First Half Goals Set Up Rebels For Win

Goals inside the first seventeen minutes from Anthony Howard and Sammy Winston sealed a comfortable victory for Slough in a game played in blustery conditions at Wadham Lodge.

The Rebels got their reward for a lively start in front of Leyton Pennant’s biggest home attendance of the season made up almost entirely of Slough fans. Two lone home supporters did add to the atmosphere though as their constant drumming and pipe playing made it seem more like Istanbul than East London.

Slough could have gone ahead as early as the sixth minute when they won a free kick on the left. Byron Bubb curled an excellent cross onto the head of Tony Boot who headed wide from eight yards. The hosts had one of their rare chances a few minutes later when a shot ricocheted to Dwight Marshall who blasted over when well placed.

Slough made their early dominance count in the thirteenth minute following a brilliant long clearance from Dominique Jean Zepherin. The Rebels keeper found Byron Bubb on the left who took the ball forward and was tackled as he attempted to beat his marker. Michael Gilkes crossed the resulting corner onto the edge of the six yard box and Anthony Howard came charging through a crowd of players to poke the ball home.

Four minutes later and Slough doubled their lead with another assist from their goalkeeper. A long early clearance down the middle was touched on and Sammy Winston showed great determination to get past the covering defender before flicking the ball over the advancing Wesley Jackman to join striking partner Tony Boot on twenty-one Rymans League goals this season.

Michael Gilkes almost extended the lead further on twenty minutes but his free kick was saved low to the keepers right and less than sixty seconds later Tony Boot narrowly shot wide from twenty yards after some great skill to give himself the opportunity.

The remainder of action in the first half centred around the referee who harshly booked Ryan Williams after twenty-five minutes for tugging Warren Ryan although failed to act upon the flailing arm thrown by the Leyton Pennant player as he tried to get away.

Ten minutes later a similar incident saw Anthony Howard pursued by Ryan who appeared to deliberately thrust a forearm into the Slough defenders face as they contested the ball. Despite the incident occurring directly in front of the assistant the home player escaped with just a yellow card when many officials would have deemed it violent conduct. In between, Michael Gilkes collected a caution for needlessly kicking the ball away after conceding a free kick.

Slough sat back in the second half and were content to play on the break. Darren Wilkinson came on for Anthony Howard after fifty-five minutes and six minutes later Ian Hodges replaced Dean Palmer who fell awkwardly on the touchline. The hosts almost pulled a goal back after sixty-five minutes when Ian Cooper wriggled his way to the by-line although skipper Steve Daly was on hand to turn the ball behind for a corner after the initial low cross was parried by Zepherin. The Rebels keeper maintained the two-goal advantage a few minutes later when he saved low to his right after substitute Steve Shaw had found space just inside the area.

A further spate of cards followed mid-way through the half. First Ian Cooper was booked for an altercation with Michael Gilkes then substitute Steve Shaw was shown a straight red after catching Darren Wilkinson with an elbow as the two contested a high ball. An further caution was shown to Leyton Pennant left back Danny Moore a few minutes later for a foul on Ian Hodges.

Slough could have extended their lead in the final few minutes but an offside flag denied Sammy Winston his second of the game before Ian Hodges shot just over after good control inside the box.