THEY are two sides intent on playing good football along the ground, but Bracknell Town found Slough a little bit too skilful for them in their Berks & Bucks Senior Cup tie at Larges Lane and lost 3-2 on Tuesday night, writes Dave Wright.

The Robins’ biggest crowd of the season of 436 witnessed an excellent third-round tie which saw Bracknell take an early lead, then concede three goals before pulling one back late on.

It was close in the end, but the Rebels deservedly earned their place in the semi finals.

There were no complaints from the hosts with joint-manager Jeff Lamb commenting: “We put on a good show against a decent side.

“Their (Slough) movement was excellent and (of a standard) we are not quite used to at our level, so in that respect it was a great learning curve for us.”

Bracknell, fielding the same starting line-up that won 5-0 at Abingdon United on Saturday, looked the better side early on and TJ Bohane missed an early chance in a one-on-one with keeper Jack Turner.

But Bohane didn’t miss in the 11th minute, finishing off a smart move involving Ryan Parsons, Seb Bowerman (pictured) and Jamie McClurg. It was the striker’s 18th goal of the season and followed up his brace at Abingdon.

The Evo-Stik League side realised they had a fight on their hands and started to test Chris Grace in the home goal.

He pulled off two great saves, but between them conceded a goal he will want to forget. His defence failed to clear their lines properly and the ball fell to Chris Flood, whose low shot didn’t carry too much power, but still squirmed through the keeper’s hands into the net.

The equaliser gave Slough, managed by former Town players Neil Baker and Jon Underwood, a lift and the balance of play started to swing in their favour.

Grace, along with some timely interceptions by Justin Clayton, continued to keep the scores level until the 39th minute when they were prised open by an exquisite four-man one-touch move that Flood finished off to make it 2-1.

Bohane was not far away from equalising just before the interval and the Robins made a positive start to the second half.

But their hopes of getting back on level terms ended on 52 minutes when left-back Josh Jackman drove down the wing and fired a superb curling shot wide of the diving Grace’s outstretched arm.

Soon afterwards, Grace denied the same player, while Dave Hancock made a goal-line clearance to thwart Brad Wadkins.

The Robins reduced the arrears seven minutes from time when Bowerman cut in from the left and hammered a shot low into the net.

Bracknell kept plugging away, but only another excellent save by Grace denied Slough a fourth goal.

Max Herbert came off the bench with 20 minutes remaining to make his debut. The utility player has initially been signed on dual registration forms with Evo-Stik League side Ashford, but Bracknell hope to make it a full signing within a week.

This Saturday, the Robins travel to Lydney, seeking a quick double following their 4-1 home win a week ago last Saturday.

Their Perpetua Press Floodlit Cup tie away to Didcot Town Reserves scheduled for next Tuesday has been called off, so giving Town more time to prepare for their FA Vase tie at Coleshill on February 3