Bognor Are Rocked

Rowan Dodds is making a habit of being in the right place at the right time this season. He did it at Hayes and then on Saturday he put Bognor on the rocks with his 55th minute winning goal at Wexham Park.

And Dodds' goal couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment because the Rebels were starting to look just a little shaky against a useful Bognor outfit.

Slough will play a lot better than they did on Saturday and possibly even lose matches; but without ever sparkling they kept their unbeaten record intact and held onto second spot in the Vauxhall-Opel League, Premier Division.

Rebels boss Howard Kennedy agreed after the match that this wasn't Slough at their best: "I said it would be a difficult game beforehand and it was. They were putting us under some pressure and we were fortunate to score when we did. In the second-half I thought Bognor were the better side and they will beat many sides in our league this season. If you can play that bad and get three points then it's not a bad sign.”

There is currently a feeling that the Rebels are producing their best performances away from Wexham Park and results bear this out. Kennedy is also aware of this and says: "There is more pressure for the lads to impress the home crowd and if things start to go wrong and they seem to accumulate and get worse. If we had played well in the first five matches and got no points I don't think the crowd would be very impressed.”

"However we have only dropped two points and not played that well. Everyone who was at Hayes knows we are capable of a lot better and the best of Slough is still to come.”

Last season's Player of the Year, Devon Petty, returned to the Rebels midfield after his broken nose and gave a determined display and added some much needed bite in this department.

Saturday’s clash started at a rapid pace with both sides quickly showing their intentions of playing attacking football although a lot of hustle and bustle produced little in the way of clear cut openings.

But on 24 minutes Slough came within a whisper of going ahead. Steve Norman's cross from the right eventually fell to Kenny Wilson and he jinked his way through, saw his shot hit 'keeper Mick Phillips' hand, crash against the post and then roll along the line where both Dodds and Micky Kiely were foiled in their efforts to force the ball home.

Kiely almost created an opening for himself four minutes later when John Granville's massive clearance caused the Bognor defence problems and then Norman placed a free header from Wilson's corner just wide of the post.

Slough's best move of the half came on 45 minutes. Norman and Dodds worked a clever one-two on the right before Norman's cross was met by Kiely, who saw the ball rebound off Phillips' legs to Wilson who fired wide.

However, after the interval it was Bognor who created the early openings. The dangerous Kevin Clements headed narrowly wide and then after 53 minutes the Rocks wasted a golden chance.

Graham Marriner's delicate chip set Paul Pullen clear but with the Slough defence stranded the Bognor striker could only sky the ball over the bar.

And two minutes later Slough struck what proved to be the decisive goal. Wilson's corner was met by Jeff Bateman and with the ball bouncing around Dodds bravely headed home low down from close range.

Several anxious moments in the last 15 minutes and twice Clements powered in headers which could have spoiled the victory celebrations. But for all their attacking enterprise Bognor rarely looked like penetrating the Rebels defence which has now not conceded a goal for more than 300 minutes.