Davies hails EDS Academy influence after Slough Town's narrow FA Cup victory

Wiktor Makowski. Photo: Zak Rana

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Scott Davies doesn’t think Welling United’s early red card played into the Rebels hands in Tuesday’s FA Cup second qualifying round replay victory at Arbour Park.

It took the hosts 79 minutes to break down their Isthmian League Premier Division opponents through Wiktor Makowski’s close range strike, after Scott Simmons had been sent off in the seventh minute for a late and rash challenge on Scott Davies.

Davies was slightly surprised the referee reached for his red card so early in the game, but he also didn’t feel it helped the Rebels as Welling switched to a low block and made life extremely tough for their hosts.

Saturday’s tie at Park View Road had seen Peter Ojemen’s first half strike cancelled out by a late penalty by Jack Paxman.

And if supporters thought Simmons’ red card would smooth their side’s progress into the next round, they were sadly mistaken.

Slough weren’t at their best and struggled to find the fluency needed to break down their visitors, but in the 79th minute they produced the game’s only real moment of quality, as Johhny Goddard picked a pass through the lines for Nnaemeka Anwanyu to cross for Makowski to tap home his ‘easiest goal this season’.

Reflecting two challenging games of FA Cup football, Davies said: “It was very close. A typical cup encounter. A red card so early into the game, most people think that plays into our hands, but it made it an even more difficult task, trying to break down 10 men behind the ball.

“We had to stay patient, and we found one moment of quality that’s seen them through.

“I think it’s inevitable, when you have a red card your first thought is to sit in a shape and be more difficult to break down.

“The way they played it was very clever. They left two players up top, and they were very quick and athletic. They were a threat when we lost the ball. They had some chances, and we had some chances when we had the ball, so it was a game of fine margins. It could have gone either way but thankfully we managed to keep a clean sheet.

“I said to the lads ‘if we keep a clean sheet, we’ll find a goal’ and luckily, we were able to do that.”

He added: Our goal was the first time with any real quality that we were able to get Johnny Goddard into a good pocket of space.

“We knew he would be crucial to unlocking the door, he’s clever and it was a great little weighted pass to Nnaemeka who made a great run and Wiktor has finished off his easiest goal of the season.

“We were just a little bit sharper and cleaner on the ball, and it was a great goal that we scored.

Davies was aware he’d been caught late by Simmons in the seventh minute but was surprised the referee chose to brandish the red card so soon into the game. He said the tackle looked much worse on second viewing than he remembered during the game, with Simmons catching him on the top of the foot and his ankle.

He said: “I knew at the time it wasn’t a great tackle. He caught me on the top of my foot and bottom of my ankle, but since watching it back, it’s probably worse than I realised.

“It didn’t look great, but I also didn’t expect the ref to send him off so soon into the game. Fair enough to him for doing it, I suppose he’s got to stick to the rules, whether it’s the first minute or the last minute.

“It did make it tough but at the same time, I’m not here to brandish cards for the referee, it’s up to him. It probably helped us over the course of 90 minutes.”

Slough were also down to the ‘bare bones’ for Tuesday’s tie, according to Davies, with several players – past and present - from the club’s EDS Academy team in the starting lineup and on the bench. Jaye Long, Pedro Sami, Henry Upstell and Kobie Hines-Leacock were among the substitutes in a senior game for the very first time.

“We had two lads on the bench who have made one start each and another five who have never played for us,” he said.

“That just shows where we were at as a squad last night. I was also told last night we’ve now had 10 academy graduates, past and present who were in the squad last night. To have 10 from 18 is quite remarkable, I don’t think you’d find many clubs at this level putting out a squad with more than half of their players coming through the system.

“The future looks bright, Josh Adepoju, Brian Nelson was brilliant, and Nnaemeka Anyanwu came on and set up the goal. They all played their part, age doesn’t seem to matter too much and that’s good for the future.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy, that they hadn’t got off to the best start in the league so would like a cup run as a welcome distraction. But once we got that goal, I was confident we’d be able to come through the tie, and I thought we did that very well.”