Bank holiday blues for Slough as dogged Windsor win Derby double

A frenetic seven minutes of despair for Slough saw triumphant New Year celebrations for the Royalists camp on Bank Holiday Monday.....the first league double for five years.

In a crucial turnabout minutes before half-time, Slough squandered the chance of a 2-1 lead and the possible sweet taste of victory- then were robbed by a cruel twist of fate.

With the score at one apiece, Windsor skipper Mark Woods was adjudged to have handled on the line, but Mark Adams 38th minute spot kick was lashed wildly over the bar.

Five minutes later, amongst howls of protest from the Slough supporters and players and cheers of delight from the rest of the 1000+ crowd, Rebels sweeper Tony Knight was accused of charging Rowan Dodds off the ball and referee Nigel Ludlow immediately pointed to the penalty spot again.

Windsor top scorer Byron Walton stepped up to coolly slam home the kick sending Bunting the wrong way in the process as the Royalist's earnt their hard fought break-through.

Stunned by the incident and Tony Knight's harsh booking for what clearly didn't seem an infringement, the aghast Rebels were left reeling.....and straight from the kick-off, Windsor capitalised on the defensive disarray with Mick Barnes rising unchallenged to nod down an Ian Richards free kick for Rowan Dodds to make it 3-1 on the stroke of half-time.

It was the drama that local derby matches are made of and, expectedly, subtle skills and possession football took a back seat in this fiercely contested encounter.

Slough were bludgeoned into defeat by a dogged, spirited, often fierce Windsor display so familiar in their last Senior Cup semi final and two solitary goal league wins.

At the heart of the Clements' Casualty outfit which gave significantly more than it got was the towering Mick Barnes, playing with his ribs strapped up. He took a commanding role in defence, helping to shut out the rather pithy Slough attack and proved deadly, exposing Slough's vulnerability at set pieces.

Barnes made his presence felt as early as the 12th minute in a blatant and unnecessary foul from behind on Neal Stanley, receiving a booking for what Slough boss Alan Davies saw as a sending off offence.

Stanley came off five minutes into the second half suffering from concussion as a result, said Davies. But Barnes then powered home an unstoppable opener two minutes later, once again from an Ian Richards free-kick to give Windsor the initiative and an early important boost.

Slough certainly weren't entirely uninspiring, creating more chances and scoring the only goal of the second half.

On paper, they easily looked the better team after some devastating football in the league this season and their daunting display against Ashford in the Trophy....and occasionally it showed.

Sparks of skill flew from the boots of Steve Thompson following his hat-trick against Bognor and he took his tally to 12 this season with a glorious diving header after some good work by Dell and the cross by Greenaway for the 23rd minute equaliser.

And the pace of Dennis, who replaced the injured Stanley seemed to give more impetus to the forward line with one notable scissor-kick saved by 'keeper Mitchell from close range.

Adams also had a rare shot tipped over the bar by Mitchell before Watt came on for Dodd to give Slough fresh legs on the awkward Stag Meadow pitch.

Dennis and Thompson pushed forward but at one time faced five defenders as Slough couldn't seem to get men into the box.

Then a cross by sub John Watt saw Brian Greenaway give the Rebels some consolation three minutes from time, tapping home a brave goal before colliding with an upright.

But as both sides nursed their injuries after a bruising encounter and Windsor rejoiced, Slough supporters could be forgiven for thinking at the end of the match it was all too little too late- whereas Windsor's must be more than happy with the result.