Match Report

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

Rymans Prem Braintree Vs Slough

 

A cold and blustery day awaited us in Essex as we alighted from the coach and after our recreational kick about (For which a kindly Braintree fan found us a ‘pitch’) We arrived at the ground hoping to improve on our bad form in Essex. Unfortunately, one of the first things we found out after arriving was that Steve Daly was injured and was not playing, we were relieved to find out (after asking him) it was only a calf strain, and he will hopefully be back by the time you read this. Our starting lineup was Allaway, Carbon, Moller, Murphy (Michael), Saulsbury, Haddow, Spencer, Harris, Hodges (Who was captain) Murphy (Matt) and Metcalfe.

The first incident of interest was Ian Hodges being booked within the first quarter of an hour after questioning one of the referees many strange decisions. Soon after the booking the first real chance of the game came via a Josias Carbon cross which was barely scrambled away by a disorganised Braintree defence. The following minute Ian Hodges was pushed to the floor in the box, and Slough were awarded a penalty; Matt Murphy stepped up and smacked the ball in off the ‘keepers right hand post, 1-0. For the next 15 minutes both teams struggled to pass with any accuracy, and the game deteriorated, a rare Braintree attack in the 34th minute led to Michael Murphy being booked for a late tackle, and two minutes later Christian Metcalfe was booked for what seemed a fair tackle. Another strange piece of refereeing, barely a minute later led to a Braintree free kick just outside the box, the ball was only half cleared and a quick square ball from Bradley Quinton left the Slough defence flat footed, and Louis Riddle slotted the ball past Allaway; and to compound our misery Braintree went 2-1 up on the stroke of half time, via another free kick. This time Riddle was provider and Quinton volleyed an unstoppable shot past Shaun Allaway, Half time 2-1 down.

However, things were looking up, during the half time break there was to be a fan’s shoot out. For some reason Slough fans had chosen Dominic Ashford (18 years old) to face Braintree’s 10 year old Jamie. After wandering to within 8 yards of the goal on each of his 3 attempts Dominic managed to blaze 2 wide and had a tame effort saved by the ‘keeper (Who was in fact their mascot Billy the Bull) Jamie however slotted two past the ‘keeper from the edge of the box to win 2-0.

Slough started the brighter of the two teams in the second half; within the first 15 minutes Harris was unlucky to have a shot blocked, Hodges and Matt Murphy had great chances saved whilst Moller had the best chance with a excellent header which was just saved to the keeper’s right. Braintree hit the crossbar and Allaway made a couple of excellent saves during this period. The only Slough substitute appeared after 70 minutes as Veli Hakki appeared in place of Josias Carbon. Veli, as always, tormented the opponent’s defence and was instrumental in most of our chances. Slough spent the final ten minutes camped in the Braintree half, Harris had a excellent shot palmed wide and Hodge just headed wide from an excellent Spencer cross. The final minute led to the most amusing referee mistake as he booked the Braintree’s Quinton for the 2nd time and failed to show a red card! All in all this was a spirited Slough performance, and we deserved at least a point, however yet again we were sloppy after taking an early lead, and let Braintree take a lead they didn’t deserve.

Man of the match: Glen Harris- gave 100% and unlucky not to score two.