Crusaders bounce back and defeat Berkshire rivals

James Constable scored his first league goal for the club which gave Hungerford there first three points of the season. After losing to Hemel Hempstead on Saturday in the opening game of the season, a response was required against Slough who had also lost there first game to Dorking. Ian Herring made three changes to the side from the weekend with Matt Jones, Zidan Akers and Matt Berry-Hargreaves all dropped to the bench. Kofi Halliday and Josiah Dunstan made their first starts for the club.

The first action of the match saw the opening goal with Constable passing into an empty net after a horrendous error from goalkeeper Jack Turner. Turner come out to head a long ball away but completely misjudged the flight, handing on a plate for the hosts to grab what proved to be the match winning goal. Slough responded positively with Max Worsfold testing Adam Siviter before hitting the bar from a corner minutes later. Constable had a good opportunity to make it two nil, dragging a strike wide but in the build up to the shot Louis McGrory was fouled so the referee pulled play back. Kofi Halliday took the free kick and forced Turner into a good stop. Mike Jones then hit the post in what should've been the second goal of the evening. Turner then made another mistake from a long ball giving Constable a good chance but the striker couldn't convert the ball into the net. Left back Joe Tomlinson had a long range effort that Tunrer couldn't gather and luckily for him the ball didn't drop at the feet of a Hungerford player. It was a first half the visiting keeper will want to forget. Before half time Worsfold had a deflected effort skim the top of the bar and Matthew Lench tested Siviter with a curling shot as Slough started to gain a foothold.

There foothold in the match was now turning into complete dominance in the second half. The Rebels were putting balls into the box at every opportunity and keeping the hosts firmly on there toes. However, centre backs Josiah Dunstan and James Rusby were commanding presences helped by the excellent work of full backs Marcus Johnson-Schuster and Joe Tomlinson. Ben Harris had the first big chance of the half with his low volley superbly saved by the legs of Siviter. The goalkeeper, on loan from Birmingham, then collected Francis Amartey's long range effort. Frustration was starting to show for the Rebels with long range range shots becoming more frequent in the final stages of the match. The Crusaders should've put the game to bed seven minutes before full time on the counter attack. Constable played in Halliday whose low shot was saved by the outstretched foot of Turner. Slough kept pushing for the equaliser with Harris heading over and then missing a golden opportunity in the final seconds.

This weekend we host Maidstone United in the national league south. 3PM kick off.

Attendance: 467

Hungerford line up: 1) Adam Siviter, 2) Marcus Johnson-Schuster, 3) Joe Tomlinson, 4) Mike Jones (Captain), 5) Josiah Dunstan, 6) James Rusby, 7) Louis McGrory, 8) Dan Bailey, 9) James Constable, 10) Liam Ferdinand, 11) Kofi Halliday
Hungerford subs: 12) Conor Lynch, 14) Zidan Akers, 15) Matt Jones, 16) Matt Berry-Hargreaves, 17) Ali Thorp

Slough line up: 1) Jack Turner, 2) Sean Fraser, 4) Sam Togwell (Captain), 5) Guy Hollis, 6) Lee Togwell, 7) Max Worsfold, 8) Matthew Lench, 11) Warren Harris, 18) Ryan Bird, 19) Francis Amartey, 20) Simon Dunn
Slough Subs: 9) Ben Harris, 10) Manny Williams, 13) Nojus Trinovas, 14) Scott Davies, 15) Scott Armsworth