Aylesbury
3
Rudd (44, 57), Haule (47)
Slough Town
1
Smith (89)
League
Attendance: 387
Dan Sintim
Slough Town will go into the final game of the season with a good chance of reaching the playoffs, despite a disappointing defeat by Steve Bateman’s Aylesbury.
The Rebels will need to at least match Barton Rovers’ result on Saturday in order to finish fifth, and with a home match against relegated Chertsey to come, Neil Baker and Jon Underwood’s men must fancy their chances, despite two defeats in three days over the Easter weekend.
Slough created the better chances in the first half, with Warren Harris the main threat. He had an early chance to make inroads into the Aylesbury penalty area, but his first cross was blocked and his second was cleared.
Aylesbury’s Gareth Price put a free kick straight into the arms of Somerville, before Sam Bateman, a former Slough player, was forced off with ankle injury, replaced by his brother Ben.
Slough will rue missed chances, particularly for Johnnie Dyer, who flicked a header from a corner just wide, and minutes later had another headed effort deflected wide.
More chances came and went - Smith failed to get the right contact on a cross from James Dobson, and the ball bounced up off the dry pitch and into the arms of James Weatherill. Smith headed another cross from Fraser over the bar, whilst Dyer went closer still, but saw his header cleared off the line by Ben Stevens. Dyer fired in a snapshot which went just wide, and Warren Harris shot into the side netting after a clever flick from Ed Smith.
But against the run of play, Jamie Rudd opened the scoring in somewhat fortuitous circumstances. He picked up a pass on the left and put in a cross which flew past the reach of Somerville and into the corner, putting Slough a goal behind.
The game slipped away from the Rebels early in the second half. Rudd was again involved as he fed Price, whose strike from outside the box was parried by Somerville, but only to Brian Haule, who mopped up the rebound from a few yards out.
On 57 minutes, Aylesbury made it three. Jamie Rudd capitalised on a loose ball after interplay between Haule and Rudd, and fired the ball into the roof of the net.
Slough threw on Adam Cornell in place of George Short as the Rebels looked to rescue the game, but the task was beyond them, even despite the dismissal of Stevens for two bookable offences within the space of a couple of minutes on 63 minutes.
Aylesbury were effective on the counter-attack with Price and Lamar Simpson dangerous, and full-back Rob Tomlin was denied by Somerville from close range.
In response, Weatherill made a good save from Warren Harris, but Aylesbury still created chances, with Somerville narrowing the angle well to keep out Simpson.
Slough’s 100th league goal of the season was greeted by muted celebrations from the large travelling contingent in a bumper Bank Holiday crowd. Ed Smith poked the ball past Weatherill as Aylesbury failed to prevent the striker forcing his way through.
Warren Harris brought a good save out of Weatherill a minute or so later but despite late pressure, it was too little, too late for the Rebels, for whom fifth place is still firmly in their hands. Slough also ended the game with ten men after Sean Fraser limped off, having turned his ankle.
The Rebels will need to at least match Barton Rovers’ result on Saturday in order to finish fifth, and with a home match against relegated Chertsey to come, Neil Baker and Jon Underwood’s men must fancy their chances, despite two defeats in three days over the Easter weekend.
Slough created the better chances in the first half, with Warren Harris the main threat. He had an early chance to make inroads into the Aylesbury penalty area, but his first cross was blocked and his second was cleared.
Aylesbury’s Gareth Price put a free kick straight into the arms of Somerville, before Sam Bateman, a former Slough player, was forced off with ankle injury, replaced by his brother Ben.
Slough will rue missed chances, particularly for Johnnie Dyer, who flicked a header from a corner just wide, and minutes later had another headed effort deflected wide.
More chances came and went - Smith failed to get the right contact on a cross from James Dobson, and the ball bounced up off the dry pitch and into the arms of James Weatherill. Smith headed another cross from Fraser over the bar, whilst Dyer went closer still, but saw his header cleared off the line by Ben Stevens. Dyer fired in a snapshot which went just wide, and Warren Harris shot into the side netting after a clever flick from Ed Smith.
But against the run of play, Jamie Rudd opened the scoring in somewhat fortuitous circumstances. He picked up a pass on the left and put in a cross which flew past the reach of Somerville and into the corner, putting Slough a goal behind.
The game slipped away from the Rebels early in the second half. Rudd was again involved as he fed Price, whose strike from outside the box was parried by Somerville, but only to Brian Haule, who mopped up the rebound from a few yards out.
On 57 minutes, Aylesbury made it three. Jamie Rudd capitalised on a loose ball after interplay between Haule and Rudd, and fired the ball into the roof of the net.
Slough threw on Adam Cornell in place of George Short as the Rebels looked to rescue the game, but the task was beyond them, even despite the dismissal of Stevens for two bookable offences within the space of a couple of minutes on 63 minutes.
Aylesbury were effective on the counter-attack with Price and Lamar Simpson dangerous, and full-back Rob Tomlin was denied by Somerville from close range.
In response, Weatherill made a good save from Warren Harris, but Aylesbury still created chances, with Somerville narrowing the angle well to keep out Simpson.
Slough’s 100th league goal of the season was greeted by muted celebrations from the large travelling contingent in a bumper Bank Holiday crowd. Ed Smith poked the ball past Weatherill as Aylesbury failed to prevent the striker forcing his way through.
Warren Harris brought a good save out of Weatherill a minute or so later but despite late pressure, it was too little, too late for the Rebels, for whom fifth place is still firmly in their hands. Slough also ended the game with ten men after Sean Fraser limped off, having turned his ankle.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Jake Somerville
- 2 Sean Fraser
- 3 Ben Edwards 15
- 4 Guy Hollis
- 5 Dan Sintim
- 6 George Short 18
- 7 Johnnie Dyer
- 8 Jamie McClurg
- 9 Edward Smith
- 10 Warren Harris
- 11 James Dobson 14
Substitutes
- 12 Wes Harrison
- 14 Jake Parsons 11
- 15 Gareth Risbridger 3
- 16 Sebastien Castello
- 18 Adam Cornell 6
Aylesbury Lineup
James Weatherill, Rob Tomlin, Connor Baker, Sam Bateman, Steve Perkins (c), Ben Stevens, Jamie Rudd, Kevin Mealor, Gareth Price, Brian Haule, Lamar Simpson. Subs: Ben Bateman, Fraser McLachlan, Jacob Lowe, Greg Copcutt, Derek Feyi.