Match day

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Tilehurst Panthers LFC (H)
Thu Mar 28
19:45

Match day

Team logo
Tilehurst Panthers LFC (H)
Thu Mar 28 19:45
Thames Valley Counties Women's Football League
1st
45pts

Magpies pinch Trophy glory third time round

Slough Town

Slough Town

1
Hercules (34)
Dorchester Town

Dorchester Town

2
Pickard (35), Taylor (53)
FA Trophy Attendance: 641 Unknown
It was the third meeting between these clubs inside 10 days, and the third time Slough Town took the lead only to give it up.

This time it took less than a minute for Dr Martens League side Dorchester to pull level, amid a headed goal in the 53rd minute put the Magpies ahead for the first lime in the tie.

It was a lead they were to hold until the end to win the right to visit Salisbury in the second round next month, while the Rebels are left to look back on another game where lack of firepower cost them dear.

Manager Brian McDermott changed his attacking formation for the game. starting with Gary Abbott and Cliff Hercules. while Saturday's pairing of Michael Murphy and Danny Bolt were on the bench.

Abbott had the first chance for Slough after Derek Simpson's cross was looped back into the box by Gary Blackford. Abbott's effort was blocked and Steve Bateman's follow-up shot also cannoned off a defender.

But Dorchester also showed their willingness to attack, with Tommy Killick's shot well saved by Wilkerson and Craig Taylor's shot from the resulting corner deflected over the bar.

Slough took the lead in the 34th minute when a cross from Simpson fell to a crowd of three Slough players in the Dorchester penalty area. Hercules took charge running the ball round the back of Steve Richardson and firing the Rebels into the lead.

But Slough's inability to hold onto a lead was brought home when Dorchester equalised virtually straight from the kick-off. Russell Coughlin made a good run down the right, and his cross found Owen Pickard who headed in from six yards out.

After more than four hours of football between the two sides, it was perhaps unsurprising that several players began to feel the needle and tempers began to fray. A bad challenge on Pickard seven minutes into the second half earned Slough skipper Gary McGinnis a booking. and gave Dorchester the free kick that set up their winner.

Coughlin floated the ball to the far post. Richardson headed back across the goal and central defender Craig Taylor, who scored the penalty at Dorchester to force this replay, was there to put it in.

McDermott brought on Murphy for Simpson just after the hour mark, but Dorchester had their tails up and were closing down every Slough move quickly. Home fans could only watch in frustration as moves broke down and long periods of pressure brought no reward.

Abbott came closest to rescuing the Rebels when his header from a Blackford cross came off a defender and landed on the roof of the net. Even with seven minutes of injury time, Slough could not find a way through.

Dorchester's win will go down as an upset, but in the end it was the team that showed great belief and commitment that won.

Dorchester Town Lineup

Rebels

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