v Banbury United

[Reading Rebel]

Our biggest test in pre season against a side in the NLN that finished the season in a similar position.

With only 2 further games to go until the season starts this game will give us a good indication on how we are progressing as a squad. 

 

[DonnyNo6]

I think this will be a proper match this evening, I don't believe in 'friendlies' anyway but I don't think this will be.

[Norton]

4 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

Our biggest test in pre season against a side in the NLN that finished the season in a similar position...this game will give us a good indication on how we are progressing as a squad. 

Banbury are still rebuilding the team after the departure in May of manager Andy Whing, followed by most of the players that brought so much success in his three years at the club. The new squad is a completely unknown quantity. Slough supporters shouldn't draw too many conclusions from tonight's game!

 

[GlenSTFC]

So another win and the winner scored by a new trialist and by all accounts a well taken goal. Not sure many of us were expecting any new trialists especially after signing 3 of them recently. I’m sure Scott will explain!

Edited July 25, 2023 by GlenSTFC

[DonnyNo6]

Good work out last night I thought, plenty of pace to the match and competitive which is what you want at times preseason, get the legs and lungs going.

[Curtis]

10 hours ago, GlenSTFC said:

So another win and the winner scored by a new trialist and by all accounts a well taken goal.

Tom McElroy - Hanwell Town second half of last season (?).

I only saw the second half, but he looked very lively, similar in some ways to George Alexander, and on the way he put away his chance last night looks capable of scoring goals at Step 2.

[Curtis]

1 hour ago, DonnyNo6 said:

Good work out last night I thought, plenty of pace to the match and competitive which is what you want at times preseason, get the legs and lungs going.

So competitive & match like we even practiced keeping the ball by the corner flag for the last few minutes to guarantee the win!

[Reading Rebel]

17 hours ago, Norton said:

Banbury are still rebuilding the team after the departure in May of manager Andy Whing, followed by most of the players that brought so much success in his three years at the club. The new squad is a completely unknown quantity. Slough supporters shouldn't draw too many conclusions from tonight's game!

 

Looks like both sides have re-built.

Our squad of 16 for the game consisted of 11 new players.

[GlenSTFC]

Give us a mini report whilst we await Scott’s interview…

[Reading Rebel]

Toughest game to date and a decent game and performance.

We started the game without a center forward (Minhas was on the bench), created a few chances and probably should have converted one or two.

We went in a goal down due to an error from Joe Dandy leaving a Banbury player with a one on one with our keeper.

A second half penalty won and converted by Abisogun put us level and some consistent pressure from us produced the winner from our new trialist Tom McElroy.

Agree with Curtis that he looked lively and did well for his debut.

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Reading Rebel

[GlenSTFC]

👍

[Curtis]

19 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

We started the game without a center forward

 

I didn’t see the first half, but Elliot Benyon was in the announced starting line up…. didn’t he playing as a centre forward?

[Curtis]

I forgot to mention that our new goalkeeper did see some action, I thought his decision making, shot saving & distribution were all very good.

[Reading Rebel]

50 minutes ago, Curtis said:

I didn’t see the first half, but Elliot Benyon was in the announced starting line up…. didn’t he playing as a centre forward?

He did but is Elliott a center forward?

[3spirit]

29 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Toughest game to date and a decent game and performance.

We started the game without a center forward (Minhas was on the bench), created a few chances and probably should have converted one or two.

We went in a goal down due to an error from Joe Dandy leaving a Banbury player with a one on one with our keeper.

A second half penalty won and converted by Abisogun put us level and some consistent pressure from us produced the winner from our new trialist Tom McElroy.

Agree with Curtis that he looked lively and did well for his debut.

 

On the night I thought our standout player was Tyrese Dyce. He looks a great acquisition. I also thought Leon Chambers Parillion looked very calm and composed in centre midfield and could be now about to build on the appearances he made under Bakes and Unders.Being another year or two older he looks like he could do a decent job for Slough in the central area. David Ogbonna also caught the eye with some dazzling runs,too. 

Most of the newbies put in good shifts, and on the game itself it seemed a fitting workout for most of our squad. What was harder to define to me was just what our line-up and formation will be come the Maidstone and Dover games.  At the moment I feel Scott Davies will need to start those matches,as the centre of defence doesn't quite look ready for the rigours of the league games. Dan Baylis looks to be settling in but I'm a little unsure on who needs to be his partner/partners to make up the centre half components. Joe Dandy didn't have his best game last night but I do rate Joe as a defender, I just feel the jury is still out on how Joe and Dan will function as a pairing. I would be inclined to play a third centre half against Maidstone.

Slough seem to have an abundance of players that can play in midfield so that area seems to be fine. However, I can't say the same for our foward line. I think Nathan Minhas and Elliot Benyon look likely to start upfront against Maidstone. I think Elliot is looking sharp but I've been underwhelmed by Nathan so far.I'm hoping he's saving himself for the league games !

On the trialist Tom McClroy I thought he tried hard enough to impress but without being too harsh on him for a second half appearance,the things he tried didn't always go to plan. Just my luck I missed seeing his goal, due to chatting to a friend and writing something down. Given Mikkel Platt doesn't look ready to start yet, Tom may get another chance to impress for the Bracknell friendly.

[Reading Rebel]

17 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

On the night I thought our standout player was Tyrese Dyce. He looks a great acquisition. I also thought Leon Chambers Parillion looked very calm and composed in centre midfield and could be now about to build on the appearances he made under Bakes and Unders.Being another year or two older he looks like he could do a decent job for Slough in the central area. David Ogbonna also caught the eye with some dazzling runs,too. 

Most of the newbies put in good shifts, and on the game itself it seemed a fitting workout for most of our squad. What was harder to define to me was just what our line-up and formation will be come the Maidstone and Dover games.  At the moment I feel Scott Davies will need to start those matches,as the centre of defence doesn't quite look ready for the rigours of the league games. Dan Baylis looks to be settling in but I'm a little unsure on who needs to be his partner/partners to make up the centre half components. Joe Dandy didn't have his best game last night but I do rate Joe as a defender, I just feel the jury is still out on how Joe and Dan will function as a pairing. I would be inclined to play a third centre half against Maidstone.

Slough seem to have an abundance of players that can play in midfield so that area seems to be fine. However, I can't say the same for our foward line. I think Nathan Minhas and Elliot Benyon look likely to start upfront against Maidstone. I think Elliot is looking sharp but I've been underwhelmed by Nathan so far.I'm hoping he's saving himself for the league games !

On the trialist Tom McClroy I thought he tried hard enough to impress but without being too harsh on him for a second half appearance,the things he tried didn't always go to plan. Just my luck I missed seeing his goal, due to chatting to a friend and writing something down. Given Mikkel Platt doesn't look ready to start yet, Tom may get another chance to impress for the Bracknell friendly.

Nathan had his best game in the second half against Uxbridge.

With Mickel still injured or not match fit I think we'll play one up front at Maidstone.

From what I saw I think Tom McElroy certainly deserves another chance to impress but he is another mid fielder which we have in abundance.

[3spirit]

57 minutes ago, Curtis said:

I didn’t see the first half, but Elliot Benyon was in the announced starting line up…. didn’t he playing as a centre forward?

He did and he actually scored a goal last night but it was deemed offside. Elliot did his usual of trying to go into the higher line of attacking midfield rather than upfront but I heard Scott telling him off for this, which was the right thing to do at the time.  

With Nathan Minhas not exactly covering the hard yards yet and Elliot seemingly wanting to be a link man between midfield and attack,and Mikkel Platt not available,Slough's goalscoring threat from the forwards needs big improvement, and it is worrying being so close to the actual start of league games. Funny enough this being the case, I would even consider playing Jefferson Louis for one half against Maidstone ! No offence to Jefferson but just having this notion for a commencement of our league campaign is embarassing.

Least the midfield areas look a lot rosier for creating chances.  

[3spirit]

42 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Nathan had his best game in the second half against Uxbridge.

With Mickel still injured or not match fit I think we'll play one up front at Maidstone.

From what I saw I think Tom McElroy certainly deserves another chance to impress but he is another mid fielder which we have in abundance.

I didn't realise Tom McElroy was a midfielder !

Against Uxbridge,all of our players should be standing out !  I'm hopeful Nathan will start banging in the goals once we have a settled team and system in place.

I think over the years of Steve Bateman, and Bakes and Unders, the fans have been spoilt with their organisational skills and how adept they were for bringing new players into the ranks, and making it look fairly easy to get it into a functioning shipshape team.

I think Scott Davies has his work cut out to make it be a seamless transition this time around. Too many players have left and too many have come in this season and given the lack of experience in terms of Conference South standard players recruited,it feels like this season will be a steep learning curve for this new squad. However, at least it will be interesting to see how Slough fare this season.

I'm sure most of the Slough supporters[myself included] appreciate Scott's efforts to get this squad ready and raring to go for the task in hand.

On a positive note, it certainly doesn't feel as stale as last pre-season was, given the lack of new players/scope Bakes and Unders had to cope with. We look like a team with potential but it is actually proving we have a team good enother to match our opponents, that will provide the answers.  

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by 3spirit

[3spirit]

47 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Nathan had his best game in the second half against Uxbridge.

With Mickel still injured or not match fit I think we'll play one up front at Maidstone.

From what I saw I think Tom McElroy certainly deserves another chance to impress but he is another mid fielder which we have in abundance.

Just one other point,what sort of message does that send out if we play 'one up front' against Maidstone? To me it's the first league game of the season, I don't view it as a damage limitation game this time around. I'm not confident we will win but we have a chance to cause an upset,no question of that. Of course,I'd be happy with a draw/1 point but I wouldn't want Slough players at a start of a new season going there thinking they can't win.

I would definitely play 'two up front' and I hope Scott does just that. He's not Bakes and Unders.He's proved he's his own man. Anyway,win ,draw or lose, one game doesn't make a season. Slough need to be adventurous, not go to Maidstone beaten before they've started imo.    

[DonnyNo6]

4 hours ago, Curtis said:

So competitive & match like we even practiced keeping the ball by the corner flag for the last few minutes to guarantee the win!

Their fans weren't to happy about that.