ST. PETER SAVAGED

Chalfont St. Peter paid a high price for the affrontery of taking a shock 19th minute lead in their Berks and Bucks Cup clash at Wexham Park on Tuesday as Slough struck back with venom to crush the Saints in unequivocal fashion.

This second round tussle had the makings of a giant-killing with Chalfont currently enjoying a good season in Division 2 (South) of the Vauxhall-Opel League and the Rebels' minds on their rescheduled FA Trophy clash with Fisher Athletic.

And the Saints hopes of just such a giantkilling definitely looked on the cards when they grabbed their early lead. However, that goal proved sufficient to shake the home side from their reverie and spur them on to punish the visitors in no uncertain terms.

Slough manager Alan Davies admitted he had his worries about the game. "It was probably quite a good thing that Chalfont took the lead. We had everything to lose and my hardest job was getting my lads in the right frame of mind," he said.

The boggy surface did not help the Rebels cause, but it was their own sloppy passing that ensured that the visitors' goal was never really threatened despite Slough's territorial advantage.

Gary Dodd was given two half-chances but his finishing left a lot to be desired. However, former Windsor striker Chris Yates had no such problem. A brisk counter-attack saw Steve Church beat Jimmy Jacobs on the left flank before pulling the ball back for Yates to firmly knock the ball inside the near post from close range.

The visitors' joy was short lived. Just five minutes had passed before Keith White equalised. 'Keeper Steve King should have saved White's 20 yard effort from the left flank, but he could only palm the ball into his own net.

The Rebels were now fully into their stride, but it took another slice of luck to provide the second goal. White appeared a good two yards offside when he collected a headed through ball from Jeff Bateman. He took full advantage of his good fortune and pulled the ball back for Neal Stanley to slide in and knock the ball home at the near post after 32 minutes.

A catalogue of crude challenges was the best the demoralised visitors could manage in reply, and Slough retaliated in the best way possible. Kenny Wilson made a powerful run down the left wing before sending an inch perfect cross for top scorer Jimmy Brown to meet with a flying near post header to put the Rebels 3-1 in front with five minutes remaining in the half.

But Slough were far from finished and they cracked in another splendid goal on the stroke of full-time when Stanley battled his way through a crowd of players before rifling a delightful shot past King from the edge of the area.

Carrying a comfortable 4-1 lead into the second period, Slough appeared to be simply going through the motions after the interval. One or two optimistic attempts on either goal failed to quicken the pulse until Brown got the Rebels moving again when he notched his 29th goal of the season in clinical fashion.

With nine minutes remaining, Dodd played a short ball into the area for Brown to turn his marker with ease and supply an equally good shot into the opposite corner. A horrendous miscalculation from Bunting almost gave the visitors a second consolation goal in the 83rd minute. Bunting came out for a long free-kick into the area, but was stranded in no man's land as substitute John Regan rose well and flicked a header over the keeper and towards the gaping goalmouth. Fortunately for Bunting, Bateman was on hand to salvage the situation, striding in to head off the line.

Slough substitute Steve Playle went one better than his Chalfont counterpart when he completed the scoring with an 89th minute goal almost identical to Brown's second. This time it was Slough's other substitute, Paul Waites, who was the provider. Playle received Waites's pass with his back to goal but executed a fine turn before clipping his shot past the helpless Chalfont keeper.