Braintree Town
0
Slough Town
1
W Harris (43)
League
Attendance: 494
Ryan Bird
A first-half goal from Warren Harris was the difference between Slough Town and Braintree Town at Cressing Road, a result which lifts the Rebels back up into third place in National League South.
Having parted company with striker Francis Amartey in the week, Neil Baker and Jon Underwood welcomed Louie Soares back to the club, and the wide player took a place on the bench following his release from Hampton & Richmond Borough.
Slough almost took the lead with just four minutes played, but Lee Togwell could only head Warren Harris’s cross wide.
The away side then put together a fine move involving Matty Lench, Josh Jackman and Warren Harris which resulted in successive corner kicks, and Slough kept the pressure on with Lench firing a shot straight at goalkeeper Billy Johnson.
Johnson produced a fine stop to keep out Sam Togwell’s header on 22 minutes, and six minutes later Dan Roberts thought he had made the breakthrough, only to be denied by an offside flag.
More chances came as Slough piled the pressure on, with Jackman pulling a shot just wide of the far post and Lench seeing a curled effort saved by Johnson.
Braintree’s first clear chance was wasted by Jordan Chiedozie, who found himself with space in the box but could only blaze the ball wide.
However, Slough deserved to be ahead and on 43 minutes, Warren Harris gave his side the lead with his eighth goal of the season. It came after strong work from Max Worsfold to get to the byline. Lench competed with Johnson for the winger’s cross, and the loose ball fell for Harris to fire home.
For all Slough’s first half dominance, Braintree very nearly found a way back into the match in the opening minutes of the second period. Chiedozie found himself through on goal, but despite rounding Jack Turner, could not get the ball past Sam Togwell who blocked his shot.
Braintree enjoyed more of the ball, and Alfie Curelli was denied a goal by a linesman’s flag whilst Chiedozie fired over from the edge of the box.
Ben Harris returned to action following a couple of weeks overseas as he emerged from the bench to replace Roberts – and he was quickly in the thick of the action with a lovely cross in for Warren Harris, but a Braintree defender was able to intercept.
Minutes later, Ben Harris got his head to a George Wells cross, but could only flick it well wide, and as Slough continued to look for a second goal to make sure of the points, Lench bent an effort just wide.
The hosts had a late claim for a penalty waved away after Stevie Sheehan went to ground following a corner, but after four minutes of added time the referee’s whistle confirmed a second successive single-goal victory for the Rebels.
Having parted company with striker Francis Amartey in the week, Neil Baker and Jon Underwood welcomed Louie Soares back to the club, and the wide player took a place on the bench following his release from Hampton & Richmond Borough.
Slough almost took the lead with just four minutes played, but Lee Togwell could only head Warren Harris’s cross wide.
The away side then put together a fine move involving Matty Lench, Josh Jackman and Warren Harris which resulted in successive corner kicks, and Slough kept the pressure on with Lench firing a shot straight at goalkeeper Billy Johnson.
Johnson produced a fine stop to keep out Sam Togwell’s header on 22 minutes, and six minutes later Dan Roberts thought he had made the breakthrough, only to be denied by an offside flag.
More chances came as Slough piled the pressure on, with Jackman pulling a shot just wide of the far post and Lench seeing a curled effort saved by Johnson.
Braintree’s first clear chance was wasted by Jordan Chiedozie, who found himself with space in the box but could only blaze the ball wide.
However, Slough deserved to be ahead and on 43 minutes, Warren Harris gave his side the lead with his eighth goal of the season. It came after strong work from Max Worsfold to get to the byline. Lench competed with Johnson for the winger’s cross, and the loose ball fell for Harris to fire home.
For all Slough’s first half dominance, Braintree very nearly found a way back into the match in the opening minutes of the second period. Chiedozie found himself through on goal, but despite rounding Jack Turner, could not get the ball past Sam Togwell who blocked his shot.
Braintree enjoyed more of the ball, and Alfie Curelli was denied a goal by a linesman’s flag whilst Chiedozie fired over from the edge of the box.
Ben Harris returned to action following a couple of weeks overseas as he emerged from the bench to replace Roberts – and he was quickly in the thick of the action with a lovely cross in for Warren Harris, but a Braintree defender was able to intercept.
Minutes later, Ben Harris got his head to a George Wells cross, but could only flick it well wide, and as Slough continued to look for a second goal to make sure of the points, Lench bent an effort just wide.
The hosts had a late claim for a penalty waved away after Stevie Sheehan went to ground following a corner, but after four minutes of added time the referee’s whistle confirmed a second successive single-goal victory for the Rebels.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Jack Turner
- 2 Josh Jackman
- 3 George Wells
- 4 Sam Togwell
- 5 Guy Hollis
- 6 Lee Togwell
- 7 Max Worsfold 10
- 8 Matthew Lench
- 11 Warren Harris
- 17 Dan Roberts 9
- 18 Ryan Bird
Substitutes
- 9 Ben Harris 17
- 10 Manny Williams 7
- 14 Scott Davies
- 16 Sean Fraser
- 19 Louie Soares
Braintree Town Lineup
Billy Johnson, Rob Howard, Charley O’Keefe, Dan Matsuzaka, Stevie Sheehan, Jack Smith, Jacob Gardner-Smith, Lucas Kirkpatrick (Alfie Curelli 65), Josh Oyinsan (Charley Barker 65), Jordan Chiedozie, Liam Smyth (Brendan Ocran 85). Unused substitutes: Tyler Christian-Law, Frankie Stone.