Slough Town Challenge Cup: Singh Sabha beat Slough Heating Laurencians to reach the quarter-finals

Sabha ran out comfortable winners against their East Berkshire Premier Division rivals at the Singh Sabha Sports Centre.

Their reward is a home tie in the quarter-finals against Wraysbury Village from the Thames Valley League on Saturday 27th January (1.30pm).

The pitch as the sports centre has been re-laid since Singh Sabha last played and they struggled to get a foothold in the game as Slough dominated the early stages.

The home side started to play more confident football as the first-half went on and the deadlock was broken when stand-in striker Mubarak Bashir found Conrad Joseph inside the box. His shot was blocked but the ball fell nicely for centre back Happi Purewal to fire into the top corner.

Slough should have equalised before the break as a rebound from an Andrei Tonca save fell for a midfielder who fired over with the goal at his mercy.

Singh Sabha came out much stronger at the start to the second-half and began to dominate possession. Their pressure was rewarded with a second goal when captain and man-of-the-match Sukh Malhi scored in dubious fashion. His cross-come-shot was mis-judged by the Laurencians keeper and the ball ended up in the back of the net.

Sabha made sure of their progress as Malhi broke clear down the right and crossed for the returning Sukh Hunjan to score with a well-placed header. Hunjan was returning to the side having missed the start to the season through injury.

The hosts had to defend well late on as a Slough rally kept them on their toes and keeper Tonca made numerous saves to deny a comeback.

The visitors did get a deserved goal late on as the Singh Sabha defence switched off at a set piece.

Singh Sabha turn their attention to the Maidenhead Norfolkian Senior Cup and a home semi-final tie against defending Premier Division champions Delaford this Saturday. It will be the first meeting between the two sides this season.