Slough Town
1
Bolt (68)
Cardiff City
1
O'Sullivan (16)
FA Cup
Attendance: 2262
Danny Bolt
A TRULY committed and courageous second half performance, capped by a fine goal from Danny Bolt, earned Slough Town an FA Cup replay against third division Cardiff City.
But the Rebels came so close to completing the upset, as clear chances to hit a winner went begging in the closing minutes. With five minutes to go a long clearance from Paul Hardyman was chested down by Gary Abbott to put Lloyd Owusu clear on goal. Owusu, who revealed afterwards he had been practising one-on-ones in the week, struck his shot well, but Cardiff keeper John Hallworth managed to keep it out with his legs.
And in the dying seconds Gary Bazil's cross almost found Abbott unmarked right on the far post, but the ball stuck in the mud and Abbott was unable to connect.
A crowd of 2,262 and plenty of vocal support for the Rebels made for a fantastic cup-tie atmosphere, and although the Slough players will feel they could have won it, they can also feel proud of their performance.
Bolt's equaliser on 68 minutes capped the best move of the game, which started with Paul Hardyman just inside his own half. His floated ball was controlled by Abbott in the box, touched on by Owusu, and slammed into the back of the net by Bolt.
Bolt, who has been in outstanding form since the beginning of the season, said: "I was very happy to get the goal, it was what we deserved.
"At half-time the manager said to us 'Just keep at them, don't be afraid, be confident.'
"There are a lot of players in our side with a lot of experience and they helped us along, they just kept us ticking over.
"We could have won it at the end, and I feel confident we are going to go there and turn them over."
During the first 45 minutes it seemed as if it might be a frustrating experience for Slough, as the Cardiff players settled quickly in the muddy conditions. They looked calm and assured and gave themselves just that split second longer on the ball, while the Rebels found their moves constantly breaking down and passes going astray.
The opening goal came in the 16th minute - after Carl Dale had seen his shot cannon off the underside of the bar and punched half-clear by Paul Wilkerson. But Wilkerson was left wishing he could have hung on to it, as Andy Saville chipped back in and Wayne O'Sullivan lifted it over the keeper from eight yards.
In the first half Slough were limited to shooting from distance, with Abbott and Bolt both trying their luck. But in the second the football began to flow, and as it did Slough grew in confidence while the travelling fans began to barrack their players.
In the 55th minute Abbott's curling effort from Bolt's intelligent pass went wide, a minute later Brazil's low drive from a free kick was held by Hallworth, and just before Bolt's goal Brazil and Terry Angus were just unable to stab home from a goalmouth scramble.
But the Rebels came so close to completing the upset, as clear chances to hit a winner went begging in the closing minutes. With five minutes to go a long clearance from Paul Hardyman was chested down by Gary Abbott to put Lloyd Owusu clear on goal. Owusu, who revealed afterwards he had been practising one-on-ones in the week, struck his shot well, but Cardiff keeper John Hallworth managed to keep it out with his legs.
And in the dying seconds Gary Bazil's cross almost found Abbott unmarked right on the far post, but the ball stuck in the mud and Abbott was unable to connect.
A crowd of 2,262 and plenty of vocal support for the Rebels made for a fantastic cup-tie atmosphere, and although the Slough players will feel they could have won it, they can also feel proud of their performance.
Bolt's equaliser on 68 minutes capped the best move of the game, which started with Paul Hardyman just inside his own half. His floated ball was controlled by Abbott in the box, touched on by Owusu, and slammed into the back of the net by Bolt.
Bolt, who has been in outstanding form since the beginning of the season, said: "I was very happy to get the goal, it was what we deserved.
"At half-time the manager said to us 'Just keep at them, don't be afraid, be confident.'
"There are a lot of players in our side with a lot of experience and they helped us along, they just kept us ticking over.
"We could have won it at the end, and I feel confident we are going to go there and turn them over."
During the first 45 minutes it seemed as if it might be a frustrating experience for Slough, as the Cardiff players settled quickly in the muddy conditions. They looked calm and assured and gave themselves just that split second longer on the ball, while the Rebels found their moves constantly breaking down and passes going astray.
The opening goal came in the 16th minute - after Carl Dale had seen his shot cannon off the underside of the bar and punched half-clear by Paul Wilkerson. But Wilkerson was left wishing he could have hung on to it, as Andy Saville chipped back in and Wayne O'Sullivan lifted it over the keeper from eight yards.
In the first half Slough were limited to shooting from distance, with Abbott and Bolt both trying their luck. But in the second the football began to flow, and as it did Slough grew in confidence while the travelling fans began to barrack their players.
In the 55th minute Abbott's curling effort from Bolt's intelligent pass went wide, a minute later Brazil's low drive from a free kick was held by Hallworth, and just before Bolt's goal Brazil and Terry Angus were just unable to stab home from a goalmouth scramble.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Paul Wilkerson
- 2 Garry Smart
- 3 Paul Hardyman
- 4 Gary McGinnis
- 5 Cliff Hercules
- 6 Terry Angus
- 7 Danny Bailey
- 8 Corey Browne
- 9 Gary Brazil
- 10 Gary Abbott
- 11 Danny Bolt
Substitutes
- 12 Mark Fiore
- 14 Matt Stowell
- 15 Lloyd Owusu
- 16 Lee Randall
- 17 Ben Miles