Media coverage

[BFR]

Obviously the spotlight is on Yeading, and rightly so, but this article in the Observer yesterday at least mentioned our issues with the council, and did a nice job of mocking Stag Meadow as well.

 

[color:"red"] On a grey, grim day at Windsor and Eton FC, two Ryman League teams battled away for the chance of possible financial salvation in the third round of the FA Cup. Slough Town, sixteenth in the league, had never progressed so far; Yeading, top of the table, had already progressed further than they had in their short history.

Slough were nominally at home, but due to a wrangle with the council - Labour promised them a new ground but lost power in the last election and the hung council reneged on someone else's promise - they have been banished to the outskirts of Windsor Great Park. It provided a rural backdrop, more suited to a gentle bit of pony-and-trapping rather than a blood-and-thunder Cup tie.

 

Slough dominated the early exchanges, going ahead courtesy of a penalty in the third minute after Alex Haddow was upended by Nevin Saroya. Glen Harris sent Delroy Preddie the wrong way.

 

They might have extended their lead had postman Ian Hodges taken a half-chance. Meanwhile, Yeading's midfield took time to settle.

 

Once they did, they soon equalised. A 25-yard volley from Darti Brown hit the underside of the bar and bounced down on the line. From an unmissable position Errol Telemaque headed against the post and, also from an unmissable position, Dudley 'DJ' Campbell headed into the net. It was his 22nd of the season. Game on.

 

Things became fractious. Saroya and Haddow clashed heads and both received yellow cards while the blood was mopped off their foreheads.

 

And so to the second half. Slough threatened from a corner. At the other end, Telemaque set up Campbell, but he struck his shot straight at the keeper.

 

His aim was more true five minutes later when, completely unmarked, he headed Yeading into the lead. 'He should be a league player,' said his manager Johnson Hippolyte after the match. 'He's like a son to me.'

 

The partly functioning floodlights cast their gloomy glow over proceedings. In the gloaming, a wonderful long-distance shot from Davis Haule brought a fine save from Shaun Allaway. From the resulting corner, it was Haule who headed the third. The Slough defence had a height advantage which they had squandered twice in five minutes.

 

Shutting up shop, Yeading withdrew both their impressive strikers and played out time with little difficulty. Towards the end, the ball went flying over the Yeading bar and into the Great Park. One for the Queen.

 

Yeading, perhaps uniquely in British football, have a black manager, Hippolyte, and a black goalkeeper, Preddie. They are the only Ryman League side in today's third round. And they deserve the luck of the draw.

 

Look forward to Yeading at Reading. 'I tell you exactly how it is,' said Hippolyte. 'My players want Man United, my chairman wants Chelsea, and for my sins I'm a Leeds United fan.

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[Matt]

Slough vs Yeading got an (almost) full-page match report in the Sun today as well. Obviously the focus was on Yeading but hey. Main picture of DJ scoring his first and a bit from Eddie Denton in the report as well.