Rowan Dodds, who missed Monday's game due to illness.