Report | Rebels Roused For Derby Victory

It was a dismal Boxing Day for Maidenhead United as a lead was thrown away in a painful defeat to local rivals Slough Town. The first York Road league meeting between these sides in exactly twenty-five years was eagerly anticipated but bragging rights and three important points ultimately went east with the visitors after a typically fractious derby match which saw five Magpies cautioned by referee Mr Wharton and Slough's on loan Basil Tuma red carded on the stroke of half time. 

 

It all started so well for the Magpies. Within the first couple of minutes a Maidenhead corner to the near post saw a miscued Slough clearance fall to the feet of Josh Umerah who bundled the ball home at close range under the exposed Rebels 'keeper Adam Desbois for his eighth goal of the season. The scrappy nature of the game saw possession conceded by both sides all too readily and a good example of this came when Slough's Tarik Gidaree took a throw in in the Maidenhead half, succeeded only in finding Liam Dulson who danced down the left flank and burst into the area. Dulson might have taken the option to shoot but chose instead to play the ball across the penalty area to Umerah who would have had a tap-in were the pass not fractionally behind him. 

 

The visitors came into the game more as the half wore on but it took something special to level the game ten minutes before the break. Luke Holness received the ball outside the Maidenhead penalty area, turned and hit an unstoppable shot past the under-occupied Jordi Van Stappershoef. The match however took a further twist in first half injury time, as Chanse Headman jumped into a headed clearance and was poleaxed by an aerial challenge of disproportionate force by Basil Tuma. Referee Wharton issued an immediate red card for the on loan Reading man who had a less happy experience of York Road this time having scored for the Royals Under 23 side in the BBFA Cup earlier in the month. The Rebels management team and players complained bitterly and the fall out from the decision saw animated scenes as the half wound to a close. 

 

Ultimately, the red card changed the game in a way which saw a galvanised Slough now look to sit back and to counter with the impressive Holness leading what were understandably infrequent raids into the Maidenhead half. United had vasts amounts of possession and saw goalbound efforts blocked by a disciplined defence well-marshalled by the Rebels player-manager Scott Davies. Despite the ball being in and around the Maidenhead final-third for the majority of the second period, a goal would not come despite narrowly off-target efforts from the likes of Matt Robinson and Sam Barratt. There were loud penalty shouts for a tackle on Jayden Mitchell-Lawson which looked to have occurred on the very edge of the box but there was nothing doing as far as Mr Wharton was concerned. Despite a series of corner kicks as the pressure cranked up the only time Desbois really had to get his gloves dirty in the second period was in tipping over an inswinging set-piece from the ever dangerous Josh Popoola. Meanwhile, the away side were adept at breaking up the flow of the game to give themselves a respite from the waves of Maidenhead United attacks, with Mr Warton having to stop play on several ocassions due to apparent need for Slough stoppages. 

 

With Maidenhead unable to fashion a clear opening, there was always the danger that Slough would get a crucial goal on the break. They did just that inside the final twenty minutes when a soft-looking free-kick was given against Popoola, the ball delivered into the box was half-cleared only for a wayward Slough pot shot at goal to take a kind deflection off a Maidenhead player into the path of their captain Kiki Oshilaja who will not have been able to believe his luck as he swept his side gleefully into the lead. Maidenhead thereafter were chasing the game and their play became more hurried and mistake ridden. Into four minutes of injury time United failed to clear their lines following a free-kick and substitutes Jaiden Drakes-Thomas and Jared Myers were able to link up with the latter finding himself in front of an exposed Jordi Van Stappershoef to slot home a third Slough goal. 

 

One small bonus was the excellent attendance of 2,846 which demonstrates the latent support both sides can attract and the importance of non league football and its clubs in the area. 

 

Magpies: Van Stappershoef, Bartley, Ragguette, De Havilland, Headman, Robinson, Umerah, Dulson Clerima, Popoola, Onariase. Substitutes: Used - Yearwood, Mitchell-Lawson, Pritchard, Barrat. Unused - Collins, Welch-Hayes, Cochrane. 

 

Rebels: Desbois, Gidaree, Oshilaja, Clarke, Makowski, Davies, Dyce, Borgnis, Walker, Tuma, Holness. Substitutes: Used - Drakes-Thomas, Goddard, Roth, Myers, Janneh. Unused - Ojemen, Nelson.