Rebels share the points with Boro

Slough Town and Farnborough played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Arbour Park, with both sides having opportunities to claim all three points in a closely contested National League South encounter.

The Rebels started brightly, dominating possession in the opening exchanges. Guy Hollis found himself pushing forward unusually high up the pitch, attempting to create openings, while Johnny Goddard saw an early effort float over the bar. Moments later, Slavi Spasov went close with a header, but his effort also cleared the crossbar.

Farnborough’s first sight of goal came in the 8th minute, with Alfie Pavey glancing a header just wide of Charlie Horlock’s right post. The visitors were beginning to settle, and the game soon produced its first moment of controversy. Scott Davies held off Jonny Stuttle as the Farnborough man looked to break clear, but referee Phil Eddie waved away claims for a foul, judging the challenge on the AFC Bournemouth loanee to be a fair contest.

Jack Turner, one of several ex-Rebels players on display, was called into action for the first time in the 25th minute, saving a low drive from Josh Jackman, the recipient of a special award before kickoff to mark his 300th appearance for the club recently.

Slough’s pressure continued, and Goddard’s deflected strike had to be gathered by the Farnborough goalkeeper. However, the visitors carried a threat of their own and almost took the lead in the 31st minute in fortuitous fashion. Matty MacArthur’s looping cross caught out Horlock and bounced off the crossbar, with the Rebels goalkeeper scrambling to recover.

Six minutes later, Farnborough did find the breakthrough. Slough were guilty of losing the ball cheaply in their attacking third, allowing MacArthur to pick out Pavey in the middle. The forward made no mistake, directing his header beyond Horlock to give the visitors the lead.

The Rebels pushed for an equaliser before the break and felt they should have had a penalty when Spasov appeared to be brought down inside the box, but once again, the referee waved play on. The half-time whistle blew with Slough trailing 1-0, despite a strong start to the match.

Slough came out for the second half determined to find a way back into the game and almost did so within seconds of the restart. A long throw from Hollis found Lewis Miccio, who chested the ball down and fired a shot towards the bottom corner, only for Turner to get down and claim it.

Their equaliser arrived in the 53rd minute, and it was a moment of individual brilliance from Spasov. The forward collected the ball from the excellent Ogbonna on the right side of the box, beat his marker with a clever turn, and curled a perfect left-footed effort beyond Turner to make it 1-1.

The Rebels had the momentum, and just four minutes later, they came within inches of taking the lead. Ogbonna rose highest to meet a corner, directing his header towards goal, but the ball crashed against the crossbar with Turner beaten. Slough continued to press, with Miccio firing wide in the 59th minute after sustained pressure in the Farnborough half.

Despite Slough’s dominance in possession, Farnborough remained dangerous on the counter-attack. Stuttle forced Horlock into a smart save just after the hour mark, while Jackman’s header at the other end was gathered comfortably by Turner. Farnborough almost regained the lead in the 68th minute when Luciano D’Auria-Henry found space to shoot, but Horlock was equal to it, turning the effort past the post.

The best chance of the closing stages fell to Pavey in the 81st minute. The Farnborough forward was played through one-on-one with Horlock, but the Slough keeper reacted brilliantly, closing the striker down and making an important block to keep the score level.

Slough made their only substitution in the 84th minute, with Ody Alfa replacing Johnny Goddard, but it was Farnborough who had another chance late on. A long throw from Hollis into the Farnborough box led to a chaotic scramble, but the visitors managed to clear and break quickly on the counter. The ball eventually fell to Joe Haigh, who had time and space on the edge of the area, but he lashed his effort wide.

In the end, both teams had to settle for a point. Slough will take encouragement from controlling the play for large spells and Spasov’s moment of quality, but Farnborough may feel slightly disappointed not to have claimed victory after creating good openings in the second period.