Unders: ‘We’ve played a lot better than that and lost’
Slough Town FC: Saturday’s 2-1 win over Welling wasn’t a great spectacle but Slough held on for the points
It wasn’t a great spectacle, but joint manager Jon Underwood wasn’t particularly bothered about that as the Rebels held on for a 2-1 win against Welling United on Saturday.
They didn’t play their best football, the challenging weather conditions didn’t allow for that, but they got the job done thanks to first half goals from Imran Kayani and Aaron Kuhl.
The best of the action came in the first half, with Kayani’s fine strike the highlight of the match before the wild conditions made enterprising football more difficult in the second half.
Had Welling fought back for a point Jon Underwood and Neil Baker would have had several excuses to hand, such as their lengthening injury list, but in the end they weren’t needed as the hosts held on to claim back-to-back league wins.
“We’ve played a lot better than that and lost this season,” Underwood said in a post-match interview for Sloughtownfc.net.
“The second half was not a great spectacle. There wasn’t a lot of incident and the wind didn’t help. You could tell from the way the ball was moving and how it was taken into the air on some clearances how difficult it was.
“It made for a scrappy game, and we were desperate to cling on to that result and the lead we had at half-time.
“We probably ended up not playing as much football and went a bit direct.
“It wasn’t great to watch, but all it’s about the result as we’re in a results business.”
This 2-1 win was a world away from last week’s impressive 2-1 victory at Ebbsfleet United but, as the saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and the Rebels found a way to eke out victory despite finishing the match with several players walking wounded.
It leaves them six points off the playoff places, with matches in hand on some of their rivals above them but, for now, Underwood just wants the side to remain unbeaten for as long as possible.
He added: “To string a couple of wins together, from where we were a couple of weeks ago when we were struggling to win a game is great and it shows great character from the squad.
“It doesn’t matter how you do it, two very different performances over the last week but we’ve got six points.”
There was also praise for young centre half Edon Pruti, who has come in to replace the departing Guy Hollis and has hit the ground running.
He was named man of the match on Saturday and played a key role in keeping the back door bolted shut in a scrappy second half.
“Pruti has settled in quickly,” he said. “
“He’s very good, he’s only 19 but he’s come in and hit the ground running.
“He’s a strong boy but he’s got a good character about him and has an excellent left foot. He ticks a lot of boxes for a centre half, and we’re delighted with him, and delighted we’ve managed to get him in and I think he’ll get better and better.”