Rebels crash to first defeat

A brilliant fourth goal by Blues' Carl Zachau completed a savaging for a depleted Rebels side, their first defeat of the season.

With Tony Knight unavailable and Jacobs and Stanley both still injured, Slough were well below strength and lacking in ideas and a good looking Stortford side made the most of their obvious advantages, scoring as early as the seventh minute.

The excellent Zachau raced down the left flank and floated a deep cross to the far post where the unmarked Andy Weddell nodded home for the simplest of goals. With their tails up, Stortford carried on pressurising Slough with long balls and crosses which the Rebels defence was having a great deal of trouble coping with and were lucky not to concede a second within the half hour.

However, the Rebels began to get a grip as the half went on with the weaving runs of Steve Thompson in and around the penalty box a constant thorn in the side of the Blues' defence. But as chances were created, the visitors lacked the final touch with the lack of aerial power a constant problem in winding up the opportunities.

Slough had to wait until the 37th minute for their first attempt on target, Dodd rising high and powerfully heading towards goal only to see his effort go straight into the arms of Stortford 'keeper Martin Taylor.

Having finished the first half well, the Rebels went in at the interval a goal down, but must have been hopeful of salvaging a point from the match until disaster struck in the 49th minute.

An uncharacteristic mistake by Jeff Bateman let in Pat Ryan who crossed low and hard into the area where the ball was handled by Tony Dennis and the subsequent spot kick was comfortably converted by Carl Zachau.

The Rebels were unlucky not to pull a goal back on the hour as excellent work by Steve Thompson on the right left Barry Rake the chance to score on his debut. But Rake's hesitation in front of goal allowed 'keeper Taylor to stop his first attempt and a defender to clear his lines as Rake fired in the rebound.

With Slough despondent, Stortford went 3-0 up in the 63rd minute after a through ball split the visitors defence and the advancing Trevor Bunting misjudged the ball leaving Pat Ryan the simple task of slotting the ball home.

With 15 minutes left, Slough substituted Robert Gold for the injured Wayne Wanklyn and pushed Trevor How up front in an attempt to get a consolation goal.

In the 78th minute, the gamble nearly paid off during a goalmouth scramble that saw Stortford substitute Southwick sending a clearance whistling over his own crossbar.

The Blues continued to find acres of space down their right flank, but failed to capitalise on a series of good chances as the Slough defence became more and more shaky.

Five minutes from the final whistle, a superb individual goal from Carl Zachau completed an afternoon of misery for the Rebels camp. Collecting the ball on the edge of the visitors penalty area, Zachau looked up and drilled a terrific shot into the bottom corner of Bunting's net, his second strike of the afternoon.