27/04/16
April saw the Slough Academy carry on where they left off in March.
First, the Academy took a trip to the South Coast to play Southampton. The Rebels found themselves 1-0 up at the break thanks to a goal from Pritpal Raju, but missed a bundle of chances and should have been three goals to the good.
In the second half Slough again failed to find a killer second goal, and this was to bite them as Southampton equalised in the 85 minute. Slough left with a point, but were disappointed not to take all three.
Then it was Jason Bristow's Basingstoke Town at home. Slough had a great start, scoring the first in the second minute through Mubarak Bashir.
Then another good move from Slough led to Sayo Kotia beating the centre half and sliding the ball into the far corner.
The second half saw Slough play some great football, scoring again in the 69th minute with a cool finish from Kotia again. The Rebels then hit a fourth in the 74th minute, this time Raju the scorer. After the game Bristow complemented the Slough performance as 'outstanding' – a great complement from an opposition manager.
Then it was Woking who visited Slough. The squad had been on a great run with five wins and a draw up to this point. The two sides were evenly matched, with both teams cancelling each other out. Then, in the 28th minute Slough broke the deadlock through a 20 yard shot from Oscar Betts.
Woking replied just before the break with a well-worked set piece to ensure the two sides went into the half time break level.
In the 65th minute Raju was bought down in the box, and he dusted himself down to place the ball on the spot and convert the penalty to put Slough back in front.
Woking, though, were still playing great football and were rewarded after some clever play saw their number 9 bought down in the box. He also stepped up and scored his penalty, low in the bottom corner.
The game looked like it was going to finish 2-2 when a long Slough throw was put into the box and Bashir was bundled over, leading to the award of a third penalty in the 89th minute. This time, Oscar Betts stepped up and smashed the ball into the bottom corner. Slough saw out the final four minutes of added time to take another impressive three points.
Slough then entertained Tonbridge Angels, who were sitting second in the table. Slough started quickly, playing some great passing football. Again the Rebels took the lead in the fourth minute through Bashir, and this rocked Tonbridge. Slough should have gone further ahead but failed to take the chances that came their way.
Instead Tonbridge started to work their way back into the game, and in the 30th minute went close and worked the Slough keeper Wessley.
Slough took their 1-0 lead into the half time break, and in the second half both teams played good flowing football. In the 79th minute Slough broke down the right hand side with Betts and Rhoden linking up, resulting in an inch-perfect cross from Betts onto the head of Raju to make it 2-0.
Tonbridge still kept coming at Slough but a great defensive display see Slough keep a clean sheet against a good Angels side and extend their unbeaten run to eight games.
Then came a trip to Dartford in Kent. With Slough on a great run, confidence was high but the Slough management team were fully aware that this game was going to be probably the toughest to date after beating Dartford at Home 4-1 earlier in the season.
Slough arrived at Princes Park looking for a good start, and the Rebels yet again started well, going close three times in the first 20 minutes but not converting them. In the 35th minute some great play from Bashir saw him play the ball into the path of Betts, who moved it on to Raju who coolly slotted the ball home into the open net.
In the 42nd minute a Slough corner taken by Betts found the head of Leigh Mobey, and he powered it past the Dartford keeper into the top right hand corner.
In the second half both teams played entertaining football but neither team was able to add to the score sheet – mainly due to both keepers pulling off some great saves.
The final whistle sounded and Slough recorded yet another win and clean sheet with a great squad performance.
So Slough go into their final league game against Woking nine games unbeaten (eight wins and one draw) - an amazing achievement. Well done lads and good luck in the last league game – if they claim all three points, Slough Academy could finish as runners-up. The lads have also enjoyed having Chairman Steve Easterbrook present at most of the games. Good luck to the Academy squad and management next week.
First, the Academy took a trip to the South Coast to play Southampton. The Rebels found themselves 1-0 up at the break thanks to a goal from Pritpal Raju, but missed a bundle of chances and should have been three goals to the good.
In the second half Slough again failed to find a killer second goal, and this was to bite them as Southampton equalised in the 85 minute. Slough left with a point, but were disappointed not to take all three.
Then it was Jason Bristow's Basingstoke Town at home. Slough had a great start, scoring the first in the second minute through Mubarak Bashir.
Then another good move from Slough led to Sayo Kotia beating the centre half and sliding the ball into the far corner.
The second half saw Slough play some great football, scoring again in the 69th minute with a cool finish from Kotia again. The Rebels then hit a fourth in the 74th minute, this time Raju the scorer. After the game Bristow complemented the Slough performance as 'outstanding' – a great complement from an opposition manager.
Then it was Woking who visited Slough. The squad had been on a great run with five wins and a draw up to this point. The two sides were evenly matched, with both teams cancelling each other out. Then, in the 28th minute Slough broke the deadlock through a 20 yard shot from Oscar Betts.
Woking replied just before the break with a well-worked set piece to ensure the two sides went into the half time break level.
In the 65th minute Raju was bought down in the box, and he dusted himself down to place the ball on the spot and convert the penalty to put Slough back in front.
Woking, though, were still playing great football and were rewarded after some clever play saw their number 9 bought down in the box. He also stepped up and scored his penalty, low in the bottom corner.
The game looked like it was going to finish 2-2 when a long Slough throw was put into the box and Bashir was bundled over, leading to the award of a third penalty in the 89th minute. This time, Oscar Betts stepped up and smashed the ball into the bottom corner. Slough saw out the final four minutes of added time to take another impressive three points.
Slough then entertained Tonbridge Angels, who were sitting second in the table. Slough started quickly, playing some great passing football. Again the Rebels took the lead in the fourth minute through Bashir, and this rocked Tonbridge. Slough should have gone further ahead but failed to take the chances that came their way.
Instead Tonbridge started to work their way back into the game, and in the 30th minute went close and worked the Slough keeper Wessley.
Slough took their 1-0 lead into the half time break, and in the second half both teams played good flowing football. In the 79th minute Slough broke down the right hand side with Betts and Rhoden linking up, resulting in an inch-perfect cross from Betts onto the head of Raju to make it 2-0.
Tonbridge still kept coming at Slough but a great defensive display see Slough keep a clean sheet against a good Angels side and extend their unbeaten run to eight games.
Then came a trip to Dartford in Kent. With Slough on a great run, confidence was high but the Slough management team were fully aware that this game was going to be probably the toughest to date after beating Dartford at Home 4-1 earlier in the season.
Slough arrived at Princes Park looking for a good start, and the Rebels yet again started well, going close three times in the first 20 minutes but not converting them. In the 35th minute some great play from Bashir saw him play the ball into the path of Betts, who moved it on to Raju who coolly slotted the ball home into the open net.
In the 42nd minute a Slough corner taken by Betts found the head of Leigh Mobey, and he powered it past the Dartford keeper into the top right hand corner.
In the second half both teams played entertaining football but neither team was able to add to the score sheet – mainly due to both keepers pulling off some great saves.
The final whistle sounded and Slough recorded yet another win and clean sheet with a great squad performance.
So Slough go into their final league game against Woking nine games unbeaten (eight wins and one draw) - an amazing achievement. Well done lads and good luck in the last league game – if they claim all three points, Slough Academy could finish as runners-up. The lads have also enjoyed having Chairman Steve Easterbrook present at most of the games. Good luck to the Academy squad and management next week.
Copyright 2024 Slough Town F.C. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.sloughtownfc.net as the source.