FINCHAMPSTEAD FC put on a five-star display to earn their 10th win of the season in the Thames Valley Premier League.
The game started pretty evenly for the first five minutes but then the hosts started to take control.
They were having some joy with the ball over the top for their pacy forwards to run onto and the first goal came from such a ball.
Nick Payne lifted the ball over the Slough defence for Joel Day to run onto, beating the offside trap, and he ran into the area and lashed the ball across Jon Evered in the visitors goal and into the far corner.
Slough responded and won a free kick midway in the Finch half. James Core took it and launched it towards the top left hand corner where Jack Davis did well to tip the ball over at full stretch.
Back came Finchampstead, Alex Woodhead and Joel Day combined well to fashion a chance for the latter in a similar position to the goal but this time Day went for the near post and Evered saved well.
The hosts continued to press and, following a nice move down the right flank, the ball fell to Aqeel Butt on the edge of the area but he saw his powerful effort tipped over the bar by the Slough custodian.
The pressure finally told in the 17th minute when good work from Dylan Parmar down the left found Day in space.
Day picked out a great run from Woodhead and he calmly slid the ball past Evered to double the hosts lead.
Slough tried to get a foothold in the game and won a corner which was driven in by Ellis Fuller over Davis towards the far post but they couldn’t get a clean header and the ball bounced out to safety.
Adam Mills, the central defender, brought the ball out from the back and went on a great run down the left, getting to the byline and carried on towards the goal, flicking it up at the last minute which Evered just managed to get a touch to and allowed him to gather the loose ball before Day could get a shot away.
Mills was in action down the other end minutes later when Fuller drove another quality corner into a good area where Mills was on hand to head clear.
Following excellent play in the build up by Nathan Collins, his slide rule pass found Day free in the area once more and his shot beat Evered but whistled just past the far post.
The hosts started the second half quickly and, barely a minute into it, had increased their lead. A great run and pull back from Woodhead down the right was picked up by Aqeel Butt on the edge of the area and he made no mistake, blasting past Evered.
Some great work from Parmar winning the ball back, working the ball into space before getting a shot away was stopped by Evered who had a little juggle and a couple of attempts to gather before securing the ball.
More nice football from the hosts led to the fourth in the 52nd minute. A pinpoint cross from Parmar found Day in space inside the six yard box and he made no mistake with his header.
Next we had another stunning mazy run by Mills from his own half and he managed to get a shot away in the area which was blocked away for a corner by the keeper.
Day took the corner but the ball went over everyone and was picked up by Nick Payne and his cross back into the box was controlled by James Payne and rifled past Evered to make it five after 62 minutes. 5
Sub Alex Lacy made a great run into the area, latching onto a quality through ball from Casey Howe and his ball across the six yard box looked certain to give Day a chance for his hat-trick but he was foiled by a brilliant piece of defending by Shakeen Gumbs at the far post.
The game was getting a little fractious and Jordan Young was sin-binned amongst quite a few niggly tackles.
As Finch looked to take advantage of the numerical advantage, Day found himself in space in the box once more and this time his shot was cleared off the line by Chris Perks.
After Young re-entered the fray he seemed to lose his head with a series of tackles and dissent and was given his marching orders by the referee.
The hosts played out the final minutes to take a well deserved three points.
Finchampstead: Davis, Chafflin, Weir, Parvar, J Payne, Mills, Collins, N Payne, Day, Woodhead, Butt. Subs Lacy, Hunt, Howe.
Slough: Evered, Core, Gumbs, Gaut, Mitchell-Gumbs, Creighton, Perks, S Lovering, Fuller, O’Hara, L Lovering. Subs Papali, Carr, Earls, Young.
Goals: Joel Day x2, Alex Woodhead, Aqeel Butt, James Payne
Report by Dave Read
