Slough Town
0
Banbury United
1
Johnson (66)
League
Attendance: 514
George Wells
Slough fell out of the top five after this home defeat to Banbury, who kept their faint hopes of a top five spot alive with a deserved win.
The key moment in this tight contest came on 66 minutes as a defensive slip from Guy Hollis led to a ball forward from midfield which split the Slough defence, and Banbury striker Ricky Johnson confidently finished past Jack Turner to break the deadlock and score what proved to be the winning goal.
Things didn’t start according to plan for the visitors, who were forced to wear Slough’s old purple away shirts due to a misunderstanding over kit colours – but it proved not to have an impact on their performance as they executed their game plan to perfection.
It had looked for a long time as if a single goal would win the match. The two sides cancelled each other out in the first half with the visitors stifling the home side’s attacking threat.
Manny Williams headed over an early James Dobson corner, and a nice Slough move ended with Williams having a strike at goal blocked.
Banbury failed to seriously test Turner but had a strong penalty appeal turned down with Elliot Sandy claiming he was fouled, and the keeper needed to clear with his legs after a scramble from a corner.
Slough’s best moments came from Dobson free kicks, the first of which hit the top of the bar and the second was tipped over by Jack Harding in stoppage time.
There was nothing to choose between the two sides until Johnson got the better of Hollis and Alan Inns and put Banbury ahead, and it took some time for the Rebels to muster anything resembling a response.
Slough introduced Matt Lench in place of Williams to freshen up their attacking options, and Dobson was inches away from meeting a whipped cross from the substitute.
Dobson worked space for a shot on 75 minutes which was again well blocked, and then the Rebels wasted their opportunity from the resulting corner, with Sean Fraser firing well off target.
Slough continued to lack ideas as Banbury repelled their high balls forward with ease. The home side did bundle the ball into the net deep in stoppage time, but the effort was rightly disallowed for a foul on Harding and Banbury held on to their lead to seal a perfect away performance.
The key moment in this tight contest came on 66 minutes as a defensive slip from Guy Hollis led to a ball forward from midfield which split the Slough defence, and Banbury striker Ricky Johnson confidently finished past Jack Turner to break the deadlock and score what proved to be the winning goal.
Things didn’t start according to plan for the visitors, who were forced to wear Slough’s old purple away shirts due to a misunderstanding over kit colours – but it proved not to have an impact on their performance as they executed their game plan to perfection.
It had looked for a long time as if a single goal would win the match. The two sides cancelled each other out in the first half with the visitors stifling the home side’s attacking threat.
Manny Williams headed over an early James Dobson corner, and a nice Slough move ended with Williams having a strike at goal blocked.
Banbury failed to seriously test Turner but had a strong penalty appeal turned down with Elliot Sandy claiming he was fouled, and the keeper needed to clear with his legs after a scramble from a corner.
Slough’s best moments came from Dobson free kicks, the first of which hit the top of the bar and the second was tipped over by Jack Harding in stoppage time.
There was nothing to choose between the two sides until Johnson got the better of Hollis and Alan Inns and put Banbury ahead, and it took some time for the Rebels to muster anything resembling a response.
Slough introduced Matt Lench in place of Williams to freshen up their attacking options, and Dobson was inches away from meeting a whipped cross from the substitute.
Dobson worked space for a shot on 75 minutes which was again well blocked, and then the Rebels wasted their opportunity from the resulting corner, with Sean Fraser firing well off target.
Slough continued to lack ideas as Banbury repelled their high balls forward with ease. The home side did bundle the ball into the net deep in stoppage time, but the effort was rightly disallowed for a foul on Harding and Banbury held on to their lead to seal a perfect away performance.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Jack Turner
- 2 Josh Jackman
- 3 George Wells
- 4 Guy Hollis
- 5 Alan Inns
- 6 Lee Togwell
- 7 James Dobson
- 8 Sean Fraser 16
- 9 Manny Williams 15
- 10 Gavin James 14
- 11 Warren Harris
Substitutes
- 12 Nathan Smart
- 14 Nathan Webb 10
- 15 Matthew Lench 9
- 16 Harrison Gilkes 8
- 17 Mark Scott
Banbury United Lineup
Jack Harding, Charlie Hawtin, Tom Bradbury (Jordy Ngathe 66), George Nash, Charlie Wise, Luke Carnell, Jack Self, Darren Pond, Ricky Johnson, Elliot Sandy, Sam Humphreys (Tom Winters 67). Unused substitutes: Leam Howards, Jamie Heapy, Ryan MacDonald.