Cheered on by a sizeable and vocal band of travelling fans, FC were edged out in a clash that Steve Bateman and the players can take a lot of heart from.

The action started really from the off with debutant Sean Sonner just beaten to a header in the box, from a useful left wing cross. Three minutes later and Slough’s Darren Wheeler was awarded a free kick on the edge of the box but teammate James McClurg rifled the ball over the bar. Jerome Anderson was another man making his FC debut and he found himself in some useful space early on, most notably in the 7th minute as his snapshot was saved by home keeper Jake Somerville.

Slough’s first real opportunity fell in the 17th minute. James Weatherill collected bravely at the feet of the impressive Ed Smith as the striker looked to pounce. This was the start of a period of concerted pressure on the Aylesbury goal which ended with the home team taking the lead. The ball was played across the face of the FC box where Warren Harris was waiting to neatly lift the ball over the on-rushing Weatherill.

Sean Sonner looked to level the scores and his shot, from a clever Bradley Wadkins through ball, just screwed across the face of the goal. As the half wore on, the action tended to be concentrated in the middle third of the pitch although there were attacking moments, for example Slough’s Adam Cornell cracking in a quick release turn and shot on the half hour mark. Sean Sonner had the final notable FC chance of the half and his header, from a Lamar Simpson throw in, just cleared the bar.

The second half saw the wind in Slough’s favour and they seemed to cope better with the conditions. On 47 minutes Leigh Rombold saw his header cleared off the line by Tom Cutts. To alleviate the pressure, Ollie Hogg was introduced and his pace added much needed movement to FC’s midfield as the team found it difficult to clear their lines with the wind in their faces.

Sam Bateman, in perhaps his finest performance in an FC shirt to date, was as energetic a player as he could be and he had a decent effort on 57 minutes. A pattern however was emerging of Slough attacks with FC breaking these down only to have difficulty clearing lines in such a howling gale. One of these attacks saw Adam Cornell break free however his shot also cleared the post. FC could and perhaps should have claimed an equaliser very soon afterwards as the team had their best chance of the second half on 78 minutes. A free kick was awarded on the right hand side and Bradley Wadkins crashed in a thundering effort which the keeper just parried away for a corner. A keeper and defender misunderstanding from the corner almost gifted FC an equaliser however the Slough goal somehow remained intact. As the game was drawing to a close, Warren Harris found himself clear and drove the ball low and direct into the bottom corner of the net to wrap up the points for the home team.

Line Up:
1. James Weatherill.
2. Lamar Simpson.
3. Conner Baker. Sub Off '45
4. Sam Bateman. Yellow Card '76, Man of the Match '90
5. Ben Stevens. Sub Off '43
6. Tom Cutts.
7. Jerome Anderson. Sub Off '86
8. Adam Logie. Yellow Card '24
9. Bradley Wadkins.
10. Sean Sonner.
11. Gareth Price.

Used Subs:
12. Kevin Mealor. Sub On '43
14. Ollie Hogg. Sub On '45
15. Steve Perkins. Sub On '86

Unused Subs:
17. Ben Bateman