See-Saw Battle Sees Off Rebels

Slough's chance to take over the Vauxhall League top spot on Saturday was squandered as this game was won and lost in a matter of seconds.

It was another reminder of the Rebels' powerful season hitting the self destruct button, where they drop points through their own fault rather than to the credit of the opposition. But it was a good performance all the same, at Finchampstead Road on a dull and , yet again, windy Saturday afternoon.

Wokingham topped the table with 62 points from 28 games, with the Rebels three points behind having played the same number of games. This match could have swung the title chase dramatically either way; had Slough won they would have closed the gap and taken top spot on goal difference. Had they lost, Wokingham would have opened up a formidable six-point gap.

The draw only helped Kingstonian, who moved within two points of the Rebels in third spot. A huge crowd was in attendance to watch these two sides in this test of nerves and skill. The odds lay with Wokingham, they had only conceded five goals in winning 11 of their 14 home games.

The match kicked off with Wokingham with the slight wind and slope to their advantage, and Slough made the more nervous of starts, conceding two early corners.

But the match exploded after only five minutes when Barry Rake was brought down on the right with the ball at his feet. Steve Thompson swung the ball in at the far post and there was Tommy Langley rising high to power home a header. A goal every bit as crucial as any the tall striker will have scored in his star-studded professional career.

But having taken an inspirational lead, it was through slack defending that Wokingham seized a lifeline and the game was back to square one. Brian Broome received the ball from a short corner and was shut down slowly, his low cross finding Andy Nunn at the near post who had time to turn and fire home.

Had the Rebels held the lead for a while longer, the home side would have felt pressured to attack and leave themselves open, and with a recognised striker missing from their front line, Slough could well have stolen the points.

Tommy Langley continued to play well up front, and added a new dimension to the attack, , bringing the full backs into play with Robbie Johnson getting in some important crosses.

Jeff Bateman, who combined well with Gary Dodd to stop the flow of high balls into attack from the Wokingham side, was close with a header from a free kick.

The game got harder, Tony Knight and Brian Broome battling it out for supremacy in the midfield and free kicks became the order of play. Both sides ebbed and flowed, each dominating in periods but neither able to hold together a good few minutes of sustained pressure.

Wokingham's large volume of corners did cause some apprehension though, and Dave Thompson fired over after the Rebels failed to clear a goalmouth scramble, and Lester produced a fine save when Dave Swannack nipped in on Trevor How's mistake.

As the half wore on Wokingham began to dominate, but failed to make any impression with their pressure.

The second part of the instalment was more akin to a chess match and held about as much entertainment for the crowd as DJ Bear's inane pre-match entertainment.

But you don't expect top sides to put entertainment first when so much is at stake, and it is clinching the match rather than entertainment that finally wins the day- a principle that TV bosses should take into consideration perhaps for their live games.

The Rebels started the second half well, and held more of the possession but failed to penetrate a solid and well disciplined defence. The midfield was rather like a pinball machine. Errors being harried out of each side with no time to relax and create.

Steve Thompson was forced deeper and deeper in order to pick up the ball and find time, but the opportunity of taking men on was lost so close to his own goal.

Mark Adams failed to get a penetrating cross in during the whole game, finding himself being mugged by two defenders every time he received the ball.

Both sides worked down the flanks, but the full backs held sway - the only weak quarter of the pitch being Wokingham's left, where the Rebels found most of their moves began to look friutful.

Nunn volleyed over from the far post for Wokingham, while it looked as if Langley was held back in the box with the ball at his feet from a Slough attack, the referee waving play on.

The final clear cut effort saw Wokingham's Darron Wilkinson fire a hard low shot goalwards from a half cleared corner but just as it looked to be going in it rebounded off Swannack and clear.