Hitchin (a) - 11th March

[SloughFlyer]

Such a hard working performance today from everyone in the side and getting those 3 points was exactly what we deserved.

 

Thought the new keeper looked very solid and he made a couple of really good saves and claims when he needed to.

 

Ref and officials were very poor for both sides, but it was nice to be on the positive end of a couple of questionable decisions for once.

 

Ironic comment of the day came from a Hitchin fan in the stand with us who, with 5 minutes to go shouted at Sean Fraser to get on with it and hurry up! After the way they acted at Arbour Park it was a lovely moment to laugh at the guy.

 

On we go to another tough Tuesday night away from home, but hopefully the confidence from todays result will feed into the squad ready for then.

[Irishadrian]

An excellent and not surprising result and those two early goals certainly gave us a fillip  Right now no team in the league has more victories than Slough ( although Chippenham may change that against H&Y tomorrow) If we are destined to meet in the play-offs being the victors last time is just another little edge. Next game Im at is Frome and Im less confident about this one than I was today.

[GlenSTFC]

Great result although I thought Hitchin were slow starters which we certainly took advantage. There were a few tense/nervy moments but we held strong and got a deserved and much needed win. Surprised the crowd was 828 it looked no more than 600! We probably had around 150.

[epicrebel]

John talking to Jon on Hitchin game

 

https://audioboom.com/posts/5697512-jonunders-reflecting-on-sloughtownfc-victory-against-hitchintownfc

[Reading Rebel]

An excellent and not surprising result and those two early goals certainly gave us a fillip  Right now no team in the league has more victories than Slough ( although Chippenham may change that against H&Y tomorrow) If we are destined to meet in the play-offs being the victors last time is just another little edge. Next game Im at is Frome and Im less confident about this one than I was today.

 

 

It's one game apiece in the league so not sure if today's win will give us any edge if we meet in the play-offs. For me we are two very evenly matched teams and the winner, like today, is the team that defends well and takes their chances when they come.

 

Agree with you about the Frome game, another Tuesday on a pig of a pitch against a form team, it won't get much harder.

[RebelDelaney]

A top squad performance to earn the 3 points Floody superb up front on his own.

 

COYREBELS

[Reading Rebel]

Fantastic battling performance and 3 crucial points.

 

Every player put in a shift and in the end we ran out very worthy winners against a very good Hitchin side.

 

No nailed on MOTM but for me Warren Harris was back to his all action best and Floody was excellent on his own up front.

 

Big game and big performance needed on Tuesday against a rejuvenated St Neots.

 

COYR!!

[HorshamRebel]

Match Photos

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/horshamrebel/albums/72157679620941820/

[Sloughboy]

How did the keeper do??

 

I have seen him play before and like him, he is a bit more imposing than Strudley, I know Struds' is well thought of and a decent keeper but doesn't seem as physically imposing! I may be wrong but just from afar that's what it looks like!

 

Be interesting to hear what they do for Tuesday

[staines_rebel_Jr]

We clearly came into the game with a plan today which was to keep it tight defensively and frustrate them to then counter quickly. This was helped by two early goals which came from Slough being alert and first to the ball each time. Dunn did well with the first to wait as long as possible to give it to Warren in space so that he had an easy angle and almost empty net to score in. The second came after the keeper collided with his own player to drop the ball kindly to Hollis who on the turn hit it low and hard.

 

We then dropped back and as the half went on seemed to get deeper and deeper but still able to come forward on the counter. The first Hitchin goal came with a bit of luck as Nisbet couldn't get even power on his header to the new GK.

 

Second half we started brightly clearly trying to get a third goal to give us back the two goal cushion. The goal came with a huge slice of luck with the referee giving the softest of penalties as Nisbet went down. Dobson made sure with his penalty putting it high with power. However dubious the penalty it was Hitchin getting a bit of their own medicine.

 

We then defend until the final whistle as Hitchin do their best to launch the ball into the box for C Donnelly to head it down to a team mate. The goal did come for Hitchin as a low hard hit shot from outside the box left Walker Harris rooted to the spot, not sure if it got a deflection or just coming through a group of player he didn't see it till too late.

 

 

From the very first minute Hitchin did exactly what we thought they would do and try to wind us up. Plenty of fouls as the official are not looking and they seemed to target Webb a bit. Our players were having none of it and didn't react or retaliate which frustrated Hitchin more, 2 goals down and their "tactics" were not working. There was one big moment where it looked like Webb was head butted off the ball which the officials missed. Lots of other elbows and late kicks but still no reaction from our players. Second half they stopped a bit as they realised it wasn't going to work though number 7 still had a try at Dobson who nearly did react.

 

 

We were brilliant today and ground out a hard fought but well deserved victory.

 

My MotM might be a bit strange to some but I thought Nathan Webb was back to his best today after having looked off the pace in quite a few of our last games. He broke up their play well and played simple passes to get us moving forward again. He was also clearly targeted for the special Donnelly "treatment" but never reacted and just made them look like the prats they are.

 

 

Hitchin is a great club but they should do themselves a favour and get rid of the players giving them a bad name. They might be good and get them results but they are a***holes.

[staines_rebel_Jr]

How did the keeper do??

 

I have seen him play before and like him, he is a bit more imposing than Strudley, I know Struds' is well thought of and a decent keeper but doesn't seem as physically imposing! I may be wrong but just from afar that's what it looks like!

 

Be interesting to hear what they do for Tuesday

He did well and commanded his box well, coming out to collect crosses and making plenty of good saves. Neither goal his fault and would be happy if he played for us again.

[Sir Rebel1965]

828 was Hitchin's largest gate so far this season.

[kirk]

Good performance by all but my man of the match was Mr. Flood a tireless worker.

The league title not over yet if we can keep on winning against the lesser sides.

[Reading Rebel]

How did the keeper do??

 

I have seen him play before and like him, he is a bit more imposing than Strudley, I know Struds' is well thought of and a decent keeper but doesn't seem as physically imposing! I may be wrong but just from afar that's what it looks like!

 

Be interesting to hear what they do for Tuesday

 

 

I thought Walker-Harris did very well and was certainly a good experienced replacement for Paul Strudley.

 

Personally I think Struds and Walker-Harris are very similar 'imposing' wise with Struds having a bit more of a stockier build.

 

As for which keeper? I've seen Struds play for a number of seasons and I know he is a top keeper and IMO he would be first choice for any team at this level.

 

Having only seen Walker-Harris for the first time yesterday my initial thoughts are that he did very well and could do a good job for us. One possible negative is that he lives in Southampton and I'm not sure if that can be seen as a good thing for the long term.

[Alan Greenaway]

Agree with Staines Rebel, Hitchin were their usual self trying to bully their way through the game and quite a few off  the ball niggles. I was pleased to see Mr Donnelly leave the field. Have to admit he is good at what he does.

Unlike the game at Arbour Park we did not seem to be as intimidated this time.

The two early goals obviously helped.

Brilliant result. Onto Tuesday and hoping for 3 more points. 2nd is still possible with quite a few games still to come between the other teams in the top 5.

COYR

[Hammer_rebel]

Never watched hitchin before and they must be the biggest moaners in our league! Pulling shirts they seem to get away with a lot. There's a perfect shot with a player holding onto floods shirt that got missed, and the ball was there so no idea what the ref was watching

[Sloughboy]

I thought walker Harris was bit taller but not a massive difference and isn't he all and end all! My only thought on it is struds misses another game so rather not chop abc land change I guess!

 

Managers will get it right I'm sure

[Sir Rebel1965]

One too many sherries Slough Boy?

[Reading Rebel]

Never watched hitchin before and they must be the biggest moaners in our league! Pulling shirts they seem to get away with a lot. There's a perfect shot with a player holding onto floods shirt that got missed, and the ball was there so no idea what the ref was watching

 

 

Not a patch on Paulton when we played them a couple of seasons ago. Moaning and whinging from first whistle to last.  

[Sloughboy]

Blimey that was some

Bad predictive writing from me there!! hopefully got the jist anyway! Lol