Tilbury
2
Mellish (pen 61), Dunwell (71)
Slough Town
0
League
Slough Town missed a great chance to move back to the top of the Athenian League at Tilbury on Saturday when they turned in one of their poorer performances and slumped to their third league defeat of the season. With championship rivals Dagenham dropping a home point to Leatherhead, Slough could have been clear on goal average on Saturday evening, instead they remain in second place, two points behind the Essex club.
Slough's up and down form this season is a complete mystery. Obviously they can play the sort of football the fans want to see, as they showed at Woking. At Tilbury however, they could not recapture that form and their fans who travelled to Tilbury must have wished that they had stayed at home.
Slough were in trouble before they took the field. Tony Amos went down with flu on Friday and Alf D'Arcy's shoulder injury kept him out of action. Both were missed. The Slough defence needed D'Arcy's steadying influence and the attack looked sadly off key without the lively Amos.
Slough began brightly enough, with a good left foot shot by lan Reid, but it was Tilbury who really threatened first when a lob from Dunwell beat Wolstenholme. Somehow Keith Mead and Tim Turl scrambled the ball clear.
Tilbury went close again when a lob from Flood hit the top of the bar with Wolstenholme at full stretch, then at the other end a free kick taken by Peter Cruse saw a header from Ray Hill well saved.
For a five-minute spell before half-time Slough pushed forward strongly, Roger Day saw a driving header saved on the line, then Reid's shot from close in went straight to Harman in the Tilbury goal. In one of these Slough attacks Terry Reardon was hurt in the chest. He was obviously in trouble and after the interval was replaced by substitute Dave Swain.
The latter was no more successful than his teammates in beating a Tilbury defence that was now using the offside trap, and activity in the Tilbury goal mouth was a rare event. In the 61st minute Tilbury went ahead through a penalty. Newboy Ray Eaton, at left back for Slough, brought down the speedy Hawkins, and Mellish converted the spot kick.
Swain had a chance to equalise in the 65th minute, but squandered it after a good cross from Reid, and in the 71st minute Tilbury made it 2-0. The scorer, Dunwell, had just missed a very easy chance, but when he got the opportunity to redeem himself he outpaced Eaton and Turl and shot low between the static Wolstenholme and the rear post.
From then until the end, apart from one Slough corner the home side did the attacking, but were unable to add to their score.
Slough's up and down form this season is a complete mystery. Obviously they can play the sort of football the fans want to see, as they showed at Woking. At Tilbury however, they could not recapture that form and their fans who travelled to Tilbury must have wished that they had stayed at home.
Slough were in trouble before they took the field. Tony Amos went down with flu on Friday and Alf D'Arcy's shoulder injury kept him out of action. Both were missed. The Slough defence needed D'Arcy's steadying influence and the attack looked sadly off key without the lively Amos.
Slough began brightly enough, with a good left foot shot by lan Reid, but it was Tilbury who really threatened first when a lob from Dunwell beat Wolstenholme. Somehow Keith Mead and Tim Turl scrambled the ball clear.
Tilbury went close again when a lob from Flood hit the top of the bar with Wolstenholme at full stretch, then at the other end a free kick taken by Peter Cruse saw a header from Ray Hill well saved.
For a five-minute spell before half-time Slough pushed forward strongly, Roger Day saw a driving header saved on the line, then Reid's shot from close in went straight to Harman in the Tilbury goal. In one of these Slough attacks Terry Reardon was hurt in the chest. He was obviously in trouble and after the interval was replaced by substitute Dave Swain.
The latter was no more successful than his teammates in beating a Tilbury defence that was now using the offside trap, and activity in the Tilbury goal mouth was a rare event. In the 61st minute Tilbury went ahead through a penalty. Newboy Ray Eaton, at left back for Slough, brought down the speedy Hawkins, and Mellish converted the spot kick.
Swain had a chance to equalise in the 65th minute, but squandered it after a good cross from Reid, and in the 71st minute Tilbury made it 2-0. The scorer, Dunwell, had just missed a very easy chance, but when he got the opportunity to redeem himself he outpaced Eaton and Turl and shot low between the static Wolstenholme and the rear post.
From then until the end, apart from one Slough corner the home side did the attacking, but were unable to add to their score.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Ian Wolstenholme
- 2 Tim Turl
- 3 Ian Reid
- 4 Keith Mead
- 5 Ray Eaton
- 6 Peter Cruse
- 7 Roger Day
- 8 Terry Reardon 12
- 9 Micky OSullivan
- 10 Dave Yerby
- 11 Ray Hill
Substitutes
- 12 Dave Swain 8