Slough Town
2
Minhas (41), Goddard (57)
Hemel Hempstead Town
0
League
Attendance: 607
Goals from the in-form pair of Nathan Minhas and Johnny Goddard sealed what a comfortable victory under the lights at Arbour Park, writes Freddie Gatrell.
The large majority of the first half was a laboured performance from the Rebels, with very little to separate the two sides. An early chance was squandered in the sixth minute by Minhas, who saw his close-range effort well held by Hemel Hempstead’s goalkeeper, Craig King.
Mickel Platt blasted a long-range effort wide in the 12th minute with Slough only testing King a handful of times.
However the deadlock was broken in the 41st minute, after good interplay between Mickel Platt and Goddard resulted in a curling effort from the Slough number ten. King, who appeared unsighted by the effort, could not keep hold of the ball and spilled it at the feet of Minhas, who arrived at the right time to control the ball and smash it past the keeper to make it 1-0 to the Rebels in rather fortuitous circumstances.
Going into the dressing room a goal to the good appeared to be game-changing for the Rebels, who came out a completely different side in the second half.
It did not take long for the Rebels to improve on their goal advantage with Johnny Goddard adding a well-deserved second. Minhas turned from goal scorer to provider, with the striker bursting through the Tudors’ midfield and laying the ball neatly into the path of Goddard, who nonchalantly rolled the ball into the far-right corner to score his 10th goal of the season.
Despite the two-goal lead, Hemel did come close to getting a goal back, and would have if not for the heroics of Dan Lincoln in the Slough goal. His low block to deny Josh Williams in the 75th minute was a standout moment for the new arrival between the sticks.
Slough continued to control the remainder of the game, and saw out a 12th consecutive game unbeaten at Arbour Park. The result sees the Rebels move up to 18th place with 26 points ahead of a trip to 6th placed Aveley, where Scott Davies’ men will aim to continue climbing the league table.
Image: George Beck
The large majority of the first half was a laboured performance from the Rebels, with very little to separate the two sides. An early chance was squandered in the sixth minute by Minhas, who saw his close-range effort well held by Hemel Hempstead’s goalkeeper, Craig King.
Mickel Platt blasted a long-range effort wide in the 12th minute with Slough only testing King a handful of times.
However the deadlock was broken in the 41st minute, after good interplay between Mickel Platt and Goddard resulted in a curling effort from the Slough number ten. King, who appeared unsighted by the effort, could not keep hold of the ball and spilled it at the feet of Minhas, who arrived at the right time to control the ball and smash it past the keeper to make it 1-0 to the Rebels in rather fortuitous circumstances.
Going into the dressing room a goal to the good appeared to be game-changing for the Rebels, who came out a completely different side in the second half.
It did not take long for the Rebels to improve on their goal advantage with Johnny Goddard adding a well-deserved second. Minhas turned from goal scorer to provider, with the striker bursting through the Tudors’ midfield and laying the ball neatly into the path of Goddard, who nonchalantly rolled the ball into the far-right corner to score his 10th goal of the season.
Despite the two-goal lead, Hemel did come close to getting a goal back, and would have if not for the heroics of Dan Lincoln in the Slough goal. His low block to deny Josh Williams in the 75th minute was a standout moment for the new arrival between the sticks.
Slough continued to control the remainder of the game, and saw out a 12th consecutive game unbeaten at Arbour Park. The result sees the Rebels move up to 18th place with 26 points ahead of a trip to 6th placed Aveley, where Scott Davies’ men will aim to continue climbing the league table.
Image: George Beck
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Dan Lincoln
- 4 Joe Dandy
- 6 Jeanmal Prosper
- 8 Matthew Lench
- 9 Nathan Minhas
- 10 Johnny Goddard
- 14 Scott Davies
- 16 Temi Eweka
- 17 Tyrese Dyce 5
- 18 Munashe Sundire
- 19 Mickel Platt 13
Substitutes
- 5 Dan Bayliss 17
- 7 Gary Abisogun
- 13 Slavi Spasov 19
- 15 Kian Austin
- 23 David Ogbonna
Hemel Hempstead Town Lineup
Craig King, Montel McKenzie, Josh Williams, Kyle Ajayi, George Williams, Joe Re, Brandon Barzey (Joe Iaciofano 19), Chris Smith, Tyrese Briscoe (Bayley Brown 75), Tyrelle Newton, Myles Judd (Tarrelle Whittaker 66). Unused substitutes: Hill, Matthews.