Rebels defeated by promotion hopefuls Wood

Despite a spirited display and valuable minutes for several of Slough Town’s emerging young talents, the Rebels were ultimately undone by a clinical Boreham Wood side chasing promotion, as the visitors ran out 4-2 winners at Arbour Park.

On an afternoon where manager Scott Davies was forced into several changes due to injury and availability issues, including a late reshuffle following the late withdrawal of striker Slavi Spasov due to illness, it was always going to be a tough task against a Boreham Wood outfit sitting just outside the automatic promotion places.

Slough were already without key senior players Johnny Goddard, Ody Alfa, Jeanmal Prosper, Francis Amartey and long-term absentee Dan Bayliss, and were dealt a further blow when Spasov was withdrawn during the warm-up. That opened the door for Sean Duodu to step into the starting eleven, while EDS player Brian Nelson was drafted onto the bench.

In a lively encounter that saw six goals and plenty of end-to-end action, the damage was largely done in the first half by a well-organised and sharp Boreham Wood side. The visitors started on the front foot and made their early pressure count with just five minutes on the clock. After Jayden Richardson’s strike cannoned off the post, Matt Rush pounced on a second opportunity to slot home the opener.

Slough struggled to settle in the opening stages, and their woes were compounded on 15 minutes when Charles Clayden made it two. A ball into the box was nodded back across goal and fell kindly to Clayden, who calmly tucked his effort into the bottom corner.

To their credit, the Rebels showed resilience in the face of mounting pressure, and their best period of the half came after the half-hour mark. John Gilbert, who was at the heart of everything positive for the hosts, pulled a goal back in the 33rd minute with a stunning curling strike from the left side of the area. Gilbert had initiated the move and finished it in style, leaving Boreham Wood keeper Nathan Ashmore with no chance.

The goal energised the home side and the crowd at Arbour Park, and Slough began to find some rhythm. Moments later, Ollie Spicer – making his full league debut – tested Ashmore with a powerful drive from distance, while a clever corner routine ended with Edon Pruti sending an effort narrowly over.

David Ogbonna also came close before half time, cutting inside dangerously only to fire over the bar, but just when it seemed Slough were building real momentum, Rush struck again in the final minute of the half. This time, it was a more straightforward finish, re-establishing Boreham Wood’s two-goal cushion just before the interval.

Trailing 3-1 at the break, the Rebels came out with renewed intent in the second half. Duodu continued to be a willing runner up top and was rewarded for his persistence early on when a strike of his struck defender Joe Yarney’s arm inside the area. The referee pointed to the spot, giving Slough a golden opportunity to claw their way back into the match.

However, Ashmore proved equal to Gilbert’s penalty attempt, diving low to his right to make the save and deflate the Rebels’ hopes of an early second-half comeback.

More chances followed, as Jaiden Bartolo saw a shot blocked after controlling a lovely cross-field ball from Davies, and the game remained open. Davies looked to his bench to provide fresh impetus, introducing EDS forwards Nnaemeka Anyanwu and Owen Rennie – the latter making his senior debut – along with Josh Jackman and Dan Roth.

The changes injected some youthful energy into the side, and Anyanwu in particular made a notable impact with his direct running and intelligent link-up play.

Despite Slough’s best efforts to claw their way back, Boreham Wood’s experience and attacking depth proved decisive. Substitute Tyrone Marsh made it four with ten minutes to play, finishing well after being found in space inside the box to extinguish any lingering hopes of a comeback.

There was still time for a late moment of quality from the hosts, though, and it came in stoppage time through the lively Ogbonna. The midfielder made no mistake from close range after great work down the left by Anyanwu, who capped an impressive cameo with an assist.

The final whistle confirmed a 4-2 defeat, but there were positives to take for Slough Town, not least the performances of their young academy products. Ollie Spicer grew into the game on his full league debut, while Rennie and Anyanwu showed encouraging signs in their first senior outings. Brian Nelson also gained valuable minutes late on, replacing Henry Ochieng after the midfielder picked up a booking.

While the result didn’t go the Rebels' way, their league safety is assured with 51 points already secured, and the focus now turns to ending the campaign positively and building towards next season.

For Boreham Wood, the result keeps their promotion hopes very much alive, lifting them to sixth place and just four points off the summit with two games left to play. Slough will return to action at Chesham United on Easter Monday looking to bounce back and continue providing opportunities to the club’s emerging talents as preparations for the 2025/26 campaign take shape.