Rebels Hit By Leafe Counters

A strong defensive performance from Whyteleafe coupled with two goals on the break led to Slough losing their first away match of the season. Despite having the majority of possession, the Rebels could not break down the resolute back line and seemed to lack ideas in the final third.

The Slough starting line up was identical to the one which beat Leatherhead on Saturday although Elias Bakhsian and Dan Whatford were not on the bench, replaced by sub keeper Scott O'Rourke and, to the delight of the Slough fans, the returning Paul Barrowcliff.

The away side started much the better and could have gone into the lead very early on as Tony Boot closed down Whyteleafe keeper Michael Lidbury who kicked the ball straight at the Slough striker. However, Lidbury recovered quickly and picked up the ball as it was heading for the net.

With eight minutes gone, Slough thought they had taken the lead as an excellent corner from Alex Haddow was headed into the net by the powerful Nick Gyoury. However, referee Mr Bull spotted a push by the centre half and ruled the goal out although the decision looked a harsh one.

Despite Slough's decent start to the game they were finding it difficult to create chances and were restricted to long range efforts from Danny Steer and Matt Miller, both of which failed to hit the target. Adrian Brown then broke down the right flank, taking on the Whyteleafe defence, but after forcing his way into a good position on the wing he took a shot at goal which went wide of the post when a cross looked like the better option.

There were further half chances for Chris Dickson of Whyteleafe and Boot for Slough before the home side took the lead very much against the run of play. After a long ball out of defence Slough could not clear the ball out of their area and it was picked up by Paul Scott on the left side. His drilled cross was tucked away by Mark Tompkins with a finish which gave Alan Foster no chance in the Slough goal.

The goal seemed to stun Slough and they couldn't find their feet for the rest of the half creating very little in the minutes before the half time interval.

Whyteleafe came out looking much stronger with centre backs Nigel Golley and especially Mark Dickinson keeping out everything the Rebels were throwing at them. Dickson had another decent chance for the home team before an excellent cross from Glen Harris was dived at by Miller but the ball was just out of reach and the striker was booked for sticking out a hand to deflect the ball.

Both teams continued to have chances although neither side could really force themselves into a real goal-scoring position. Peter Garland and then Ian Hodges and Ryan Spencer all went close within the space of three minutes before an excellent curling free kick from Haddow was headed away off the line by Dickinson after it looked as though Lidbury was beaten.

As Slough started to apply a bit more pressure, Brown worked himself into a similar position to that he had found in the first half and with a slightly better angle once again tried his luck, although this time Lidbury palmed the ball round the upright.

Spencer had a long range effort go well wide before Steer and Boot both had chances which they maybe could have done better with. Firstly, Steer picked up the ball after Harris' cross had been punched away by the home keeper but his shot from 12 yards seemed to be scuffed into the ground. Then a good flick on by Hodges sat up nicely for Boot but with a bit of time he could only strike his volley straight at Lidbury.

With Slough trying to attack at all times, the break was always on for Whyteleafe and after Graham Harper and Scott were both denied by Foster in one on one's, Dickson managed to find a way through the backline. His shot was cleared off the line by Bartley but the ball only fell to Tompkins who once again had the easiest of tap-ins to finish the game off.

Overall it was a disappointing evening for the travelling players and supporters and the team will now be looking to bounce back and extend their cup run against Godalming and Guildford on Saturday.