Lack of firepower haunts the Rebels

A bizarre late penalty decision and a draw served as a cruel irony for the Rebels who came away with just a point when they should have inflicted a crushing victory at Finchampstead Road on Saturday.

A five or six goal margin in favour of the visitors would have been a fairer reflection on the day....instead they found themselves a goal down with just seven minutes left.

Frustrated Slough boss Alan Davies said "It's the same old story. You can't fault players for effort but we need the killer touch in the penalty box. It's a sad fact that Stanley and Thompson have got 30 goals between them but we're still not getting enough goals from the midfield. You can't rely on two players to score all the goals- it gets a bit frustrating but the players badly lack that killer instinct in front of goal."

Town boss Roy Merryweather, already resigned to the fact that Wokingham has missed the boat this year, fielded two teenagers at the back in Gary Phillips and Alan Williams, and almost wished he hadn't. Slough's front men overwhelmed the inexperienced opposition with devastating ease, particularly Mark Adams, who roasted Williams time and again.

The Rebels could have been two up within 20 minutes as Adams displayed his skills by fleecing Williams as early as the fifth minute, crossing for Stanley to power against the angle of the upright....but the ball bounced harmlessly away.

Slough forced first half corners with amazing regularity only to see one elude Thompson with an open goal, before Gary Dodd produced a through ball to split the defence. Steve Thompson pounced to unleash a 20-yard shot that caught Town 'keeper Gary Westwood rooted to the spot, but the ball hit the inside of the post before rebounding back into Westwood's arms.

Gary Dodds' distribution on the day was second to none as he made a mockery of his recent criticism, feeding the wingers with good ball. And, typically for Slough these days, it was against the run of play that Town snatched the breakthrough shortly after the interval when Keith White brought down Brian Lucas in the penalty box.

Dave Pearce stepped up to score his 20th goal of the season from the spot kick, but it should have been a consolation goal for the home side. But for a brief resurgence on Town's part, Slough continued to press, but looked unlikely to put the ball into the net.

Then with just seven minutes left, the ref, who was perfectly placed, awarded a penalty in an off the ball incident with Tony Carter having pushed Steve Thompson in the box while Dennis was charging down the touchline 30 yards away.

To the relief of the Slough supporters, Ray Duffy sent the ex-Reading 'keeper the wrong way for the equaliser.

"I didn't even see the foul because I was watching the throw in but it was certainly no more than we deserved" said Alan Davies. At least something lacking had been put right, but you can't help thinking that Merryweather's experiments with younger players from the reserves may change Slough's fortunes in front of goal.