Baker admits Slough were ‘uncharacteristically poor’ from set piece play

Slough's joint manager Neil Baker felt the Rebels were uncharacteristically poor from set pieces as they looked for a way back into Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Eastbourne Borough, writes Ben Hart.

The outcome of the game was in the balance until the final 15 minutes when Charley Kendall took advantage of some ragged Rebels' defending to score twice in quick succession to put the result to bed.

Up until this point Slough had been chasing a way back into the game, and they did manage an 88th minute consolation through Ben Harris on his 100th appearance for the club.

Baker said: “Having watched the game back we had lots of territory and lots of set pieces and they weren’t good enough. We had 15 to 20 corners and countless long throws and I expected us to score from one of those, so that was the biggest disappointment. Eastbourne were clinical. On the day they deserved to win but we should have got something from it.”

The defeat brought an end to Slough’s five game unbeaten run, but Baker says the result wasn't due to a lack of effort and added that results this season haven't always fairly reflected the team's performances.

“I can’t say we played any better in the win against Maidstone than in the defeat to Eastbourne.

“All our stats say we ran more than in the last five games, so it was nothing to do with lack of effort.

“We played better in some of our defeats earlier in the season than we did in some of the wins during the unbeaten run.”

Baker’s attention now turns to a tough FA Trophy clash against fellow National League South side, Havant and Waterlooville on Saturday.

The last meeting between the clubs produced a 2-1 away victory for Slough and kick-started their run of good form, but Baker considers Havant to be one of the league’s strongest sides.

“They’ll be desperate for revenge,” he said. “They’ve kept three clean sheets on the bounce and are going well. To beat them twice in quick succession will be very difficult.”

The game kicks off at 3pm this Saturday and Baker hopes that if his team can progress, they’ll be rewarded with a more exciting draw.

“It would have been nice to test ourselves against a National Premier side. It’s never as much fun playing a team from the same league in the cup.

“But there’s no replays, it comes down to the 90 minutes and we’ll give them a good game.”