Slough Town
2
Abbey (13), Coyne (77)
Woodford United
1
Hawkins (52)
League
Attendance: 264
Alex Brown
Paul Coyne's fifth goal of the season proved decisive as Slough Town ground out a narrow win over visitors Woodford United and stayed top of the Evo-Stik Southern Division One Central table.
Slough started brightly, looking fluent in attack on a bumpy pitch at Holloways Park, and after Stuart Swift fired an early sighter well wide from 25 yards and Ben Abbey volleyed a decent chance over the bar, Slough took 13th minute lead.
The goal was made by Alex Brown, who superbly won a tackle near the touchline before playing a ball over the top for Ben Abbey, and the experienced number nine made no mistake, sprinting free of last man Chris Jackson as he missed his attempted clearance, and firing home into the bottom corner.
Matt Finlay saved well from a Woozley header and created numerous half-chances, but James Warrington, a man in form at present, saved well from Alfie Taylor, spreading himself bravely.
Slough very nearly made it two before the break, but Abbey missed from a difficult angle and Finlay gathered before Murphy could pounce.
Soon after, Abbey's ball into the six yard box was narrowly missed by the stretching Sonner.
Slough had deserved a second goal, but their one-goal lead was always precarious – and seven minutes into the second half, some lax defending allowed the visitors a free header, which was kept out by Warrington, but the rebound was turned in by Glen Hawkins, leaving the goalkeeper furious.
Suddenly, Warrington’s workload increased, and he made another good low save soon after to keep the scores level.
But it looked for a long time as if the keeper would struggle to complete the match, after hitting the turf with a knee injury.
After a delay of five minutes for treatment, Warrington gingerly took his place back between the sticks, but was clearly struggling. Without a recognised goalkeeper on the bench, the situation looked precarious for Slough, but the fighting spirit of Steve Bateman’s side would ultimately see them through to a crucial win.
Within a minute or two of play restarting, Slough gave the best possible response, taking the lead with yet another Paul Coyne strike.
The midfielder, outstanding of late, was in the right place at the right time to turn in a rebound at the second attempt after the unlucky Finlay had made a superb double save, initially from a powerful Sonner header.
Woodford always seemed likely to have at least one more half chance before the curtain fell, and the visitors will perhaps rue the fact it fell to skipper Jackson, who missed a chance to atone for his earlier error, firing horribly wide with the goal gaping, with Warrington clearly unable to get across to save.
All the late pressure came from Slough though, and substitute Burnell struck a post as Slough looked to kill the game off, but Woodford were unable to muster an equaliser.
Slough started brightly, looking fluent in attack on a bumpy pitch at Holloways Park, and after Stuart Swift fired an early sighter well wide from 25 yards and Ben Abbey volleyed a decent chance over the bar, Slough took 13th minute lead.
The goal was made by Alex Brown, who superbly won a tackle near the touchline before playing a ball over the top for Ben Abbey, and the experienced number nine made no mistake, sprinting free of last man Chris Jackson as he missed his attempted clearance, and firing home into the bottom corner.
Matt Finlay saved well from a Woozley header and created numerous half-chances, but James Warrington, a man in form at present, saved well from Alfie Taylor, spreading himself bravely.
Slough very nearly made it two before the break, but Abbey missed from a difficult angle and Finlay gathered before Murphy could pounce.
Soon after, Abbey's ball into the six yard box was narrowly missed by the stretching Sonner.
Slough had deserved a second goal, but their one-goal lead was always precarious – and seven minutes into the second half, some lax defending allowed the visitors a free header, which was kept out by Warrington, but the rebound was turned in by Glen Hawkins, leaving the goalkeeper furious.
Suddenly, Warrington’s workload increased, and he made another good low save soon after to keep the scores level.
But it looked for a long time as if the keeper would struggle to complete the match, after hitting the turf with a knee injury.
After a delay of five minutes for treatment, Warrington gingerly took his place back between the sticks, but was clearly struggling. Without a recognised goalkeeper on the bench, the situation looked precarious for Slough, but the fighting spirit of Steve Bateman’s side would ultimately see them through to a crucial win.
Within a minute or two of play restarting, Slough gave the best possible response, taking the lead with yet another Paul Coyne strike.
The midfielder, outstanding of late, was in the right place at the right time to turn in a rebound at the second attempt after the unlucky Finlay had made a superb double save, initially from a powerful Sonner header.
Woodford always seemed likely to have at least one more half chance before the curtain fell, and the visitors will perhaps rue the fact it fell to skipper Jackson, who missed a chance to atone for his earlier error, firing horribly wide with the goal gaping, with Warrington clearly unable to get across to save.
All the late pressure came from Slough though, and substitute Burnell struck a post as Slough looked to kill the game off, but Woodford were unable to muster an equaliser.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 James Warrington
- 2 Alex Brown
- 3 Danny Murphy
- 4 Steve Perkins 16
- 5 Nathan Bowden-Haase
- 6 David Woozley
- 7 Steve Sinclair
- 8 Paul Coyne
- 9 Ben Abbey 14
- 10 Sean Sonner 15
- 11 Stuart Swift
Substitutes
- 12 Shaun Byrne
- 14 Danny Burnell 9
- 15 Charlie Mpi 10
- 16 Adam Martin 4
- 17 Simon Sweeney
Woodford United Lineup
Matt Finlay, Daniel Burke, Nathaniel Liburd, Ross Harris, Chris Jackson (c), Ben Milner, Tom Fountain, Craig Pearman (Ricky Johnson), Alfie Taylor, Glen Hawkins, Wesley Emery. Subs not used: Justin Dowling, Chris Davies, James Wright.