‘We have the confidence to conquer the Romans’
Defender believes Rebels can overcome Bath City again and extend unbeaten run at home
Temi Eweka believes Slough Town have what it takes to secure another victory against Bath City when the two sides lock horns at Arbour Park this Saturday.
Thanks to a stunning free kick from player/manager Scott Davies’, the Rebels conquered the Romans 2-1 back in January.
In a cagey first half at Twerton Park, Slavi Spasov (38’) found the back of the net first – tucking away Munashe Sundire’s drive across the face of goal to silence the home support.
Parity was restored, and cheers returned, in the second half when
Jordan Thomas (54’) skilfully manoeuvred the ball inside the box before slamming it past Dan Lincoln, just rewards for the Romans’ perseverance.
Nevertheless, Slough had their sights firmly set on a win and Davies (59’) was the man to deliver it when his side were presented a set piece in a promising position shortly after Thomas’ finish.
Since this clash, the Rebels have won five, drawn two, and lost three games to occupy 10th place in the National League South table. Bath, meanwhile, have won five, drawn one, and lost one match to sit higher up in fifth.
“We know Bath are a good side, that’s why they are up there in the play-offs. And I believe, from what I have seen of them, they will finish in the play-offs,” said Eweka.
“We’re in a comfortable position now where I think we’re staying in the league. That was the primary objective at the beginning of the season.
“I think we’ve got what it takes to beat Bath. We’ve made Arbour Park a fortress – we love playing there. The
fans get behind us everywhere we go but especially at Arbour Park, it’s our fortress, and we’ve got something to protect (the unbeaten run). I think we will give it a good go, and it will be a good game.
“When we played them in January,
in the first half, we had to soak up plenty of pressure. I think Nashy tackled their centre-mid at one point, we got in, and Slavi did what he had to do and scored. We had a couple of other half-chances too.
“For the first 10 minutes of the second half, we were absolutely swarmed. We couldn’t get out of our half, they put so much pressure on us again and, this time, they managed to score a goal.
“But, Scott Davies came up with another free kick. We defended this free kick well. Dan Lincoln dropped the ball later on but I just read the play quite early and got on the line to make a clearance.
“I am excited for Saturday, and hopefully I get picked to start.”
Should Eweka find himself in the starting line-up this weekend, he needs to be on his best behaviour as he’s only one yellow card away from a ban.
“I have got this game against Bath and the one after [against Taunton Town] to avoid picking up a booking,” said the defender.
“Once I get to the 37-game mark, you then need 15 yellows for a ban. I am on nine at the moment and we’ve played 35 games.
“I’ve been behaving myself out there recently. I haven’t got a yellow card in five games – that’s probably the longest streak of my career.”
Eweka added: “Like I said, I really want to play this weekend. I’m fully fit and raring to go.
“On Tuesday we trained, and we’ve got training again tonight (Thursday). I think I know what will be working through and what Scotty will be saying.
“He’s going to say: ‘It’s our fortress, Arbour Park, we know how to play on Astro, it’s our home ground, it’s our pitch to protect.’
“We will be working hard to make it 19 games unbeaten.”