Goddard's last-gasp penalty completes Rebels' remarkable comeback against Totton

Jared Myers grabbed the Rebels opening goal against Totton. Photo: Zak Rana

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Slough Town 3, AFC Totton 2

Slough Town lifted themselves out of the National League South relegation zone last night (Tuesday) after staging a remarkable second half fightback to beat AFC Totton at Arbour Park.

The Rebels were deservedly trailing 2-0 at the break after their former player Malachi Linton netted a brace inside the first 36 minutes.

But far from being down and out, the Rebels dragged themselves back into contention with Jared Myers scoring just minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Their second arrived with just four minutes to play when Peter Ojemen bundled the ball past Totton keeper Mark Evans, while an extraordinary comeback was completed just a minute or two later when Dan Roth was brought down in the area and Johnny Goddard buried the spot kick.

Player manager Scott Davies made a quadruple substitution at the break, and it had the effect of shaking the home side into life and unsettling the visitors. Alongside Myers, Ansu Janneh, Ojemen and Brian Nelson were brought on for Jacob Bourgnis, Tyrique Clarke, Tyrese Dyce and Jaiden Drakes-Thomas.

Instantly, Slough looked more of a threat, and they pulled a goal back in the 48th minute. Having been held up by the referee’s decision not to play advantage, the Rebels reacted quickly to the free kick with Myers curling a brilliant shot into the far corner of Evans’ goal from 20 yards.

Roth was played in on the right side of the Totton defence a few minutes later but couldn’t keep his shot down, while Wiktor Makowski went close to another goal this season when his 56th minute effort curled onto the top of the crossbar.

Having looked relatively comfortable, Totton now knew they were in a game and the pressure from the home side continued to build gradually.

Davies smashed a free kick from outside the area into the face of a Totton player in the 70th minute, while Makowski dodged a couple of challenges before firing tamely at Evans in the 75th minute.

Totton looked to have weathered the storm as the game entered the final 10 minutes, with Adam Desbois forced into a great reaction save from a close-range effort, but the introduction of Goddard for Harvey Walker in the 84th minute further galvanised the home side.

Two minutes later they won a rare corner kick on the night. It was swung into the box and Totton failed to clear the ball on multiple occasions before Ojemen bundled the ball home.

Then, just a minute later, Roth was adjudged to have been brought down in the area and Goddard stepped up to fire home in the 90th minute.

There were still eight minutes of injury time for the Rebels to negotiate but they showed real character to see the game through and come away with a vital three points.

The result lifts the Rebels outside of the bottom four to 20th place, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Dover Athletic.