Barry proves to be Town's best friend

Barry Friend, at 5ft 5ins the smallest player on the pitch, was the biggest influence behind Slough Town's Isthmian League victory over fellow strugglers Kingstonian on Saturday.

Midfield grafter Friend, who gained valuable experience at Fulham where he made two Football League appearances and played for England as an amateur when he was at Leatherhead, is the third player to join Slough from Coach Brian Hall’s old club, Wimbledon.

He made a splendid debut, with his shrewd passes, non-stop running and intelligent support of his forwards making him an ideal replacement for the departed Roy Davies. Bobby Horastead, having rejoined Slough after a spell with Kingstonian, came in at right -back and also impressed in the defeat of his old side, while 18-year-old keeper, Dale Scott, making his fast team debut, was a satisfactory, though nervous, understudy to Trevor Porter, who was at his brother’s wedding.

Slough, now getting over their biggest ever injury crisis, took a gamble by recalling Terry Reardon and Paul Lee who had both been doubtful all week. The gamble paid off, with Reardon stamping his authority in midfield and Lee making amends for his lack of sharpness by scoring a superb winning goal.

But the player who most people had come to see was Dale Scott, the son of former Slough defender Malcolm Scott. Dale had a few anxious moments early on as the heavy rain made the ball difficult to handle. He narrowly won a race for the ball with Peter Caines and was beginning to settle down when he was beaten in the 19th minute after his colleagues had been caught flat footed.

Turl's error led to Evans getting in a hard, low shot which Scott could only parry and Alan Rowbottom was on hand to tap the ball into the net. During this opening 25 minutes Slough's forwards had been disappointing, though they had produced a delightful move in the 10th minute. White raced away from two defenders and passed to Russell who shot wide when a goal seemed certain.

Slough’s three midfield men then set their strikers an example, with Gane and Reardon only inches off target and Friend forcing keeper Overton to push along shot over.

Town started the second half with a bang, equalising after only two minutes. Russell forced a corner on the right and when White missed Friend's well placed flag kick, Tim Turl came in from the left to drill the ball home.

But this bright start wasn't maintained and Slough allowed the visitors to do the bulk of the attacking. The home defence again looked shaky and was at all at sea when Caines headed wide.

Kingstonian were also uncertain at the back and a defensive slip led to Slough getting a surprise winner. Dyer's header, intended for Mahon, went straight to Paul Lee who made ground before slamming the ball home from 20 yards.

So Slough managed to lift themselves out of the next to bottom position in the table with only their second win in 10 league games. Poor Kingstonian have now gone 10 games without a win.