Scandalous

Incensed manager Alan Davies blasted the officials and labelled isolated incidents as "scandalous" following Slough's quick exit from the FA Cup fourth qualifying round on Saturday....then delivered a plea for more support from the Rebels' fans.

A controversial late winner by ex-Tottenham and Orient winger Peter Taylor 15 minutes from time shattered the Rebels' chances of a money spinning First Round tie with a league club leaving Davies and the rest of his side gutted.

"We all thought there were three blatant offsides, but the linesman didn't flag. You've got one linesman giving everything and the other struggling to keep up with play" he said. "The winning goal was offside too - we were cheated" he added starkly.

In a fiercely contested match which saw three bookings, two for Slough and one for Dartford's Adrian Foley for head-butting Ray Duffy in a challenge, there was no shortage of action.

"It was a good cup-tie, hard and physical, but the officials failed to be consistent" insisted Davies. "The player broke Duffy's nose and all the official did was book him....it was scandalous" he fumed. Now out of the Clubcall (GMAC) and the FA Cup, Slough look to the FA Trophy trip to Ashford Town on December 3, the Berks and Bucks Senior Cup and the Vauxhall Opel League for honours - but Davies says the fans need to get behind the club.

After Saturday's match he said "What I can never understand is that we were playing at home in the FA Cup and you'd think we were playing away. The first time you heard our supporters cheer was when the goal went in. It Is disappointing to go out at this stage - we were looking for a good Cup run to boost the club finances, but after playing Dartford who are top of the Beazer Homes Premier League, we'll go to Ashford more confident" he said.

What Slough themselves can't ignore, however, is that Dartford pulled back from behind with two goals in seven minutes after Slough took a 60th minute lead when Neal Stanley put a well placed header over all six feet eight inches of 'keeper Mark McCutcheon from Bobby Dell's cross.

This could really have been the Rebels' third after Dennis missed a clear shot on goal and Bateman headed over the bar in the opening 15 minutes of the game, but Dartford's Kurt Davidson followed suit with a half-hearted shot with only Bunting to beat to the misery of the 300 visiting supporters.

Then the sheer elegance of Steve Thompson turning Steve Conner became too much for the Dartford centre back who snapped at the RAF PE instructor once too often- but it was Thompson who got booked for retaliation.

And shortly after half-time, as Dartford seemed to be winning the midfield battle, Adrian Foley received only a caution after a clash with Ray Duffy leaving blood pouring from his nose. However, after Stanley's breakthrough, the game moved up a gear with Dartford pressing and Trevor Bunting pulling off two marvellous saves from successive corners- one each from Sowerby and Robinson.

Dartford pulled back a deserved equaliser in the 68th minute when Taylor took advantage of a silly free kick given away by Slough, floating in for Kurt Davidson to power home past Bunting who seemed rooted to his line.

Clearly missing Gary Dodd in the middle of the park, Davies threw in his last pair of aces replacing Wanklyn and Duffy with Gold and Landeg with just 10 minutes left- but it was too late.

Dartford player- manager Peter Taylor had latched onto centre-back Robinson's header straight from Bunting's drop kick, leaving Slough players appealing for offside and ran 40 yards to coolly slot the ball past Bunting.

In frustration and disgust it was left to Keith White to exact revenge on Foley for Duffy's broken nose adding one more name to referee Pierce's list- and close the book on Slough's FA Cup hopes for another year.