Ten-man Slough close the gap at the top

Bedfont Town

Bedfont Town

1
Stanislaus (pen 89)
Slough Town

Slough Town

2
Burnell (56), Sonner (67)
League Attendance: 238 Simon Sweeney
A red card for Nathan Bowden-Haase could not prevent Slough emerging victorious from Bedfont with three valuable points, thanks to a goal apiece from Dan Burnell and Sean Sonner.

Five of Slough’s last eight games have now resulted in a single-goal victory for the Rebels, and the same was achieved here thanks to a sturdy defensive line and the strikeforce of Burnell and Sonner taking the very few chances that came their way in the second half.

Indeed, in a poor first half, neither side could muster an attempt on target. Slough passes went astray and frustration threatened to get the better of the Rebels, with Bowden-Haase shown a yellow card for a soft-looking decision and Stuart Swift also being booked for dissent shown to referee Bakalarz.

Tommy Brewer swung his right foot at the ball and sent it over the bar as a drab first half drew to a close, and Steve Bateman shuffled his pack at the interval, replacing Paul Coyne and Swift with Adam Logie and Ollie Burgess.

Both had an immediate impact on the game; Logie added steel to the midfield and Burgess showed good touches to draw a foul from the experienced Davis Haule. Soon after, Bowden-Haase was felled in the box, but Bakalarz waved away the appeals for a penalty.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Slough won the ball 30 yards from goal and the bright Burgess played it across to Burnell on the left side of the box, who advanced on Gary Ross in the Bedfont goal and slotted the ball between his legs and into the back of the net to give Slough the lead.

Controversy then followed as Bowden-Haase was shown his second yellow card and given his marching orders, this time for a handball offence which appeared to have been committed by Burgess.

But Slough settled, with Steve Perkins dropping into the back four, and soon after, the Rebels doubled their lead. Danny Murphy swung in a corner which Sonner connected with, and Burnell took a swing at the ball which missed, however deceived both Ross and the defender on the line, the ball bobbling through his legs and into the back of the net again.

Despite being a man down, Slough did not look likely to concede to mid-table Bedfont, however the hosts were handed a way back into the match with a minute remaining with the award of a penalty, which substitute Stanislaus converted – another debateable decision.

But this was not to affect the result of the game, which sees Slough move to within just one point of leaders St Neots with four games remaining.

Bedfont Town Lineup

G Ross, T Brewer, J Jacobs, A Clarke, J Walters, M O'Brien (c), T Kanek, D Haule, Z Cole, J Barrie-Bates, D Williams. Subs: R Stanislaus, J Lambe, J Watts, L Cooper, D Sonner.

Rebels

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