Arlesey Town
1
Hatch (36)
Slough Town
0
League
Attendance: 261
Reece Yorke
After superb wins at Truro and Corby, a tired-looking Slough Town fell to a single goal defeat at bottom side Arlesey.
Worse still, the Rebels picked up yet more injuries in the process, which gives joint managers Neil Baker and Jon Underwood a real selection headache ahead of the trip to west Berkshire to play Hungerford Town in the Berks & Bucks Cup on Tuesday evening.
It was always going to be a big ask to expect the Rebels to record a third away win in the space of eight days, after long trips to Cornwall and Northamptonshire, and things were made worse as Guy Hollis failed a fitness test before kickoff - but Slough started strongly, with Johnnie Dyer feeding Knight despite slipping on the wet surface, however the bearded midfielder’s shot was saved by Nick Thompson.
At the other end, the trickery of Kamaron English on the left was keeping Sean Fraser busy, and after Jake Somerville had fumbled a shot, Tom Moran was on hand to mop up with striker Mark Gallacher lurking.
Scott Harris saw a shot blocked by Thompson but from an offside position, whilst Somerville easily dealt with a low long-range strike from full-back Mitch Gough, before holding a low drive from Matt Taylor.
As the first half wore on, Slough found it increasingly difficult to get a grip of the midfield, and fell behind on 36 minutes. Jamil Shariffu’s cross from the right appeared harmless, but James Hatch found space between Moran and Fraser to loop a header back across Somerville and into the far corner to give Arlesey the lead.
Slough’s best chance to get back into the game before the half-time whistle came as Dyer got his head to a cross from Knight, but he sent the ball wide.
The second half followed a similar pattern of play, with Slough unable to break down Arlesey’s resistance, and the Rebels were forced into a reshuffle when Adrian Sear limped off with an ankle injury, to be replaced by Jake Parsons.
Both sides had chances to register the next goal, as Hatch powerfully headed wide from a simple long free kick, and James Dobson, following successful free kicks at Truro and Corby, this time hitting the bar with a long-range effort.
Dobson went closer still after Jake Parsons released him down the right, the winger seeing his shot blocked by Thompson – but for Slough, there was nobody in the middle of the box to poach a goal from the rebound.
Slough then suffered another injury blow with Ryan Parsons being forced off, and the Rebels changed their formation to accommodate striker Darryl Thomas, who replaced the left-back.
Not long after, Slough were denied an equaliser they had deserved on the balance of play, despite not performing to the levels of recent games. A long shot from Reece Yorke was deflected into the path of Thomas, who controlled well and finished past Thompson, but the goal was disallowed for offside despite the striker clearly having been onside when the ball was struck.
And the Rebels were unable to make another clear chance, and indeed Arlesey could and should have finished the game off on the counter-attack. Somerville saved well from Taylor and Hallelujah Basmel’s effort was deflected behind after Knight’s poor attempted cross-field pass surrendered possession, with Slough clearly showing signs of fatigue.
Harris and Jamie McClurg had shots blocked in the final attack of the game as Slough threw everyone forward, but the Rebels were unable to find a way through the packed Arlesey defence as they took all three points and moved off the bottom of the table.
Worse still, the Rebels picked up yet more injuries in the process, which gives joint managers Neil Baker and Jon Underwood a real selection headache ahead of the trip to west Berkshire to play Hungerford Town in the Berks & Bucks Cup on Tuesday evening.
It was always going to be a big ask to expect the Rebels to record a third away win in the space of eight days, after long trips to Cornwall and Northamptonshire, and things were made worse as Guy Hollis failed a fitness test before kickoff - but Slough started strongly, with Johnnie Dyer feeding Knight despite slipping on the wet surface, however the bearded midfielder’s shot was saved by Nick Thompson.
At the other end, the trickery of Kamaron English on the left was keeping Sean Fraser busy, and after Jake Somerville had fumbled a shot, Tom Moran was on hand to mop up with striker Mark Gallacher lurking.
Scott Harris saw a shot blocked by Thompson but from an offside position, whilst Somerville easily dealt with a low long-range strike from full-back Mitch Gough, before holding a low drive from Matt Taylor.
As the first half wore on, Slough found it increasingly difficult to get a grip of the midfield, and fell behind on 36 minutes. Jamil Shariffu’s cross from the right appeared harmless, but James Hatch found space between Moran and Fraser to loop a header back across Somerville and into the far corner to give Arlesey the lead.
Slough’s best chance to get back into the game before the half-time whistle came as Dyer got his head to a cross from Knight, but he sent the ball wide.
The second half followed a similar pattern of play, with Slough unable to break down Arlesey’s resistance, and the Rebels were forced into a reshuffle when Adrian Sear limped off with an ankle injury, to be replaced by Jake Parsons.
Both sides had chances to register the next goal, as Hatch powerfully headed wide from a simple long free kick, and James Dobson, following successful free kicks at Truro and Corby, this time hitting the bar with a long-range effort.
Dobson went closer still after Jake Parsons released him down the right, the winger seeing his shot blocked by Thompson – but for Slough, there was nobody in the middle of the box to poach a goal from the rebound.
Slough then suffered another injury blow with Ryan Parsons being forced off, and the Rebels changed their formation to accommodate striker Darryl Thomas, who replaced the left-back.
Not long after, Slough were denied an equaliser they had deserved on the balance of play, despite not performing to the levels of recent games. A long shot from Reece Yorke was deflected into the path of Thomas, who controlled well and finished past Thompson, but the goal was disallowed for offside despite the striker clearly having been onside when the ball was struck.
And the Rebels were unable to make another clear chance, and indeed Arlesey could and should have finished the game off on the counter-attack. Somerville saved well from Taylor and Hallelujah Basmel’s effort was deflected behind after Knight’s poor attempted cross-field pass surrendered possession, with Slough clearly showing signs of fatigue.
Harris and Jamie McClurg had shots blocked in the final attack of the game as Slough threw everyone forward, but the Rebels were unable to find a way through the packed Arlesey defence as they took all three points and moved off the bottom of the table.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Jake Somerville
- 2 Sean Fraser
- 3 Ryan Parsons 16
- 4 Tom Moran
- 5 Reece Yorke
- 6 Adrian Sear 14
- 7 Johnnie Dyer 15
- 8 Jamie McClurg
- 9 Scott Harris
- 10 Luke Knight
- 11 James Dobson
Substitutes
- 12 Guy Hollis
- 14 Jake Parsons 6
- 15 Adam Cornell 7
- 16 Darryl Thomas 3
Arlesey Town Lineup
Nick Thompson, Mitch Gough, James Sage, Christian Tavernier, Andre Maltay, Jimmy Haran, Jamil Shariffu, Matt Taylor, Mark Gallacher, James Hatch (c), Kamaron English. Subs: Elliot Bailey, Harry Carr, Hallelujah Basmel, Tremayne Charles, Stefan Bailey.