HIGHLIGHTS: Windsor & Eton shake off rust to reignite promotion push with win over Holyport

Leo Decabo slots home goal number five. Photo credit Richard Milam

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After going more than 20 days over Christmas and new year without a competitive game, Windsor & Eton put themselves back in the promotion equation on Saturday with a comfortable 5-2 home win over local rivals Holyport.

Manager Rob Webb admits it took the Royalists a little while to shake off the rustiness that came without playing, but once they had they eased to a comfortable victory without ever really finding top gear.

The result lifts the side to seventh, and back to within a couple of points of the top five play-off spots, however, most concerning of all for Holyport was Webb’s assertion that his side had been far from their best.

“It was a little bit of a disappointing performance against Harefield,” said Webb, referring to his side’s 2-2 away draw there on December 20. “We weren’t at our best that day, but we didn’t lose the game, and it was brilliant to see us fight so hard twice to come back and get the draw.

“We had a little bit of rustiness, it’s hard in non-league when you’re not full time. You’ve got to keep everyone engaged and motivated during that time because, let’s face it, what everyone loves to do is play games.

“It’s been a tough time, but credit to their professionalism, all round they’ve been engaged and dedicated. Yes, there was a bit of rustiness on Saturday, even if the scoreline doesn’t suggest that. We weren’t at our best on Saturday, but we still came away with a convincing win.”

In contrast, Saturday’s defeat leaves Lee Ovens and Dan Rapley’s side grasping for form and momentum at the bottom of the table. They’re second from bottom, five points from safety, having lost their last 12 matches in all competitions. The trapdoor is opening beneath them and there doesn’t appear to be an escape act in the offing from the management team or the players.

They did take the lead on Saturday, with Lucas Surpanu’s 22nd minute finish, but it was cancelled out before half-time by goals from Tahir Carmichael (30') and Jabir Laraba (40').

Laraba added his second, Windsor & Eton’s third in the 54th minute and two goals in as many minutes from Nick Thumwood (62') and Leo Decabo (63') completed a comfortable afternoon’s work, with Surpanu’s second in stoppage time acting purely as a consolation for the visitors.

Missed the game yesterday, or want to relive the goals?!

Here’s your chance! pic.twitter.com/D7gNgrIbff

— Windsor & Eton FC (@WindsorEtonFC) January 11, 2026

Webb has been ‘loving every minute of his time as manager’ after taking over responsibilities from Matty Angell. They’re unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions and have many matches in hand over pretty much every side in the division.

Should they win them all they’d move top by some distance, however, Webb is realistic to know that will be very difficult to achieve.

They’ll also have to cram in many more league matches between now and the end of the season and that could impact their performances, however, Webb and his fully fit squad don’t appear daunted by the challenge.

“Yes, it’s very exciting,” he said. “I’ve loved every minute of it so far. But it’s easy to say that when you’re doing well. The squad has been really fantastic.

“It’s been a brilliant season so far, but we’re only halfway through. We haven’t played many games if you look at the league table. We’re one of the teams who’ve played the fewest in the league, so we have a lot of games to play. But it’s exciting times ahead but the squad is healthy which is great, with all the games we’ve had called off.

“Going into the big one on Saturday (In the FA Vase at home to Fisher), we’re all very excited and preparing appropriately for it.

“We’re 16 unbeaten now going into our game in the FA Vase at the weekend. It’s a fantastic run, I pride our teams on being hard to beat first and foremost, and if you’re hard to beat you can go on and win games hopefully.

“We have a lot of games to play but I have a lot of confidence in the squad and what we’re doing. There’s no reason why we can’t continue that run and win plenty more games, but it will be a tough ask to win every game. We’ve put ourselves in a great position to finish in the top five and that’s what we’re aspiring to do.”

On the potential for fixture pile up in the final weeks of the campaign, Webb added: “Yeah, it’s not great to see so many of our away games called off.

“It’s rare that a home game is called off. It’s a challenge for sure. We don’t know when those fixtures are going to be put in and how congested the diary is going to be. The league seems adamant it wants to finish the games before March 31 with the play-offs to follow in mid-April.

“It is going to be congested for sure and the longer you’re in a competition like the Vase, that takes precedence, we’d lose Saturday fixtures as a result. But our squad is very good. We have a big squad; it’s not a huge concern for me but it’s something I have to think about.”