Amateur Rebels

Slough manager Alan Davies blamed a moment's lack of professionalism for Saturday's shock home defeat against Worthing.

Having made it 2-2 after 82 minutes, the Rebels were piling forward in search of three Vauxhall-Opel League points when they allowed Worthing to catch them out with two minutes left.

Davies complained: "We have got to learn that when we have got teams under pressure we have got to maintain it. Instead of putting the ball into the box, we knock a free-kick flat and they got it and scored. We have got to be more professional. When teams are under pressure you don't let them out.

The Rebels could ill-afford to lose any points after dropping four games behind pace setters Wycombe and Yeovil, who also lost at home to Dulwich. After an uninspired first half display the Rebels twice looked to have the match at their mercy, after Keith White's crackerjack of an equaliser on 47 minutes and again when Jeff Bateman tied the game up again with eight minutes left.

But the Rebels were let down by diving away some bad goals, the first of which arrived after 19 minutes when Trevor Dove won the aerial battle for Kevin Foreman's corner and the ball somehow sneaked through a crowd into the corner of the net.

Before that new boy Mark Davis had almost marked his first match for Slough with a goal. With his first touch the ex-Windsor striker headed wide and after eight minutes he just failed to shrug off the attention of a defender to get the finishing touch to Paul Waites' lovely first time cross.

The closest the Rebels got to a first half goal was when Kenny Wilson's inswinging corner hit the post, but that changed two minutes after the interval.

Davis won a good header and White carried the ball to about 20 yards out before smashing it past the flying Simon Steele in the Worthing goal. Twenty minutes later White almost repeated the trick from a free-kick, but this time Steele was able to claw the ball round the post.

Trevor Bunting announced his return to Wexham Park by saving well from Dove's long shot, but after making a super save from Mick Edmonds' close range header following a 71st minute free-kick he saw Danny Deans follow up to put in the rebound.

Steele parried a Waites header and then tipped the ball over after Davis had chested the ball down on the edge of the box and fired in a wicked shot on the turn.

Slough's equaliser was as sweetly contrived and executed as White's had been spectacular. Kevin Tilley played a nice ball out to Wilson on the right and his first time cross was met by Bateman racing into the area with a crisp half volley from 12 yards.

Wilson almost got the winner with a thumping 25-yarder after 87 minutes, but a minute later thoughts of victory turned to the realisation of defeat. After Bateman and Woodcraft had contrived to make a mess of a halfway line free-kick Dove slipped the ball into the box for the prolific Edmonds, who had no one around to prevent him ending Worthing's run of eight matches without a win.

Match Stats:
Corners: Slough 6, Worthing 3.
Attempts on target-off target blocked: Slough 7-9-3, Worthing 5-2-2.
Slough attempts: White 2-1- 0, Bateman 1-1-0. Waites 1-1-0, Davis 1-1-0, Wilson 1-1-2, Woodcraft 1-0-0, Jacobs 0-2-0, Knight 0-1-1, Wheatley 0-1-0.