Sweets: ' FA Cup win is big confidence booster'

A five-star performance in the FA Cup on Tuesday helped Slough Town FC to banish their early season woes in the league.

Derek Sweetman’s side confidently brushed aside the challenge of Abingdon United with a 5-2 victory in an FA Cup replay at Holloways Park.

The Rebels boss claimed his side are not the finished article, but their pacy and penetrating football was a joy to behold on Tuesday night.

Fellow South & West side Abingdon had no answer to Slough’s relentless attacks and by the end of the contest they looked pleased to have kept the scoreline down to five.

What a difference a few days make, after Sweetman’s players trudged out of Abingdon on Saturday bitterly disappointed to have been held to a 1-1 draw.

With fitness levels improving and summer signings starting to gel, prospects are starting to look good for the Rebels this season.

“It was a very positive performance and a great confidence boost to score five goals at home,” said Sweetman. “The onus was on us to attack from the start and we did that with aplomb.

“We are still very much a work in progress but the team is now starting to gel and that can only be good for the rest of the season.”

The result has breathed new life into Slough, who had slipped to a lowly 20th in the league, and sends out an emphatic statement of intent to the rest of the league.

“We are taking each game as it comes but the players  are full of confidence now and I believe we are moving in the right direction,” said Sweetman. “Our aim is to get to 30 points and then look to push up the table as far as possible.”

Lying in wait for Slough in the FA Cup are last season’s South & West champions Farnborough on Saturday, September 13. But manager Sweetman is not looking that far ahead.

“This was a pleasing result but we’ll concentrate on Farnborough once we have played Taunton Town this weekend,” he said. “Farnborough away is about as tough as it gets in the FA Cup at this stage.

“They have strengthened their squad and on paper they should beat us.
“But the FA Cup is a funny competition and when we play them it will be a level playing field.”

- Former Slough Town hitman Lloyd Owusu has joined Cheltenham Town from Yeovil Town.