Rebels Beat Woking

It was vital that Slough Town won this game at Wexham Park on Saturday against struggling Woking for two reasons.

Firstly, to keep their Servowarm Isthmian League, Premier Division title hopes alive and secondly, to restore some of their lost confidence after a run of just two wins in their last 10 matches.

And in the end it all came right for the Rebels thanks to three second half goals, although it was a far from convincing display against a Woking side that battled well after having goalkeeper Jim Mepham sent off after just 25 minutes.

From start to finish it was a scrappy affair punctuated by a series of niggling fouls, which never allowed the game to flow freely, and although Slough always looked the likely winners it took them a long time to finally achieve the breakthrough and get back on the victory trail again.

With Kevin Mitchell injured Frank Parsons returned in goal against one of his former clubs, for the first time since the Millwall match last November, while Derek Sweetman came into the midfield to replace Kevin Hill, who was also injured.

Both sides showed plenty of enthusiasm in the opening stages but produced little in the way of constructive football, and it was not until the 25th minute that the match came to life.

Parsons sent a long kick down the middle which completely beat the Woking defence and sent Gary Attrell clear. And, as the young Slough striker went past the advancing Mepham, the Woking goalkeeper, who was well outside his area, grabbed the ball back with his hand.

Under the new laws if a handball is intentional and in the referee's opinion definitely preventing a goal or goal scoring chance the player involved has to be sent off for serious foul play. And in this instance it is certain Attrell would have scored, so referee Noel Butler had no option but to send Mepham off.

After a considerable delay with Mepham looking extremely reluctant to leave the field John Cassidy took over in the Woking goal, and was immediately in action, pushing out Eddie Hutchinson's well struck shot from the free kick which resulted from the incident.

However, the Rebels failed to take advantage of the remainder of the half. Cassidy was rarely tested, and it was former Slough player Les Barrett who came closest to breaking the deadlock.

First he saw a tremendous 20 yard effort beat Parsons and then strike the crossbar and bounce back into play, and right on the stroke of half-time another flashing shot from the former Fulham star crept just past the post.

But four minutes into the second half Slough finally got the goal they so badly wanted. From a free-kick just outside the Woking penalty area Dave Russell struck a curling shot and although Cassidy did well to get his hands to the ball, he could only push it onto the post and then watch it fly back into the net.

Slough now started to get back into their stride with the diminutive Sweetman battling well in midfield, and after 71 minutes they went further ahead with a delightfully worked goal.

Hutchinson took a quick free-kick on the left to Russell who turned neatly and then sent over a perfect cross to the near post where Keith White met the ball with a diving header which gave Cassidy no chance.

After Attrell had then missed a glorious chance the third Slough goal came on 80 minutes - and once again it was well worth waiting for.

Sweetman and Attrell combined well on the edge of the Woking penalty area and the ball was fed to White, who in one swift movement turned and sent a rasping shot into the corner of the net.

In the dying minutes Parson's was briefly called into action to save well from the lively Andy McCollin, but Slough had safely wrapped up the three points to record their first league home win since November 9 last year.

This was certainly not the Rebels most impressive display, but at the end of the day the win was probably more important than the actual performance as it keeps Slough's championship hopes still alive.

The return of White, who missed the Dagenham match due to 'flu, added some strength and stability to the Rebels' midfield and all in all it proved an eventful match for the Slough skipper, who, as well as scoring twice was also booked for dissent in the first half.