Rebels Revival

Slough's latest signing Steve Thompson led the charge as the Rebels swept away recent indifferent form with a convincing win at Clarence Park on Tuesday night.

Pitched into the attack in the absence of Paul Waites (out with a hamstring injury) and Neal Stanley (with a twisted knee), Thompson forged an impressive partnership with Jimmy Brown to set up two goals and revive a flagging forward line boasting only eight strikes in nine games.

Manager Alan Davies said; "He came into the side to replace Paul Waites and performed well on Saturday and up front last night. In the first half he looked good, but having said that we played some good football. We could have had five goals on Saturday but last night we took our chances."

Davies believes the addition of Wanklyn to partner Gary Dodd in midfield has given them "extra bite" and restored the good understanding between the two players before Wanklyn's injury.

But Thompson was not the only star in a determined Rebels display, with Wayne Wanklyn rediscovering his best form and Tony Knight shining in defence. The Rebels have now leapfrogged back over Windsor and Eton and Farnborough into third place in the VOL to retain some lingering hopes of championship success.

But it was Thompson who caught the eye in the opening minutes when his clever flick allowed Jimmy Brown to fire a 20-yard shot that City goalkeeper Mark Pearson did well to parry and then clear.

The home side should have taken the lead after 17 minutes however, when ex-Tottenham and Man City star Chris Jones rushed through the middle of the statuesque Slough defence to be forced wide by Trevor Bunting and the City striker was unable to finish.

Four minutes later Wayne Wanklyn's excellent crossfield pass gave Tony Dennis the chance to test Pearson with a low drive that stung his hands from 15 yards.

There was little Pearson could do on 23 minutes however, when Knight and Kenny Wilson combined to give Thompson the opportunity to spring the home sides off-side trap and allow Jimmy Brown the simple job of sliding home his first league goal for two months.

Nine minutes later it was the ex-Saltash player who almost scored after a mazy run had left the City defence spreadeagled behind him, but goalkeeper Pearson managed to block his effort.


Slough went further ahead in the 34th minute when Jeff Bateman rose unchallenged to force his header home from six yards after a free-kick by Wanklyn.

Any hopes of a home revival were swiftly buried two minutes after the break when Thompson's superbly weighted pass gave Dennis the chance to drill home his seventh goal of the season despite defender's Richard Nugent's attempt to haul him to the ground.

St Albans were saved further embarrassment when Andy Goodchild's attempted back pass to Pearson in the 53rd minute sailed past the startled goalkeeper but inches outside the post and into the side netting.

City threw caution to the wind and were rewarded on 56 minutes when an acrobatic overhead kick from Nigel Johnson netted after the Rebels had failed to clear Goodchild's free-kick properly.

Slough came close to regaining their three-goal lead with a Dennis cross that eluded his team-mates and a Brown diving header that flew inches wide of the post after excellent work by Thompson and Dennis.