Battling City grab late Rebels point

A late Alex Fletcher goal grabbed City a point against Slough Town at Twerton Park this evening, in a game that only an inspired goalkeeping performance and yet another dreadful refereeing decision denied them all three. City dominated the encounter for long periods but found regular nemesis Jonathan North in sparkling form in the Slough goal. Once in each half he produced stunning saves to deny David Sims-Burgess, the first from an acrobatic volley, that was the substitute’s first touch of the ball, and then a powerful header just before the hour mark. Even when the veteran shot-stopper was beaten the frame of the goal came to his rescue, headers from Jack Batten and Jordan Dyer striking the bar and post respectively. City suffered two setbacks in the closing stages of the first half, losing top scorer Cody Cooke to injury on 37 minutes then conceding a dubious penalty in the final minute for Dyer’s challenge on Harris, Davies netting from the spot. The Romans threw everything they could at the Rebels in the second half and this almost unrelenting pressure finally told in the 79th minute when Fletcher diverted Ryan Jones’ corner into the net. Having shown virtually nothing as an attacking force in the half it took a great save by Ryan Clarke and follow up block by Dyer to prevent Slough retaking the lead almost immediately. and Zak Delaney did equally well to deny the Berkshire side a couple minutes later after a swift counter attack. City did press for a winning goal themselves, which would have been fully deserved, but in the end had to settle for a point that North and the referee had done their best to deny them.