Rebels And Blues Share The Points

Wexham Park played host to a scintillating, white hot celebration of Conference Football on Tuesday night. Arch rivals Slough and Wycombe took their long history of battles into its 100th year with a breathtaking and action packed game.

There were heroes and villains, agony and ecstasy and all in front of a record breaking crowd - you couldn't have asked for any more. Slough were forced into a single change when Vernon Pratt replaced the suspended Darren Anderson in the centre of defence. Wycombe, one of the top tips for the title, listed a number of changes as they finally returned to full strength.

Over 3,000 fans packed into the stadium and they looked ready for the duel of all local duels with much more than three points at stake. Early possession went Wycombe's way and they threatened well with Andy Kerr seeing his header pushed over by Trevor Bunting.

Slough slowly got to grips with the pace and started creating well, Wycombe keeper John Granvelle forced into a fine save when Trevor How got a foot to a flicked-on corner. Just as the Rebels were getting on top, they were dealt a punishing blow when Dave Carroll broke down the right to cross for Mark West to head home on 17 minutes.

Shortly afterwards, Simon Stapleton's 25 yard shot cannoned off the crossbar and Slough took the warning and went into overdrive. Steve Thompson was at his magnificent best, destroying the visitors, Phil Stacey was excellent in his important clash with Carrol, Vernon Pratt was turning in a fine performance and Mark Turkington was superb in the midfield.

But it was PRATT who stole the show after 26 minutes when he picked up on an uncleared corner to curl the ball past Granville and level the scores. Five minutes later and Turkington saw his diving header fly just wide but it was end to end stuff as both teams took turns to dominate as Bunting saved well from Walford's header.

The half time interval allowed the crowd to catch their breath and soon the action was underway again. Wycombe dominated the second half early on, entrenching Slough around their box and sending in some testing crosses. Thompson found himself pushed deeper, but broke well and tied up the Wanderers players with his mazy runs.

On 66 minutes it was speedy Steve himself that hit the net. Glyn Creaser was pressurised in the corner and as he struggled, his poor clearance ran to THOMPSON who rifled the ball home from the edge of the box.

Half the ground erupted in joy, but was soon silenced. Straight from the restart Wycombe thundered down the left and Nicky Evans cross took a wicked deflection to the far post where Carroll leapt to head home.

The game continued to pulsate from end to end, neat, intelligent football from both sides, but suddenly, disaster hit the Rebels. A challenge for a high ball saw both Tony Knight and Trevor Bunting collide, Knight being carried off the pitch with concussion and taken to hospital. Mark Mallinson replaced him in the middle of defence but the Rebels had no time to settle as from the resultant drop ball, Evans found himself unmarked to head home with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Wycombe were getting on top, but then Barry Rake came on to replace sweeper How and Slough reverted to a 4-4-2 formation. It worked almost instantly when Rake latched onto a ball on the right, crossed far post where Langley capitalised on a poor defensive header from Kerr to poke the ball home with seven minutes left.A tense finish saw Wycombe win a flurry of corners, but the Rebels kept them out for a score that was fair to both sides.