I have missed quite a few games at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium because I have been away quite a lot. I may well have missed some poor games, and I certainly missed some controversy, but I was heartened by what I saw last night. The full moon rose over the stadium, initially tinged red. With Champions League matches, attendance was 411, plus the usual dog.
John Betjeman once wrote a famous poem before the Second World War 'Come, friendly bombs, fall on Slough.' Despite their lowly position in the table, Slough are not without talent and they showed plenty of effort and determination, never giving up. Their No.10 looked quite dangerous, although I was amused when their No.7 completely lost it over a disputed throw in.
We were 3-0 up by half time with some excellent goals with Jack Edwards scoring two, the other from Ben Mackey on top form. There was a moment of danger when they had a chance to score just after we had gone 1-0 ahead, but somehow the ball missed the open goal and hit the post. Fans were hoping for 'the old five', but we weren't able to find the back of the net in the second half despite a couple of chances.
The result saw us go top of the table after Chippenham drew at Frome. It's a long old season, but it's looking encouraging. Some fans who have been at more games than me thought we weren't at our best last night, but I was quite happy.