Macclesfield Town
1
Hanlon (79)
Slough Town
2
Bashir (36), Murphy (48)
League
Attendance: 1011
Frank Murphy
Slough rewarded their faithful band of supporters with an away win in true Conference style on Saturday and brought a smile to the face of Alan Davies. The Rebels proved that lessons have been learned, and with the skills and experience of loan players, secured some deserved away points at the sixth attempt.
Slough soaked up the pressure from the third favourites for the title and then nipped in with two killer goals at crucial times. Included in the Slough squad was another new face Stewart Brown - who has been signed on loan from Luton where he is a prolific reserve team goalscorer.
Practice makes perfect and as the match kicked off, the sweeper system was put to good effect and this is maturing with every performance. A combination of wind and at times torrential rain made the going tough and Macclesfield adapted more capably early on.
Steve Burr made a return for the home team after injury and with John Askey often delivering telling crosses, Macclesfield looked dangerous. But Slough had their own good spells, notably Steve Thompson's excellent ball across the box which wasn't met with the necessary finish.
Macclesfield retaliated and after 18 minutes Askey fired home but the use of a hand ruled out the goal. Then the Rebels regained control. Tony Dell's cross was well met by Neal Stanley only for the keeper to pull off a diving save.
With 24 minutes on the clock superb inter-passing between Frank Murphy and Thompson released Naseem Bashir and his cross was de-fleeted onto the post and into the grateful keepers arms. Both sides were having fine spells, but Slough looked the more purposeful going forward. Sean Lahiff pulled off a great save from Tobin's header but with 36 minutes on the clock, the Rebels took the lead.
Mark Mallinson broke on the left and his low cross was met on the near post by Bashir and his sidefooted effort confused the keeper who -could only help it over, the line. The second half saw the home side come out with the appearance of a team who had not enjoyed their half time team talk one bit.
With the crowd getting on "The Silkmen's" backs the Rebels dealt out further punishment to a clearly disillusioned side. With 48 minutes gone Frank Murphy highlighted an outstanding game. Edwards made a mess of Thompson's hopeful through ball and from nowhere Slough were two up
Murphy collected in the centre circle and ran on to chip the keeper superbly for a fine goal. The crowd jeered the home side's every move but they moved forward menacingly. The Slough defence held well with Trevor How sweeping up nicely behind a solid looking back line.
After 62 minutes Burr hit the crossbar with a stunning shot and just after that Phil Stacey made a superb tackle when Lahiff was stranded. Vernon Pratt replaced the injured Mallinson and the game got a little nasty, Imrie picking up a booking. With 11 minutes remaining though, Steve Hanlon nipped in to score and Slough had defending to do.
Both Lahiff and Stacey picked up late bookings, Macclesfield laid seige and won corner after corner. Lahiff pulled off an excellent point blank save and in the last minute, Thompson cleared a thundering shot off the line and the Rebels survived ... just!
Manager Alan Davies was full of praise for his side: "The lads played ever so well. It's nice to get, your first three points away and really it's what we deserve after our last couple of away games.”
Slough soaked up the pressure from the third favourites for the title and then nipped in with two killer goals at crucial times. Included in the Slough squad was another new face Stewart Brown - who has been signed on loan from Luton where he is a prolific reserve team goalscorer.
Practice makes perfect and as the match kicked off, the sweeper system was put to good effect and this is maturing with every performance. A combination of wind and at times torrential rain made the going tough and Macclesfield adapted more capably early on.
Steve Burr made a return for the home team after injury and with John Askey often delivering telling crosses, Macclesfield looked dangerous. But Slough had their own good spells, notably Steve Thompson's excellent ball across the box which wasn't met with the necessary finish.
Macclesfield retaliated and after 18 minutes Askey fired home but the use of a hand ruled out the goal. Then the Rebels regained control. Tony Dell's cross was well met by Neal Stanley only for the keeper to pull off a diving save.
With 24 minutes on the clock superb inter-passing between Frank Murphy and Thompson released Naseem Bashir and his cross was de-fleeted onto the post and into the grateful keepers arms. Both sides were having fine spells, but Slough looked the more purposeful going forward. Sean Lahiff pulled off a great save from Tobin's header but with 36 minutes on the clock, the Rebels took the lead.
Mark Mallinson broke on the left and his low cross was met on the near post by Bashir and his sidefooted effort confused the keeper who -could only help it over, the line. The second half saw the home side come out with the appearance of a team who had not enjoyed their half time team talk one bit.
With the crowd getting on "The Silkmen's" backs the Rebels dealt out further punishment to a clearly disillusioned side. With 48 minutes gone Frank Murphy highlighted an outstanding game. Edwards made a mess of Thompson's hopeful through ball and from nowhere Slough were two up
Murphy collected in the centre circle and ran on to chip the keeper superbly for a fine goal. The crowd jeered the home side's every move but they moved forward menacingly. The Slough defence held well with Trevor How sweeping up nicely behind a solid looking back line.
After 62 minutes Burr hit the crossbar with a stunning shot and just after that Phil Stacey made a superb tackle when Lahiff was stranded. Vernon Pratt replaced the injured Mallinson and the game got a little nasty, Imrie picking up a booking. With 11 minutes remaining though, Steve Hanlon nipped in to score and Slough had defending to do.
Both Lahiff and Stacey picked up late bookings, Macclesfield laid seige and won corner after corner. Lahiff pulled off an excellent point blank save and in the last minute, Thompson cleared a thundering shot off the line and the Rebels survived ... just!
Manager Alan Davies was full of praise for his side: "The lads played ever so well. It's nice to get, your first three points away and really it's what we deserve after our last couple of away games.”
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Sean Lahiff
- 2 Phil Stacey
- 3 Mark Mallinson 14
- 4 Tony Knight
- 5 Darren Anderson
- 6 Tony Dell
- 7 Trevor How
- 8 Neal Stanley 12
- 9 Frank Murphy
- 10 Steve Thompson
- 11 Nas Bashir
Substitutes
- 12 Stuart Brown 8
- 14 Vernon Pratt 3
Macclesfield Town Lineup
Zelem, Shepherd, Johnson (Ellis), Edwards, Tobin, Hanlon, Askey, Lambert, Cutler, Burr, Imrie.