Davies sees 'light at end of tunnel' after Slough Town's heaviest defeat of the season

Scott Davies. Credit: Zak Rana

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Weston Super Mare 5, Slough Town 1

Slough Town suffered their heaviest defeat of the season at Weston Super Mare on Tuesday evening, but under the weather boss Scott Davies believes he can see some light at the end of the tunnel for his injury-hit squad.

The Rebels have been without a host of first team regulars in recent weeks, as the side’s injury issues became a full-on crisis in recent matches.

The under-strength squad managed to battle their way to victories over Hampton & Richmond Borough in the league and into the first round of the FA Cup after a dramatic home win over Enfield Town.

However, Davies admits his young and inexperienced side have been asked to do too much in the past few days with the Rebels slipping to back-to-back away defeats against Salisbury (2-1) and Weston Super Mare (5-1).

Posting on social media Davies said: “Another tough night but hopefully we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel with our injuries.

“We’ve got some fantastic young players who are being asked to do too much at their tender age.

“Long way to go and plenty of time to change our fortunes.”

Having lost their captain Henry Ochieng and striker Ruben Bartlett-Antwi in their FA Cup win over Enfield - to add to the six or seven players already on the treatment table - the Rebels then saw a sickness bug sweep through the camp, which left Davies ailing.

He managed to haul himself off his sick bed to manage from the touchline in Saturday’s loss at Salisbury, but the visitors missed their player managers’ presence and experience in central defence.

Davies was on the touchline again for the side’s long trip to Weston on Tuesday. Slough were competitive for long spells in the first half and levelled matters through Jaiden Drakes-Thomas - his second goal in three games.

But they’d have needed a full-strength side to compete with the new league leaders over 90 minutes, and their hosts managed to pull away from them after half-time. Harvey Walker’s second half dismissal, for simulation, compounded a difficult situation for the Rebels and he’ll now miss his side’s FA Cup first round clash at National League Altrincham at Arbour Park on Saturday week (November 1).

It took Weston only 13 minutes to break down their visitors, Louis Britton firing home their opener.

But Slough managed to get themselves level with a goal out of nowhere just six minutes later.

Wiktor Makowski battled for the ball in the area and the ball squirmed loose for Drakes-Thomas to fire home beyond Harris.

They might have scored a second moments later with a strike that hit the post, but instead Weston restored their lead through Emlyn Lewis in the 23rd minute. Sam Pearson added a third for Weston 10 minutes before the break and any slim hopes of a comeback were firmly ended when Jacob Jager-Cane scored a fourth just two minutes after the restart.

Walker was given his marching orders after collecting a second yellow for a perceived dive in the box, and although Drakes-Thomas hit the underside of the bar with a thunderous strike, the final goal of the game went the home side’s way when Pearson latched onto a mis-placed pass in midfield and fired home to make it 5-1.

Weston skip above Hornchurch at the top on goal difference while Slough fall back to 19th.

They face another tough clash at home to seventh placed Maidstone United on Saturday, when Davies will hope to have a few bodies back from injury. The game will be difficult but should prepare them well for their FA Cup first round clash at home to Altrincham the following weekend.