Rebels beat Iron but lose to Fleet
Slough Town FC: Slough overcome Braintree Town on Saturday before falling to defeat against Ebbsfleet Utd on Tuesday
Slough Town 3, Braintree Town 2
Ryan Bird’s stoppage-time strike helped Slough Town edge a five-goal thriller with Braintree Town on Saturday and gave the Rebels their first three-point haul since their 2-1 victory over Bath City back on October
31.
Playing their first competitive match in just over a month, the Rebels twice took the lead through Warren Harris and Ben Harris, but the Iron fought back on both occasions with Arjanit Krasniqi and Adeoye Yusuff restoring parity before Bird swooped to score a late, late winner.
Slough had slipped to 20th in the table off the back of their recent indifferent form, but before they saw a raft of matches postponed due to COVID events there had been signs of a recovery. The side had ground out draws against Chippenham and Havant & Waterlooville and played well in an FA Trophy defeat on penalties to leaders Dartford.
However, any momentum, and sharpness, from those performances in December had evaporated by the time they took to the field against Braintree on Saturday. Both sides have struggled this season and the early exchanges were understandably cagey.
A defensive blunder very nearly presented Slough with an early lead, as Max Worsfold’s free-kick was almost turned into his own net by Taofiq Olomowewe’s attempted clearance, Jack Giddens making a brilliant save to turn the ball over the bar. The visitors responded in kind, with Correy Davidson’s free-kick finding its way through the Rebels’ backline before being parried by Jack Turner.
The Rebels took the lead in the 39th minute and it was beautifully worked. Ben Harris found space on the left touchline before delivering a fantastic cross that Warren Harris instinctively flicked past Giddens and into the far corner. However, the hosts concentration levels dipped after scoring their first goal in over four weeks and within two minutes Braintree were level. Krasniqi pressed Turner into a hurried clearance and the ball ricocheted off him into the open net.
The Rebels restored their advantage in the 57th minute, when Ben Harris flung himself at Josh Jackman’s delivery and diverted a header past Giddens from the edge of the sixyard box. But once again Braintree responded in swift fashion, this time from the penalty spot after Turner brought down Yusuff. The midfielder picked himself up to find the net from 12 yards, despite Turner
getting a hand on the ball.
The game could have gone either way in the final 20 minutes, with Thomas Derry going close for the Iron on several occasions. In the 71st minute his header rattled against the post before being smothered by Turner.
Instead, it was Slough who took all three points in the dying moments. The Rebels challenged for the ball on the edge of the box and Bird was onto it in a flash, holding off his marker before firing low past Giddens to spark scenes of jubilation from the Rebels’ bench.
Slough Town 0, Ebbsfleet United 2
Victory over the Iron on Saturday was good enough to move the Rebels up to 18th in the table, however, their time there was short lived, with the club falling back down to 20th following Tuesday’s 2-0 home defeat by promotion chasing Ebbsfleet United.
Rakish Bingham’s brace was enough to earn the visitors all three points, although joint boss Jon Underwood was satisfied with his side’s response in the second half and felt they deserved an equaliser before being hit by a ‘sucker punch’.
The home side were on the back foot for most of the first half and fell behind in the 30th minute when Adebayo-Rowling found space on the right and whipped in a cross that Bingham touched home at the near post. There could have been more goals for the visitors in the first half, with Turner tipping Taylor’s effort around the post a few minutes later as the efforts from Saturday caught up with the ring-rusty Rebels.
However, Slough produced a spirited display in the second half, with Warren Harris seeing his shot blocked after a bustling run in the 50th minute and Ben Harris missing a great chance in the 58th minute, heading Cam McGilp’s pinpoint cross into the arms of Holmes.
Dan Roberts replaced McGilp for the closing stages, and saw his goal-bound effort blocked in the 76th minute, while Goodman threw his body in the way of Roberts’ backpost header in the 80th minute.
The visitors then netted a killer second in the 84th minute, Bingham linking up well with former Rebel James Dobson before calmly slotting past Turner. There was one further incident of note in the final minutes when Aaron Kuhl was given his marching orders for a heavy and late challenge on Solly.
The Rebels will look to respond to the setback at Eastbourne Borough on Saturday.