Slough Town
1
Hazel (75)
Wycombe Wanderers
1
Langford (70)
League
Attendance: 4500
Ian Hazel
Three draws in three games might set someone up as a pools millionaire, but they have ended Slough's chance of overhauling rivals Wycombe at the lop of the Vauxhall Conference.
With Slough's results going their over the previous week, Martin O'Neil's side came to Wexham Park in optimistic mood on Tuesday night for the league's battle of the giants.
And Wycombe left with all but their most doubting fans certain of a Barclays league Division Three future next season.
Technically the Adams Park outfit still need a further four points to be sure of the title, but with the Rebels goal difference considerably inferior, a win over Runcorn would give it to them.
Wycombe have six games left to Slough's three, and the best Dave Kemp's team can hope for is 74 points, while O'Neil's men can still get 89.
Their class showed on Tuesday night right from the whistle, and a 15 minute storm could have brought Slough to their knees.
But guided at the back by the excellent Pluckrose and an in-form Trevor Bunting, the Rebels held on, and as the half wore on they broke their way out of defence more and more regularly.
At the centre of the tussle was a battle royal between former Rebel Steve Thompson and current skipper Les Briley, a contrast in styles of play seeing the Wycombe number six win the early encounters but lose out more as the game developed.
Indeed Thompson set up the first real chance of the game with a cross to Keith Scott, but Bunting saved the striker's header with his knees.
With the game goalless at half time it had all the ring of a bore-draw about it, but the words Kemp used in the dressing room inspired his men to greater purpose.
They came out driving forward and threatened to score with Hazel and Fiore turning up the heat.
But it was the league leaders who found the net first, with Tim Langford, only signed from Telford last month, beating Bunting with a low drive on 70 minutes after taking the ball round Russell Edwards.
He could not have picked a more appropriate game to open his account for Wycombe, but Slough were never going to be rocked by a single strike.
Kemp made an immediate response by bringing on McKinnon for Friel, and the pressure was back on Wycombe.
Then Ian Hazel conjured up a Shearer style contender for Goal of the Month after a goalmouth melee saw the ball fly towards him 35 yards out.
As one young Rebels fan leaving the car park so eloquently put it, "the ball flew as fast as Nigel Mansell going round Silverstone" and dipping away went past the diving Paul Hyde.
The Wexham Park faithful erupted and the tension in the 4,500 strong record Conference crowd at the ground was almost unbearable for the remaining 15 minutes.
With Slough's results going their over the previous week, Martin O'Neil's side came to Wexham Park in optimistic mood on Tuesday night for the league's battle of the giants.
And Wycombe left with all but their most doubting fans certain of a Barclays league Division Three future next season.
Technically the Adams Park outfit still need a further four points to be sure of the title, but with the Rebels goal difference considerably inferior, a win over Runcorn would give it to them.
Wycombe have six games left to Slough's three, and the best Dave Kemp's team can hope for is 74 points, while O'Neil's men can still get 89.
Their class showed on Tuesday night right from the whistle, and a 15 minute storm could have brought Slough to their knees.
But guided at the back by the excellent Pluckrose and an in-form Trevor Bunting, the Rebels held on, and as the half wore on they broke their way out of defence more and more regularly.
At the centre of the tussle was a battle royal between former Rebel Steve Thompson and current skipper Les Briley, a contrast in styles of play seeing the Wycombe number six win the early encounters but lose out more as the game developed.
Indeed Thompson set up the first real chance of the game with a cross to Keith Scott, but Bunting saved the striker's header with his knees.
With the game goalless at half time it had all the ring of a bore-draw about it, but the words Kemp used in the dressing room inspired his men to greater purpose.
They came out driving forward and threatened to score with Hazel and Fiore turning up the heat.
But it was the league leaders who found the net first, with Tim Langford, only signed from Telford last month, beating Bunting with a low drive on 70 minutes after taking the ball round Russell Edwards.
He could not have picked a more appropriate game to open his account for Wycombe, but Slough were never going to be rocked by a single strike.
Kemp made an immediate response by bringing on McKinnon for Friel, and the pressure was back on Wycombe.
Then Ian Hazel conjured up a Shearer style contender for Goal of the Month after a goalmouth melee saw the ball fly towards him 35 yards out.
As one young Rebels fan leaving the car park so eloquently put it, "the ball flew as fast as Nigel Mansell going round Silverstone" and dipping away went past the diving Paul Hyde.
The Wexham Park faithful erupted and the tension in the 4,500 strong record Conference crowd at the ground was almost unbearable for the remaining 15 minutes.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Trevor Bunting
- 2 Brian Lee
- 3 Alan Pluckrose
- 4 Les Briley
- 5 Russell Edwards
- 6 Darren Anderson
- 7 Neal Stanley
- 8 Ian Hazel
- 9 Andy Sayer
- 10 George Friel 12
- 11 Mark Fiore
Substitutes
- 12 Paul McKinnon 10
- 14 Mark Quamina
Wycombe Wanderers Lineup
Paul Hyde, Jason Cousins, Geoff Cooper, Matt Crossley, Anton Vircavs, Steve Thompson, Dave Carroll, Tim Langford, Keith Ryan, Keith Scott, Steve Guppy. Substitutes: Mark West, Simon Hutchinson.