Workmanlike display sees Rebels pick up the points
Slough Town FC: Benyon's late winner helps Slough Town clinch their third straight victory at Arbour Park
Slough Town weren’t quite at their best in Tuesday night's 1-0 win over Taunton Town, but they found a way to win the game, something that's becoming a happy habit for the Rebels this season.
The win lifts the Rebels to ninth in the table, level on points with seventh placed Braintree Town their next league opponents - and, as joint manager Neil Baker says, they're right on the cusp of where they want to be.
As Jon Underwood said last week, they must be doing something right, because they've won four of their last five matches in an incredibly competitive league, however, both managers freely admit they've haven't kicked off the campaign playing scintillating football.
Yes, they've been hard to beat in their last two games and that's brought them one-goal wins over Hampton & Richmond Borough (2-1) and Taunton (1-0), but both encounters could have gone the other way or ended in a draw.
The fine margins, for the time being at least, are coming down on the Rebels' side. However, it's not all down to luck either. In difficult conditions on Tuesday evening, and up against a very diligent defensive unit, Slough found a way to break down their visitors, when Lee Togwell swung in an inchperfect cross for Elliot Benyon to turn home at the back post in the 81st minute. Before that there had been very little difference between the sides, and it was a similar story the previous week against Hampton when George Wells and Imran Kayani scored late on to seal a come-from-behind victory.
Elliot Benyon's goal was worth the admission fee alone, but a big dampener was put on the home side's celebrations when he dislocated his shoulder in the final minute. He'll now be out for between two and six weeks depending on how the injury heals.
The setback is a tough one for a Rebels' squad that don't have countless goalscoring options, however, their third straight win at Arbour Park helped soften the blow.
“The game could have gone either way or it could have ended up as a draw,” said Baker. “I wouldn't have been disappointed with a draw on the way the game went. But we found a way, which we've been doing recently.
“I wouldn't say we've been in sparkling form or anything like that. We've had a couple of really good games, but on the whole, we've been workmanlike
“We've started to be a little tighter, Tuesday was only the second time we've had that back four play together, so that was positive. They've conceded one against Tonbridge, which was a penalty and then kept a clean sheet on Tuesday night.
“On the whole we're just finding a way to win games and that gives you confidence. Taunton were pretty decent, and you can see why they've conceded very few goals.
“Everyone wants to be like Man City, winning games 4-0 or 5-0, but we don't necessarily have the players who can do that. We must be tight and hard to beat.
“Early on we were conceding a few sloppy goals, and the Bath game - in the middle of this run - was very sloppy, but we're starting to look solid.
“To win four games in five in this league is tough, I don't care what anyone says. It's a tough, tough league.
“It leaves us right on the cusp of where we want to be.
“Elliot has popped up with a couple of important goals for us now. It was a great finish on Tuesday night, so we're really gutted he's going to be missing for few games now.”
Slough will now look to take their excellent league form into Saturday's FA Cup second qualifying round tie at home to Worthing.
On paper, it's one of the toughest ties the Rebels could have been given at this stage of the competition, with their visitors sitting third in the National League South after five wins and three draws from their opening eight games. Baker knows the Rebels will be in for a tough tie, however, he's hoping the support of the crowd and the side's good form at Arbour Park can carry them through.
“It's a really tough draw,” added Baker. “Obviously, we'd have preferred, on paper, an easier draw. But if we want to get to where we want to get to, we're going to have to play some good teams. If that has to be Worthing, then so be it. They're a good side. To come into the league and go eight unbeaten, winning five and drawing three, is tremendous from them so we know it's going to be very difficult, but we just have to do whatever we can to get through. The most important thing is can we get through, it's not about performance. We are up against it, they're in good form and we're missing Elliot, Scott Davies, George Hunt, so we haven't got it all our own way.”