On Tuesday night Slough Town made the short trip to the leafy suburbs of Greater London to take on Hampton & Richmond Borough at the Beveree Stadium. The Rebels made one change from Saturday’s 1-0 away win at Braintree Town with Ben Harris coming starting in place of Dan Roberts who dropped to the bench.
It was a milestone fixture for goalkeeper Jack Turner who was making his 150th appearance for the club and the shot stopper was called into action in the first 5 minutes, making a smart save down to his left from a Hampton free kick.
On 16 minutes the home side took the lead when a free kick was only half cleared, and the ball fell to the Beaver’s captain Luke Ruddick who poked a shot inside the near post.
It took until midway through the half for Slough to begin to get into the game. First Sam Togwell met a Max Worsfold corner with a header that went wide before Ryan Bird just missed the target from close range only for the offside flag to be raised. 5 minutes before the break a double chance saw Bird almost get on the end of an inviting cross before the ball was recycled and sent back in for Bird to head it down to Warren Harris, who’s shot was saved by Dan Lincoln in the Hampton goal.
Just before the break the Rebels went closer still when a Turner goal kick was headed on by Ben Harris for Warren Harris to run onto. Harris got a shot away, but Lincoln made another save.
Slough went into the break a goal down and they would have been disappointed with how long it took them to get into the game, but there were starting to find their rhythm towards the end of the half.
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With the words of Underwood and Baker clearly ringing in their ears, the Rebels came out for the second half and took the game to their hosts. The first chance came a couple of minutes after the restart as George Wells met a Worsfold free kick, but his header didn’t have the power he would have liked and was easily saved, but five minutes later the game was level. Slough were awarded a free kick on the edge of the D and Ben Harris stepped up to smash it into the bottom corner for 1-1.
The Rebels were well on top and four minutes after drawing level they were ahead. Wells went up with the Hampton keeper to challenge for a Worsfold corner but ended up on his back on the floor. However, Lincoln was only able to scuff a punch and the ball fell towards Wells who was able to swing a leg out and poke the ball in. How much the player knew about it was up for debate, but we will give him the benefit of the doubt.
A minute later Slough had the chance to finish off the game as they were awarded a penalty, but Ben Harris was only able to hit the post and the score stayed at 2-1.
As the half wore on Hampton started to get back into the game. They had a goal ruled out for offside and Turner was called into action as he made a good save at his near post. Slough still carried a threat on the break, but the home side were exerting the most pressure. With 5 minutes to go the Beavers put a nice passing move together resulting in a shot that looked destined for the top corner only for Turner to make a great save keeping the score at 2-1.
The home side continued to press but Slough held out to record their second away in four days and to close the gap to Wealdstone at the top of the table to 7 points.
The Rebels are back in league action on Saturday with a home game against Oxford City. A full list of weekend fixtures is here. Join the new ‘We Love Slough’ facebook group here.
