SLOUGH Town joint-manager Jon Underwood is absolutely thrilled after The Rebels put their FA Cup exit behind them to beat Billericay Town 3-1 at Arbour Park on Saturday, writes Rob Stevens.

Slough were dumped out of the FA Cup after suffering defeat to Chippenham Town last week but bounced back to extend their unbeaten streak in the National League South to 10 matches, which now includes five straight wins, and move up to third position in the table.

Goals in the first half from captain Sam Togwell and Matthew Lench gave The Rebels a clear lead heading into the break. A Daniel Roberts strike further extended the advantage in the second half before Billericay bagged a consolation goal through Odysseus Alfa.

Underwood told the Observer: "I'm absolutely thrilled that we've bounced back from the FA Cup defeat last week with a win in a difficult game, as we knew it would be.

"We have known that, in the last couple of years at least, when we've gone out of the FA Cup we haven't won the next league game.

"It was really important that we bounced back and remembered what a run we're on in the league. It's now an incredible run that we're on, 10 unbeaten and five wins in a row.

"We were the better team in the first half and deserved the win. Billericay are a good team, they pass the ball around, but when they saw a lot of it in the second half we had a good shape and denied them too many chances.

"Billericay had a couple of chances and it always gets a little bit nervy when they get a goal back but, in general, we managed the game quite well. We passed the ball well and scored three more goals.

"We're scoring so many goals at the minute playing one up front, which one or two questioned and it hasn't been the way we've played as managers over the years, but it's allowing us to get on the ball a lot in midfield and dictate games.

"It's going great at the minute and we're up to third position in the league, which is great at this stage in the season. Our aim is to get into those play-off places and we're there, so we just need to stay consistent."

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: The Rebels celebrate the second goal scored by Matthew Lench, left.

He continued: "It was a disappointing night for us in the FA Cup but you look for the right attitude and mentality. There's a real strong character in the group and we were pretty confident that we would get a good performance, and I felt we did.

"There are always things we can improve on and as managers you always look for perfection. There are things we can still do better but we've got to be delighted with that.

"This league is about trying to remain consistent because everyone beats each other. The run that we've gone on has taken us from virtually the bottom three to the top three in the last 10 games. Not many teams do it but when you do it shoots you up the league, so we've just got to try and stay consistent."

Underwood added: "The second goal was a great one, a great sweeping attack. I look forward to seeing that one back because it was a great team move.

"We weren't totally comfortable, even at 3-0. It does worry you a little bit because we were well aware of the quality Billericay have got. Someone like Jake Robinson up front, who is a goal scorer.

"We knew that if we gave them a second goal it was going to be really difficult, so we were never comfortable, but you can't expect to be because we were playing against a good side.

"They're going to have possession and opportunities but we were the better side over the 90 minutes and fully deserved the three points."

Slough return to action with a trip to third-from-bottom Oxford City on Saturday 26th October (3pm).