Dulwich Downed As Good Run Continues

Slough extended their winning streak to six league matches and seven in all competitions with another fantastic performance away at high flying Dulwich. The starting line up was, unsurprisingly, unchanged from last weekend, which meant that Ryan Williams, who had hobbled off after less than half an hour, was fit enough to retain his place, while Veli Hakki returned to his former club.

The Rebels started well and got off to the best possible start. After good attacking play between Williams, Hakki and Ian Hodges, Slough were awarded a corner. Glen Harris delivered a pinpoint cross which was met with full force by the head of the Steve Daly. The captain’s header thundered past Scott Ward and crashed against he underside of the bar down into the net.

For the next fifteen minutes, Slough were put under heavy pressure by Dulwich for whom Omari Coleman and Craig Dundas looked particularly lively.

Ronnie Green and Francis Quarm had half chances for Dulwich but the best opportunities fell to Coleman who twice saw efforts saved by Alan Foster and on a third occasion sliced his effort when he should have troubled the keeper.

After the onslaught the rest of the first half settled down into a quiet affair with neither goalkeeper being troubled too much more. The two midfield’s looked comfortable, while Slough’s defensive line up of Lee Riddell, Daly, Michael Murphy and Paul Barrowcliff looked secure as it has done throughout the winning run.

The last real chance of the half fell to the away side. A lovely ball through from Hakki released Tony Boot but his lobbed effort was just wide of Ward’s upright.

The second half started at a much higher tempo and once again it was Slough who took advantage early on. After a lovely move involving no less than seven Slough players, the ball eventually found its way to the right and Williams. The midfielder delivered one of the crosses of the season and the incoming Harris diverted a fantastic header into the bottom corner of the goal. It was a fantastic goal and led to mass celebrations between the players and, once again, the large travelling support.

The joy was short lived to an extent as less than a minute later, Dulwich managed to half the defecit. As Murphy and Daly seemed to go to sleep for a couple of seconds both Coleman and Dundas managed to beat the offside trap. Coleman’s effort was superbly saved by Foster but the keeper could do nothing to deny Dundas on the follow up.

Dulwich once again started the enjoy the larger amount of pressure but couldn’t really get many efforts on goal, Quarm’s free kick being their only opening which Foster saved easily.

Then, just after the hour mark, the game swung back the way of the Rebels as Hodges found the net for the sixth successive match. Harris’ deep cross was met by Hodges whose header went back across Ward and into the net. The keeper, on coming to claim the ball, managed to punch the striker full in the face but Hodges was not to be deterred although a couple of minutes off the pitch was required by the blood stained striker.

Slough really started to take control and good play between Harris, Wilkinson and Boot led to the latter firing in a shot, but it was weak and
easily held by Ward. Then a lovely through ball by Williams was latched onto by Hodges but his effort rolled wide of the post. Dulwich weren’t totally giving up and Green was unlucky to have his effort brilliantly cleared off the line by Murphy.

With twelve minutes to go, the Rebels finally killed off the match as Boot put his name on the scoresheet. Once again much of the work was done by Hodges but as his shot was only parried by Ward and Boot managed to reach the ball before Lee Akers or Alex O’Brien to tap into an open goal. With the game tied up, Eddie Denton replaced Hodges, Boot and Williams with Matt Miller, Alex Haddow and Andrew Deaner. The reception the departing players received reflected the performance that all three had put into a fantastic team win.

With the clock ticking into injury time, Dulwich managed to scramble a consolation when substitute Kemal Bulent’s cross was diverted home by Dundas once again. The home side could have brought the game even closer if Dundas had completed his hat trick from a yard after good work by David Moore.

However, the striker somehow managed to turn his shot the wrong side of the post. A scoreline that close would have flattered Dulwich as Slough had been the better team throughout the majority of the game. With games against mid-table opposition of Tuesday and Saturday, Slough will now be looking to extend their winning run further and firmly consolidate their position in the all important top six places, especially
now that the restructuring has finally been confirmed.