Slough Town stun leaders Ebbsfleet United to secure first win of the season

Johnny Goddard is mobbed after scoring Slough’s second. Credit: Zak Rana (@zrdocs on Instagram)

--

Slough Town 2, Ebbsfleet United 0

Slough Town produced the kind of committed and dedicated performance they’ll be looking to replicate many more times over the course of the season as they deservedly defeated league leaders Ebbsfleet United 2-0 at Arbour Park.

The Rebels got off to a flyer when full back Tarik Gidaree flicked home a cross from the impressive Tyrique Clarke in only the fourth minute and they largely shaded the clash from that moment through until the 96th minute when Johnny Goddard was released on the counter and swept the ball into the back of an unguarded net, with Fleet keeper Mark Cousins having come out of his goal for a late corner to the visitors.

The result gives the Rebels a huge boost after starting the season with a draw and two defeats, and it lifts them to 15th in the table ahead of Monday’s visit to Eastbourne Borough. Eastbourne were one of the front runners last season but they’ve struggled to get going this term and their result at Bath City today sees them replace the Rebels at the bottom of the table.

Coming into today’s game this was a clash between the bottom side and the top side in the division, with the Rebels having only picked up one point - away to Tonbridge Angels - from their opening three matches which included a home defeat to Hemel Hempstead Town and a 2-0 loss at Dorking Wanderers in mid-week.

After that game, Davies spoke about the match being a ‘step too far’ for his new look squad, but there were no such concerns on their return to Arbour Park to face an Ebbsfleet side that had won all three of their matches.

The course of the game shifted in the opening minutes, and the Rebels never looked back.

There were only three minutes on the clock when Clarke found some space to whip in a cross that Gidaree nodded home. It wasn’t the best connection from the defender, with some suggesting the ball came off his shoulder, but it bounced perfectly into the bottom corner and beyond the divisin Cousins.

They had another decent opportunity in the 10th minute when a corner was knocked out to Henry Ochieng on the edge of the area, but the Slough skipper couldn’t keep his shot down.

1-0 should have become 2-0 in the 23rd minute when the lively Josh Adepoju delivered another ball into the box from the right only for Kiki Oshilaja to miss-time his header when completely free in the six-yard box.

Fleet saw a little more of the ball as they looked to press and probe the Rebels backline and find an opening, but they weren’t able to and Slough held a deserved lead going into the break.

Aaron Cosgrave missed a decent chance to draw the visitors level in the 51st minute when he slipped through the clutches of the hulking Reiss Greenidge before blasting high over Adam Desbois’ goal. But Slough continued to look the more likely scorers.

Gidaree nearly had a second when his shot from inside the area was deflected just wide after good work from front man Jared Myers to tee him up in the 52nd minute while the also excellent Dan Roth blasted another shot against the crossbar with six minutes remaining.

Goddard nearly flicked home a second for the home side a couple of minutes later as the hosts pressed hard to clinch the victory.

They eventually managed that in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Having shown great focus and resilience to see off some late Fleet pressure, the Rebels broke from a corner in the 95th minute.

Cousins had gone up for the set piece, but the hosts managed to get the ball clear to substitute Brian Nelson who swept the ball forward for Goddard who had the whole of the goal to aim at from distance. The Slough midfielder kept his cool to roll home the second and he was mobbed by teammates and most of the Rebels bench after sealing the side’s first league win of the season.