Slough held at home by Saints

Slough Town were held to a home draw by St Albans City to extend their unbeaten run to five matches.

Overall the result was not an unfair one, but the Rebels shaded this contest in terms of clear cut chances and could well have put the Saints to the sword with the opportunities they carved out just before and just after the interval.

Chasing a third consecutive win, Slough took a deserved lead through Matt Lench's third strike of the season, but were pegged back by Guiseppe Iaciofano's close range finish midway through the second half.

It took a few minutes for the game to get started, until Max Worsfold battled his way through two Saints defenders and laid the ball off to Dan Roberts whose shot was blocked by a last-minute slide tackle.

A few minutes later, Worsfold did well once again to get to the byline and cross with goalkeeper Dean Snedker just getting to the ball first with Warren Harris lurking behind him to tap in.

The visitors very nearly took the lead against the run of play on 15 minutes. Iaciofano got in behind the Slough defence and beat Jack Turner with his shot, but to the Rebels’ relief the ball bounced back off the post and away.

Slough counter-attacked and Warren Harris found space on the edge of the box and lobbed Snedker, but was denied by James Kaloczi who cleared a yard from the goal line.

The Rebels continued to apply the pressure and once again Snedker had to stretch out a glove to push the ball away from Warren Harris, who was about to head in from close range from Worsfold’s cross.

Slough had the better of the first half but chances started to dry up with only a few shots from distance. That was until the 39th minute when Lench won the ball and took two touches to bring the ball forward before teeing up his shot, which swerved around Snedker and into the bottom corner to give Slough a deserved lead.

St Albans had one final chance as Darren Foxley saw his shot blocked by Scott Davies in the six yard box. The Rebels then went on a counter and forced an overload as they approached the St Albans 18-yard box. The ball came to Roberts who decided to shoot with the ball going just wide of the post, though had he taken a second he would have been able to use the numbers advantage to pass to either Lee Togwell or Lench for an open goal.

Half time arrived with a quick downpour of rain which seemed to turn the ball into a bar of soap.

Both teams struggled to control and pass the ball, but Simon Dunn managed to bring the ball down the right before crossing to Worsfold whose shot was well saved by Snedker with his feet.

Dan Roberts forced another save with the resulting corner going over Snedker and to Warren Harris who couldn’t keep his header down with an open net in front of him.

On 52 minutes, following his goal on Monday, George Wells tried a speculative long-range effort but it an easy catch for the in-form Snedker.

St Albans found an equaliser on 57 minutes following a long hopeful ball forward which Josh Jackman had to clear for a throw. From there, the Saints worked the ball into the box from the right and Iaciofano was able to tap in from close range.

The visitors nearly doubled their lead a few minutes later as another long ball forward had Jack Turner rushing out of his goal to clear, but he was beaten to the ball by Iaciofano who was able to turn and shoot - but Turner and Jackman were able to combine to deflect the ball just wide.

Slough were still creating plenty of chances and following Jackman’s effort being blocked, Roberts found himself clean through one-on-one, and he curled his effort around Snedker but into the wrong side of the goal netting.

On 72 minutes, out of nothing St Albans broke forward and substitute Albert Adudongina hit the top of the crossbar.

Shortly after coming on, Joe Grant drove at the St Albans defence and won a dangerous free kick on the edge of the box. Fellow substitute Ben Harris took it and nearly scored as Snedker fumbled the initial shot, but regathered before the ball crossed the line.

A few moments later Ben Harris ran at the defence and went over in the box under pressure from Kaloczi, but the referee waved away his claims. Both players picked up bookings in the aftermath following a coming together and exchange of words.

In the final few minutes Roberts had his final chance, but saw his shot deflected for a corner. A minute later the final chance of the game came from a long free kick from Lench which caused confusion in the Saints defence, with a sliced clearance narrowly going wide of the goal.

Report: Will Tuck
Image: Philip Benton