Thompson and Langley Goals Enough

Football managers love to call important matches "six pointers". For once this was a game where the stakes really were double or nothing.

Defeat for either side would have condemned their Vauxhall League championship challenge to oblivion for another season.

Slough's eventual victory over third placed Kingstonian in this thrill a minute match re-established their five point lead at the top of the table and they are now, once again, installed as championship favourites.

With another home match on Saturday - Hayes are the visitors - and their last three matches against middle of the table or struggling sides, the Rebels have their best chance in many years of lifting the championship.

In a match of wildly fluctuating fortunes, Slough went ahead after missing an early penalty, conceded a goal 46 seconds after half time, restored their lead 13 minutes later with a splendid Steve Thompson volley and were then left hanging on so desperately at the end as Tony Knight came to the rescue.

With three first choice players - Gary Lester, Mark Hill and Gary Dodd - missing, Slough persevered with the side that had taken only one point from their last two matches.

Although keeper Trevor Bunting once again did not inspire confidence - you could almost hear the nerves of the defenders in front of him jangling whenever the ball was in Slough's penalty area - the deputy did a more than capable job.

The Rebels survived a scare in the second minute, when Steve Tutt's 20 yard lob was pushed over by Bunting, to dominate the majority of the first half.

They should have gone ahead after just six minutes when Mark Adams was shoved over by Darren Bird, but skipper Trevor How saw his well struck penalty beaten down by K's keeper Adrian Blake.

Two minutes later, How thought he had made amends with a close range header from Thompson' scorner, only to see it bounce back off the post.

Kingstonian seemed unable to come to terms with the frenetic pace of the match and it was, therefore, something of a surprise when in the 22nd minute, Martin Nelmes thundered in a vicious dipping volley that rocked Slough's crossbar.

Slough took the lead in the 29th minute with a goal that owed just as much to Stamford Bridge as Wexham Park. Neal Stanley's gallop through the K's defence ended with a powder puff shot that clipped the heels of former Chelsea captain Micky Droy and rolled into the path of his old team mate Tommy Langley who slid home his 22nd goal of the season.

The complexion of the match was changed immediately half time when Droy and Francis Vine helped a Nelmes free kick into the path of Steve Griffiths who forced the equaliser over the line. And Kingstonian could have taken the lead in the 51st minute had it not been for How clearing Tutt's shot off the line.

The Rebels restored their lead seven minutes later when Adams corner was only half cleared and the ball set up invitingly for Thompson on the edge of the penalty area. He struck a beautiful volley past Blake.

Despite Kingstonian's lack of penetration, Slough still had to survive a tense last 30 minutes as they conceded a series of free kicks in their own half.

And their biggest league crowd of the season had its hearts in their mouths in the 89th minute when a Droy header was scrambled away by Knight.