Farnborough
1
Coles (80)
Slough Town
2
Lench (11), Flood (90+2)
League
Attendance: 483
Gavin James
Substitute Chris Flood scored a controversial stoppage time winner as Slough Town made it two wins out of two over the Bank Holiday weekend.
The game looked certain to end in a draw after 10-man Farnborough had battled back to level the scores ten minutes from time, but Flood’s header from James Dobson’s corner was adjudged to have crossed the line despite strong Farnborough protests that Jamie Cureton had cleared the ball in time.
Slough’s players wheeled away in celebration, whilst the dejected Boro players trudged away knowing that a hard-earned point had been lost despite a strong second-half showing in scorching conditions at Cherrywood Road.
It was a match which Slough could have wrapped up in the first half, but in the end were fortunate to leave with all three points.
Perry Coles fired into Jack Turner’s side netting early on, but Slough got on top quickly, winning a succession of corners which led to Matt Lench putting the Rebels ahead, as he bundled the ball in from a Guy Hollis knock-down.
Two minutes later, Brad Wadkins touched the ball onto the crossbar after another corner and the Rebels continued to have much the better of the play. And on 29 minutes Slough were denied what looked a clear penalty when Simon Dunn was tripped from behind.
Turner did well to keep out Nic Ciardini’s effort with his legs, but the best chances fell to Slough, with Gavin James’ header kept out superbly by Luke Cairney, and Keith Emmerson clearing off the line to prevent Wadkins scoring his first for the club after being picked out superbly by Sean Fraser.
Half time arrived with the away side in complete control, but two enforced changes threatened to disrupt the Rebels’ rhythm, with Warren Harris and Nathan Smart replacing Lench and Hollis, who both picked up hamstring injuries.
Cairney was on hand to deny James again on 51 minutes, beating away the striker’s shot after he was played in by Harris.
But the pace of the game dropped significantly in the heat, and both sides often resorted to high balls forward instead of playing through midfield. Farnborough worked hard to try and get back on level terms without seriously troubling Turner, though the keeper did make a good save to prevent a deep cross from dropping in under his crossbar.
With fifteen minutes remaining, James summoned the energy to win possession and sprint towards goal, only to be cynically hacked down by James Hammond. The Farnborough defender was shown a straight red card for his foul – which was adjudged to have been just outside the box rather than inside – but the Rebels could not take advantage, with Dobson smashing the free kick into the defensive wall.
Barely three minutes later, the hosts shocked Slough by scoring an unlikely equaliser. The goal was created by the pace and power of Dan Walker down the left, who sprinted past Josh Jackman and put in a cross which Coles met emphatically with his head, powering the ball past Turner.
Slough’s chance of making it four straight wins appeared to have vanished, and frustrations only grew when Flood – who replaced the tiring Wadkins – saw the ball cleared off the line as he tried to touch it past Cairney.
Harris fired into the side netting with time running out, and that looked to have been the Rebels' last chance - but there was to be late drama as Flood’s last gasp header provided a controversial end to the match, but a deserved victory overall.
The game looked certain to end in a draw after 10-man Farnborough had battled back to level the scores ten minutes from time, but Flood’s header from James Dobson’s corner was adjudged to have crossed the line despite strong Farnborough protests that Jamie Cureton had cleared the ball in time.
Slough’s players wheeled away in celebration, whilst the dejected Boro players trudged away knowing that a hard-earned point had been lost despite a strong second-half showing in scorching conditions at Cherrywood Road.
It was a match which Slough could have wrapped up in the first half, but in the end were fortunate to leave with all three points.
Perry Coles fired into Jack Turner’s side netting early on, but Slough got on top quickly, winning a succession of corners which led to Matt Lench putting the Rebels ahead, as he bundled the ball in from a Guy Hollis knock-down.
Two minutes later, Brad Wadkins touched the ball onto the crossbar after another corner and the Rebels continued to have much the better of the play. And on 29 minutes Slough were denied what looked a clear penalty when Simon Dunn was tripped from behind.
Turner did well to keep out Nic Ciardini’s effort with his legs, but the best chances fell to Slough, with Gavin James’ header kept out superbly by Luke Cairney, and Keith Emmerson clearing off the line to prevent Wadkins scoring his first for the club after being picked out superbly by Sean Fraser.
Half time arrived with the away side in complete control, but two enforced changes threatened to disrupt the Rebels’ rhythm, with Warren Harris and Nathan Smart replacing Lench and Hollis, who both picked up hamstring injuries.
Cairney was on hand to deny James again on 51 minutes, beating away the striker’s shot after he was played in by Harris.
But the pace of the game dropped significantly in the heat, and both sides often resorted to high balls forward instead of playing through midfield. Farnborough worked hard to try and get back on level terms without seriously troubling Turner, though the keeper did make a good save to prevent a deep cross from dropping in under his crossbar.
With fifteen minutes remaining, James summoned the energy to win possession and sprint towards goal, only to be cynically hacked down by James Hammond. The Farnborough defender was shown a straight red card for his foul – which was adjudged to have been just outside the box rather than inside – but the Rebels could not take advantage, with Dobson smashing the free kick into the defensive wall.
Barely three minutes later, the hosts shocked Slough by scoring an unlikely equaliser. The goal was created by the pace and power of Dan Walker down the left, who sprinted past Josh Jackman and put in a cross which Coles met emphatically with his head, powering the ball past Turner.
Slough’s chance of making it four straight wins appeared to have vanished, and frustrations only grew when Flood – who replaced the tiring Wadkins – saw the ball cleared off the line as he tried to touch it past Cairney.
Harris fired into the side netting with time running out, and that looked to have been the Rebels' last chance - but there was to be late drama as Flood’s last gasp header provided a controversial end to the match, but a deserved victory overall.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Jack Turner
- 2 Josh Jackman
- 3 George Wells
- 4 Guy Hollis 14
- 5 Mark Nisbet
- 6 Sean Fraser
- 7 James Dobson
- 8 Simon Dunn
- 9 Gavin James
- 10 Brad Wadkins 16
- 11 Matthew Lench 15
Substitutes
- 12 Alan Inns
- 14 Nathan Smart 4
- 15 Warren Harris 11
- 16 Chris Flood 10
- 18 Manny Williams
Farnborough Lineup
Luke Cairney, James Hammond, Nick Hutchings, Jake Evans, Josh Huggins (c), Keith Emmerson, Glen Southam, Connor Calcutt, Jamie Cureton, Perry Coles, Nic Ciardini. Subs: Dan Walker, Matt Bunyan, Chris Regis, Matt Roberts, Aiden Upward.