Rowan's Christmas cracker crushes sorry Wanderers

Rowan Dodds gave the Slough fans a late Christmas present on Monday- a superb hat-trick that rocked Wycombe Wanderers and gave the Rebels their first win in 10 games.

And who better for the scintillating Dodds to maul than the old enemy. Still, the home fans at least lapped up a fine performance by the Rebels, who left their recent troubles behind in a battling display that put them back into contention at the top of the Isthmian Premier Division, despite going eight games without a win before the Boxing Day derby.

Town's other hero was teenage goalkeeper Stuart Walton, whose courage and timing prevented Wycombe from making the match a close run thing.

He showed no hesitation in diving in among flying feet to rescue the Rebels on several occasions. The feet were flying elsewhere as well. Referee Mr M. Topping booked seven players. Howard Kennedy and Keith White of Slough were cautioned for fouls on former team mate Henry Pacquette, and Eddie Hutchinson went in the notebook for a clumsy challenge on Ken Wilson.

For Wycombe, Terry Glynn and George Borg were booked for dissent, Jim Jacobs for a foul on Hutchinson and Anton Vircavs for an illegal block on Dodds.

It was perhaps the only way Vircavs could find of stopping Dodds, who has responded magnificently in recent weeks to Town's plight following the departure of four players.

Dodds has been in excellent form, and his goals against Wycombe illustrated his wide range of skills. The first, in the 16th minute, was a gem of skill as he outpaced Andy Harman, cut inside Trevor How and unleashed a cracking left foot shot which flew into the top corner from 15 yards.

His second was vital, coming 12 minutes into the second half as Wycombe were pressing for an equaliser. In a lightning break out of defence, Howard Kennedy fed Dylan Evans and he ran on to bring a fine save out of Gary Lester with a low drive. Dodds, who had raced forward from a deep position, was on hand to snap up the rebound.

The third was perhaps the pick of the bunch, a superb soaring header from a Howard Kennedy corner in the 76th minute that ended Wycombe's dogged attempts to get back into the match.

The hat trick took the striker's tally for the season to nine, low at this stage by his own standards, but the quality of the goals had even the Wycombe fans applauding.

Wycombe had their chances as well, but the normally reliable Terry Glynn missed the target from good positions on two occasions, and found young Walton unbeatable on several others.

Walton, as manager Terry Reardon has already stated, is a goalkeeping prospect of the highest order, and like Dodds, he chose this game to produce his best form of the season.

His busiest spell came after Slough's second goal, when he claimed an extremely tricky cross from Trevor How at the second attempt, used his legs to defy Mark Hill and then reacted quickly at the near post to keep Hill's stinging shot out.

Wycombe did get the ball past him on two occasions, but each time the scores were rightly ruled out for earlier infringements.

While Dodds and Walton were the stars for Slough, solid performances from several other players must have pleased manager Reardon. Howard Kennedy always chose the right time to release the ball, and he went dangerously close to scoring against his old club - and earning his new one a four - goal bonus when he strode forward in the 78th minute and let fly from the edge of the box with a low shot which went the wrong side of the post by an inch or two.

Dylan Evans was another Wycombe old boy who did his bit, and young David O'Flaherty again showed potential alongside central defensive partner Joe Moloney.

As for Wanderers, they obviously have their problems too and one seasoned spectator probably wasn't far wrong when he described them as the worst Wycombe side seen at Slough since Isthmian League hostilities began.