SLOUGH Town joint-manager Jon Underwood believes the Rebels came through their friendly match against Bournemouth Under-23s with flying colours on Tuesday.

The game was arranged at Arbour Park to give those players that had not featured in recent weeks some competitive football, and the young Cherries provided a stern test.

Slough fell behind to a Frank Vincent goal inside two minutes but recovered to win thanks to efforts from James Dobson, Ben Harris and George Wells.

Underwood told the Observer: “We decided we wanted a friendly because there are no midweek games for us at the moment and we’ve had a relatively settled side.

“I think it’s something we will do a few times this season, and the timing worked out well because Bournemouth were looking for non-league opposition.

“You know what you’re going to get when playing young professionals. They like to get the ball down and play football and they’re not going to kick you up in the air.

“It was a good fitness exercise because we went long periods without the ball and had to work very hard, but we got ourselves organised defensively.

“We managed to put some chances away as well. We were more clinical in front of goal and played with a bit more freedom going forward.

“It was a really positive night for us and became a very enjoyable game for the boys to play in because they were tested but we came out on top.

“Results in friendlies don’t count for anything but it’s about building a winning mentality.

“We played very well and thankfully there were no injuries, which you always worry about when playing friendlies.”

Fellow joint-manager Neil Baker added: “We wanted to give a few lads some minutes that they needed. We couldn’t just let them sit there and not do anything because they’re too good for that and it doesn’t help them at all.”

Slough moved up to 10th position in the National League South after the 2-0 win against Oxford City last weekend, and Baker is happy with the start made.

He said: “It’s a tough league so you’ve got to try and pick up points when you can. We are on 14 points from nine games, which is a good start.

“Our impressive defensive record is fantastic and involves everyone because we’ve made lots of changes.

“I was really happy with Saturday and we can enjoy the three points. When you’ve only got a game Saturday to Saturday, it’s a long time if you haven’t won, so to have the three points is great."

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