Lewes
6
J Cunrow, S Hack. C Metcalfe (og), G Green, T Reid, G Amanuel
Slough Town
4
B Bubb (2), Gilkes, A Bubb
FA Trophy
Attendance: 320
Byron Bubb
The Dripping pan certainly lived up to it's name on Saturday as Slough travelled to Lewes in the FA Trophy on a very wet afternoon. Defending would be difficult on this pitch in the miserable conditions, but nobody would have predicted both sides sharing ten goals between them with Lewes eventually winning 6-4.
In truth both sides looked likely to score every time they attacked and it was the Rebels who took an early lead when a quick free-kick on the edge of the area found Byron Bubb who shot past Ross Standen at his near post to open the scoring. The Rooks soon equalised though when a needless foul in the penalty area by defender Dean Palmer gave the home side a penalty that Julian Cunrow converted to bring the scores level.
Lewes had a brief spell of pressure on the Slough goal and with goalkeeper Dominique Jean-Zepherin looking nervous on the wet pitch they tested him with a number of shots and high crosses. It was the Rebels though who took the lead though when Michael Gilkes delightfully curled in a low free-kick that found it's way past a number of players into the back of the net.
Unsurprisingly though the Rooks equalised though when a free-kick into the penalty area was headed down by Cunrow. The ball was only parried by Zepherin and Stuart Hack pounced to score from close range.
That goal came late in the first half, but Lewes still had time to take the lead for the first time in the match when Zepherin conceded a needless corner and from John Palmer's cross midfielder Christian Metcalfe unfortunately turned the ball into his own net.
Manager Steve Browne was clearly not happy with his sides first-half performance and brought on Steve Hale for Tony Boot, who still looked to be suffering from last weeks injury. The Rebels manager also brought on goalkeeper Gary McCann who returned to the club late last week.
Clearly shaken up by their managers half-time team talk the Rebels started positively in this half. They created a number of good chances with the best two falling to substitute Hale who was only denied by a last ditch interception and Sammy Winston who miss-kicked in front of goal when he should have scored.
Winston nearly made amends for his bad miss though when he hit a shot on goal only for Standen to make a low save to his right. Despite all Slough's early pressure it was the home side who went further in front when a cross by Danny Davis found Gareth Green unmarked in the area and he headed the ball into the back of the net.
Lewes soon found themselves three goals in front with their next attack when another dangerous cross from the right was only partially cleared by Palmer only to see the ball put back into the penalty area for Tony Reid to score past McCann.
Despite Lewes now being three-goals ahead and the Rebels playing nowhere near their best, you still felt that the away side still had a chance with the slippery conditions. They pulled a goal back when a cross from the left by Gilkes saw a Lewes defender kick the ball away from the danger area, only to see it rebound of Byron Bubb and hit the back of the net.
Slough now almost had eight men attacking leaving the Rebels defence exposed at the back and McCann had to bet at his best twice to stop Lewes going further ahead. In the 90th minute the Rebels made it 5-4 when another Gilkes cross saw substitute Alvin Bubb score from close range to set up an exciting finish.
With a few minutes of injury-time remaining Slough now felt they had a good chance of taking the match to a replay, but Lewes settled the tie when Germain Amanuel found himself with only McCann to beat. He saw his initial shot saved, but scored from the rebound.
In truth both sides looked likely to score every time they attacked and it was the Rebels who took an early lead when a quick free-kick on the edge of the area found Byron Bubb who shot past Ross Standen at his near post to open the scoring. The Rooks soon equalised though when a needless foul in the penalty area by defender Dean Palmer gave the home side a penalty that Julian Cunrow converted to bring the scores level.
Lewes had a brief spell of pressure on the Slough goal and with goalkeeper Dominique Jean-Zepherin looking nervous on the wet pitch they tested him with a number of shots and high crosses. It was the Rebels though who took the lead though when Michael Gilkes delightfully curled in a low free-kick that found it's way past a number of players into the back of the net.
Unsurprisingly though the Rooks equalised though when a free-kick into the penalty area was headed down by Cunrow. The ball was only parried by Zepherin and Stuart Hack pounced to score from close range.
That goal came late in the first half, but Lewes still had time to take the lead for the first time in the match when Zepherin conceded a needless corner and from John Palmer's cross midfielder Christian Metcalfe unfortunately turned the ball into his own net.
Manager Steve Browne was clearly not happy with his sides first-half performance and brought on Steve Hale for Tony Boot, who still looked to be suffering from last weeks injury. The Rebels manager also brought on goalkeeper Gary McCann who returned to the club late last week.
Clearly shaken up by their managers half-time team talk the Rebels started positively in this half. They created a number of good chances with the best two falling to substitute Hale who was only denied by a last ditch interception and Sammy Winston who miss-kicked in front of goal when he should have scored.
Winston nearly made amends for his bad miss though when he hit a shot on goal only for Standen to make a low save to his right. Despite all Slough's early pressure it was the home side who went further in front when a cross by Danny Davis found Gareth Green unmarked in the area and he headed the ball into the back of the net.
Lewes soon found themselves three goals in front with their next attack when another dangerous cross from the right was only partially cleared by Palmer only to see the ball put back into the penalty area for Tony Reid to score past McCann.
Despite Lewes now being three-goals ahead and the Rebels playing nowhere near their best, you still felt that the away side still had a chance with the slippery conditions. They pulled a goal back when a cross from the left by Gilkes saw a Lewes defender kick the ball away from the danger area, only to see it rebound of Byron Bubb and hit the back of the net.
Slough now almost had eight men attacking leaving the Rebels defence exposed at the back and McCann had to bet at his best twice to stop Lewes going further ahead. In the 90th minute the Rebels made it 5-4 when another Gilkes cross saw substitute Alvin Bubb score from close range to set up an exciting finish.
With a few minutes of injury-time remaining Slough now felt they had a good chance of taking the match to a replay, but Lewes settled the tie when Germain Amanuel found himself with only McCann to beat. He saw his initial shot saved, but scored from the rebound.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Dominique Jean-Zephirin
- 2 Ryan Spencer
- 3 Antony Howard
- 4 Dean Palmer
- 5 Paul Barrowcliff
- 6 Veli Hakki
- 7 Byron Bubb
- 8 Christian Metcalfe
- 9 Sammy Winston
- 10 Tony Boot
- 11 Michael Gilkes
Substitutes
- 12 Steve Hale
- 14 Alvin Bubb
- 15 Adrian Browne
- 16 Chris Ferdinand
- 17 Gary McCann