Underwood feared cup tie might be 'last for a while'
It’s always good for a football club to win their last game before Christmas, and Jon Underwood was especially keen for the Rebels to win Saturday’s FA Trophy tie with Eastbourne Borough because he feared it might be their ‘last for a while’.
While other games across the country were called off due to rising COVID-19 cases in squads, Slough’s game against Borough went ahead unhindered, and it served up enough entertainment to make up for at least some of those postponements.
Goals from Alfonso Tenconi and Max Worsfold (two) guided the Rebels into the fourth round, and a tie at York City on January 15, and afterwards Underwood lauded the efforts of the whole team, and Tenconi in particular, who he felt was an ‘absolute nightmare’ all afternoon for the visitors.
However, Underwood also isn’t oblivious to the worsening COVID situation and fears the club’s Christmas and New Year programme of fixtures could be disrupted.
“I said to the boys before the start, ‘you’ve got to treat this game like it will be your last for a while’, just because of what’s going on around us,” said Underwood.
“I’m delighted we have got this one played and how we got through to the next round.
“Alfonso was an absolute nightmare this afternoon. Any ball over the top, or even in the air against big centre-halves, he doesn’t give anyone an easy time. He’s a real threat with his pace and you saw with the finish, he is very cool in front of goal.
“He’s a very exciting talent and it’s nice when one of those comes out the blue as it did. Alfonso wasn’t a player on our radar in pre-season, but it just shows the value of having the strong Academy23 program we have here.
“I thought Max (Worsfold) was very good today too and he grabbed himself two good goals.”
Underwood added: “I’m really pleased with where we are. We were in a tough place with pretty much the same group of players six or seven weeks ago. But we’ve managed to turn things around and it’s amazing what a few wins can do for confidence and belief.
“Our recent form has been outstanding in terms of the results we’ve been getting. It’s good to go into Christmas with that win today. There will be some tough league matches over Christmas but it’s a really nice way to finish before then.”