Slough Town
1
Harris (pen 12)
Hitchin Town
2
O’Keefe (22), Miller (86)
League
Attendance: 330
John McDaid
Slough and the weather were at their most miserable as Hitchin handed the Rebels their third defeat in four home games.
Any EastEnders fans forced to sacrifice their usual Thursday night date with the Albert Square local last week must have wished the Rebels had shown the cunning of Dirty Den; the dash of barman Wicksie; the eagerness to please of good old Lofty; or even the doggedness of Little Willy.
Instead they had to watch a performance as wet and insipid as Andy and Debs in a match that was as boring as old Dot Cotton rambling on about her ailments.
There was little excuse to be found in the torrents of rain and Wexham Park mud. Hitchin at least managed to play a bit of football, while Slough needed a lucky penalty to find their way through.
It came after 11 minutes when Steve Fountain was harshly ruled to have shoved Rowan Dodds from behind near the dead ball line. Derek Harris managed to get his spot kick to go just under the crossbar.
Hitchin's Robbie O'Keefe should have done better than shoot wide of goal after Trevor Parker had got clear on the break and slipped the ball inside to him after 20 minutes.
But a minute later O'Keefe made amends as Parker again got behind the defence to nod the ball into his path, his low shot finding the corner of the goal.
The second half became a non-stop series of Slough attacks breaking down before they even began to look threatening. With Kenny Wilson posing Hitchin little danger before going off with a dead leg, it was left to left back Devon Petty to provide what little invention there was with his twisting runs and good crosses.
Hitchin briefly managed a riposte, David Taylor rounding Jeff Bateman in the area, poking the ball past Trevor Bunting and seeing it hit the post.
In the last five minutes, though, they came forward again, with Bunting turning the ball over the bar when O'Keefe whipped in a shot.
But with four minutes to go Slough's defence were slow to react when lan Lindsay won the ball at the back of the box from a corner. The ball seemed to sit in the six yard box for ages before Steve Miller turned it in.
Any EastEnders fans forced to sacrifice their usual Thursday night date with the Albert Square local last week must have wished the Rebels had shown the cunning of Dirty Den; the dash of barman Wicksie; the eagerness to please of good old Lofty; or even the doggedness of Little Willy.
Instead they had to watch a performance as wet and insipid as Andy and Debs in a match that was as boring as old Dot Cotton rambling on about her ailments.
There was little excuse to be found in the torrents of rain and Wexham Park mud. Hitchin at least managed to play a bit of football, while Slough needed a lucky penalty to find their way through.
It came after 11 minutes when Steve Fountain was harshly ruled to have shoved Rowan Dodds from behind near the dead ball line. Derek Harris managed to get his spot kick to go just under the crossbar.
Hitchin's Robbie O'Keefe should have done better than shoot wide of goal after Trevor Parker had got clear on the break and slipped the ball inside to him after 20 minutes.
But a minute later O'Keefe made amends as Parker again got behind the defence to nod the ball into his path, his low shot finding the corner of the goal.
The second half became a non-stop series of Slough attacks breaking down before they even began to look threatening. With Kenny Wilson posing Hitchin little danger before going off with a dead leg, it was left to left back Devon Petty to provide what little invention there was with his twisting runs and good crosses.
Hitchin briefly managed a riposte, David Taylor rounding Jeff Bateman in the area, poking the ball past Trevor Bunting and seeing it hit the post.
In the last five minutes, though, they came forward again, with Bunting turning the ball over the bar when O'Keefe whipped in a shot.
But with four minutes to go Slough's defence were slow to react when lan Lindsay won the ball at the back of the box from a corner. The ball seemed to sit in the six yard box for ages before Steve Miller turned it in.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Trevor Bunting
- 2 Derek Harris
- 3 Devon Petty
- 4 John McDaid
- 5 Jeff Bateman
- 6 Keith White
- 7 Colin Keys
- 8 Jimmy Jacobs
- 9 Rowan Dodds
- 10 John McLeod
- 11 Kenny Wilson 12
Substitutes
- 12 Jim Hartridge 11
Hitchin Town Lineup
Luff, Green, Burke, Fountain, Miller, Taylor, Lindsay, West, Paine, O'Keefe, Parker. Sub: Thomas (for Fountain 83 mins.).