Slough Town
2
Strevens (24, 28)
Carshalton Ath
1
Elverson (77)
League
Attendance: 453
Steve Daly
Two fine goals from young striker Ben Strevens opened his account for Slough Town, led the Rebels to a victory in which they were more dominant than the scoreline suggests.
Strevens, whose predatory instincts were the reason why manager Steve Browne brought him in, should have completed a hat-trick and more but missed several easier chances which would have given Slough a cushion of safety.
Slough deserved the win with a good all-round performance but Carshalton worked hard and the Rebels' 2-0 halftime lead was halved with 20 minutes to go with the Robins battling till the end trying for the equaliser.
Browne had opted for a 4-4-2, with Marcus Richardson and Junior Haynes playing wide in midfield with a view to foraging forward. But Richardson looked uneasy in that position where his concern about tracking back seemed to inhibit him getting quickly forward.
Junior Haynes, on the other flank, had no such worries and was instrumental in both Slough's goals.
It was Haynes' endeavour in the 24th minute, when he chased back to beat an opponent to a ball punched clear by keeper Paul Smith that got the ball to Micky Engwell. His cross found Dwight Marshall in the box and he fed the ball back to Strevens who drove it neatly home.
Strevens made it two four minutes later as Haynes put in a pacy cross and Strevens stretched out a leg and guided the ball into the corner of the net, wrong-footing the keeper.
But shortly afterwards Strevens somehow missed the simplest of chances as he connected with a ball across the six-yard box by Marshall, but somehow managed to steer it wide of the post. Slough ended the first half as they began in the ascendancy with a series of three corners.
In the second half, Slough relaxed a bit on their lead, and it took a super pointblank save from Danny Honey in the 56th minute from Dave Fleming to maintain the advantage. Another chance for the visitors was missed two minutes later when Chris Currie skied a ball when in front of goal.
Browne changed things when he replaced Marshall, who was tiring through lack of match fitness, with Mark Hall, and moved Richardson up front. It livened up the Rebels as crosses in from Richardson, then Hall were met by Strevens but his direction was well off target.
Strevens then had another chance to strike his hat-trick when Hall shuffled the ball to him in front of goal but he could not act quickly enough before he was closed down.
Carshalton kept plugging away and got their reward when Matt Elverson pulled a goal back on 77 minutes, bundling in a low cross after some slack defending.
Bryan Hammatt then came off the bench to replace Strevens and was soon in the action and unlucky when his shot was blocked following a cross whipped in by Hall.
Moments later, the lively Hall jinked into the area but his cross-shot eluded both Richardson and Hammatt.
Despite further Carshalton pressure, Slough kept it tight to earn the three points but more clinical finishing would help their cause.
Strevens, whose predatory instincts were the reason why manager Steve Browne brought him in, should have completed a hat-trick and more but missed several easier chances which would have given Slough a cushion of safety.
Slough deserved the win with a good all-round performance but Carshalton worked hard and the Rebels' 2-0 halftime lead was halved with 20 minutes to go with the Robins battling till the end trying for the equaliser.
Browne had opted for a 4-4-2, with Marcus Richardson and Junior Haynes playing wide in midfield with a view to foraging forward. But Richardson looked uneasy in that position where his concern about tracking back seemed to inhibit him getting quickly forward.
Junior Haynes, on the other flank, had no such worries and was instrumental in both Slough's goals.
It was Haynes' endeavour in the 24th minute, when he chased back to beat an opponent to a ball punched clear by keeper Paul Smith that got the ball to Micky Engwell. His cross found Dwight Marshall in the box and he fed the ball back to Strevens who drove it neatly home.
Strevens made it two four minutes later as Haynes put in a pacy cross and Strevens stretched out a leg and guided the ball into the corner of the net, wrong-footing the keeper.
But shortly afterwards Strevens somehow missed the simplest of chances as he connected with a ball across the six-yard box by Marshall, but somehow managed to steer it wide of the post. Slough ended the first half as they began in the ascendancy with a series of three corners.
In the second half, Slough relaxed a bit on their lead, and it took a super pointblank save from Danny Honey in the 56th minute from Dave Fleming to maintain the advantage. Another chance for the visitors was missed two minutes later when Chris Currie skied a ball when in front of goal.
Browne changed things when he replaced Marshall, who was tiring through lack of match fitness, with Mark Hall, and moved Richardson up front. It livened up the Rebels as crosses in from Richardson, then Hall were met by Strevens but his direction was well off target.
Strevens then had another chance to strike his hat-trick when Hall shuffled the ball to him in front of goal but he could not act quickly enough before he was closed down.
Carshalton kept plugging away and got their reward when Matt Elverson pulled a goal back on 77 minutes, bundling in a low cross after some slack defending.
Bryan Hammatt then came off the bench to replace Strevens and was soon in the action and unlucky when his shot was blocked following a cross whipped in by Hall.
Moments later, the lively Hall jinked into the area but his cross-shot eluded both Richardson and Hammatt.
Despite further Carshalton pressure, Slough kept it tight to earn the three points but more clinical finishing would help their cause.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Danny Honey
- 2 Lee Gledhill
- 3 Micky Engwell
- 4 Junior Haynes
- 5 Steve Daly
- 6 Leon Townley
- 7 David Rainford
- 8 Marcus Richardson
- 9 Dwight Marshall 14
- 10 Ben Strevens 12
- 11 Mark Hawthorne
Substitutes
- 12 Brian Hammatt 10
- 14 Mark Hall 9
- 15 Chris White