Slough Town 1-2 Taunton

[Chris]

They went in front early on after Steve Daly conceded a penalty with a late challenge before we equalised through Terry Davies on around the 70th minute mark. The winner came in injury-time after a short backpass by debutante Dean Harper.

 

Team: France, Moleski, James, Daly, Harper, Duncan, Metcalfe, Roddis, Davies, Miller, Faircluth(Bartley).

 

Unused Subs: Mills, Browne, Braith

[A Rebel and a Saint]

so unlucky today, the second half was better than we have seen in a long time, and we definately did not deserve to lose, the 1-1 would have been a fair result. great goal from terry, in the time when we really started challenging them upfront and really pushing for the ball.

though in the end it was a case of different team, same mistakes, the winner was easily avoidable.

[Tom]

Given that was the first time the team had properly played together I thought our performance was pretty good. We played some good football at times, its just a shame that both goals came from defensive mistakes.

 

What we do need though is someone up front that can hold the ball up.

[BFR]

A much better second half performance. A draw would have been a fair result but we were rather charitable at the end and game them all three points

 

Credit to the Taunton supporters. They made lots of noise and were good humoured. I look forward to the away match later in the season

[Staines-upon-Thames Rebel]

Need Sir Jon back in defence and start looking for a replacement for Daly, he should have gone to Ashford!

[Rebel Kay]

Totally agree about their supporters. Put us to shame in the amount of noise the five lads made. They even stopped swearing in front of the kids without me actually asking them to.

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

Agreed, good bunch of fans, thought we looked good 2nd half... maybe some optimism..

[charlie]

I also thought we were unlucky not to get at least 1 point out of that. Second half performance was best i've seen for months, for the first time in ages, the boys had their heads up, were showing improved confidence levels and took their chances when they came to them. I just hope that sloppy winning goal doesn't deflate that too much.

 

Also like to agree about the Taunton lads - whoever it was who warned us that they were awful was clearly wrong, great sense of humour and sang til the end.

[RodB]

Wish I could have been there, but won't get there till late Sept. Come on you Rebels!

 

Rod

[brighton_rebel]

Gutted - we deserved a point. Staines Rebel was saying we were never going to score, and then we did! Much better set up at Beaconsfield and it was good people hang around in the clubhouse before and after the game. Credit as well to all the Taunton supporters - good bunch of people. I reckon we gave them a run for the money singing in the second half!

But we need to sort something out behind the far end goal - terracing and covering, and some covering for the disabled.

[Woody SUFC]

The Majority of the taunton fans are top people, infact some of the best in the league!

 

It's just a few kids who give them a bad name

[Reading Rebel]

On our second half performance we definately deserved a point although Taunton looked distinctly average.

 

What happened to Woody, Charles and Bizon?

[Tom]

Woody & Bizon both injured.

[Matt]

Can only agree we deserved a point at least. Made a nice change to see us in control of a game for large periods and stroking the ball around confidently. The only issue was that we weren't creating much in the way of clear-cut chances, instead relying on Davies and Miller to hit them from 25 yards. Hopefully having Charles back will help. Having said that I thought Taunton were fairly average, and looked like a team who have had massive changes over the summer, which they have.

 

Good being under the cover in the second half - you can create a fair amount of noise with everyone huddled together. Something similar down the other end would be good if it can happen.

[3spirit]

I can not agree with Tom about Slough playing good football.I thought it was the worst performance I've seen from a Slough Side on an opening day fixture and I've been watching them since 1986!irrespective of what league we've been in.Admittly,we played a lot better in the 2nd half but that wasn't saying a lot!It is only one game,though and we still have to gel as a team but I can't agree with Wilko's tactics.George Moleski best position is central midfield.Roddis[who only played 2 games last year]and Metcalfe are too slow to play both of them.We need a creative midfield player deperately and younger legs.Considering Taunton have lost all their players and put a scratch side together.They could have been 3-0 up at half time.We're desperate for a target man.Where was Lee Charles?We also missed Woody and Jon Mills yesterday.Even Andrew Deaner would have been a useful sub yesterday, as there taller defenders would have had to mark him at set pieces,thus freeing space for Davies[our best player by miles] and Miller,etc.

People forget that Andy Deaner is one of the more experienced players in our squad and has played in the Premier division.While we all know,he's not technically the best,he does work hard and give his all and can be a nuisance in the air, and with his strength to defenders.This would give us the advantage of bypassing our pedestrian midfield and playing route one/long ball football,when we need to.After all it's goals that count,no matter how you put the ball in the net.Being a football purist,I'm not that keen on this ploy,but we must make use of the assets we've got in our paper thin squad.

[BFR]

Worse than the inept 1-0 performance against Leyton at the start of last season by Drake, Jarvis and co? I don't think so.

 

The first half wasn't pretty but there was a marked improvement in the second in a match played in difficult conditions.

 

I'm pleased to see Michael Murphy was with the squad yesterday. If we can get him back to fitness he would be a real asset to the club in defence

[GarySTFC]

Taunton's line up for those who want/need it:

 

1. Ian Jones, 2. Martin White, 3. Dan Cockram, 4. Gary Fisher ©, 5. Scott Thomas, 6. Adam Faux, 7. Darren Stone, 8. Chris Slough, 9. Tom Collett, 10. James Clarke, 11. Danny Copeland. Subs: 12. Alex Faux, 13 Dan Pepperell, 15. Ronnie Mowatt.

[Chris]

OK Here's my waffle for what it's worth...

 

What really suprised me yesterday was the actual pace of the game. I don't know if this will be typical in the Southern league, but they dropped off and let our defenders have the ball at the back which were not use to in the Ryman League. In the Ryman it has teams who press high up the pitch and don't give you a minute to breathe. I though the back four struggled with this to be honest as none of them are what i'd call natural ball players.

 

I don't know how far Jon Mills is away from fitness, but I would have had him in the side as I think he's a decent player and good on the ball. Only thing is the combination of Daly and Mills at the back last season let in lots of goals.

 

Having Michael Murphy at the back with his pace would be excellent, plus he uses the ball well, so hope he signs.

 

Problem positions are going to be up front and right-wing back for me if were going to continue in a 5-3-2.

 

Yesterday we only threatened from outside the area really with Miller dropping deeper that Faircluth. Hopefully with Faircluth getting more experience at this level and Charles back we can create more chances.

 

Other area of concern is right-wing back. Moleski is clearly a central midfielder and a stop-gap measure, but I can't imagine Duncan getting up and down the pitch in that position, so I think we need to strengthen there. If we play 4-4-2 Duncan will be fine, but then who plays right wing??

 

It seems we could be very overbalanced with Murphy, Woodruffe, CJ and Bizon avaliable on the left wing to play, but who on the right?

 

Overall did not think we were brilliant or awful yesterday, it was OK and have seen far worse opening league performances. Room for improvement, but also some positive signs as well.

[BFR]

Is CJ back with us permanently or is it a loan deal from Staines?

[Chris]

Permanently I believe...