SLOUGH Town have leapfrogged promotion rivals Hitchin Town in the Southern Premier Division with a 3-2 at Top Field on Saturday.

The Rebels snatched an early two-goal lead which left Hitchin playing catch up and unable to prevent Slough from recording an eighth win in their last 11 matches.

The visitors punished two early slips by the Canaries defence. In the second minute, the ball bounced over Will Wright and into the path of Simon Dunn, who squared the ball for Warren Harris to convert.

Four minutes later, Hitchin keeper Michael Johnson spilled a Dunn cross under pressure and it dropped to Guy Hollis, who converted from 10-yards.

The hosts struggled to impose themselves on the game although Mason Spence had a debatable shout for a penalty as he appeared to be nudged by James Dobson as he tried to get to a cross from Callum Donnelly.

Hitchin grabbed a lifeline on 38 minutes when Brett Donnelly beat Mark Nisbet to a long ball and chipped keeper Alan Walker-Harris, following its path to make sure it crept just inside the upright.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: Guy Hollis, left, celebrates his goal in the 3-2 win on Saturday.

The complexion of the game changed again on the hour when Dan Webb challenged Nisbet and the referee pointed to the spot when the latter went down. Dobson made no mistake from the spot to restore the two-goal margin.

The Hitchin players were unhappy with the penalty award although Nisbet did have to be substituted soon after the incident.

The Canaries battled back as Brett Donnelly headed against the bar and Kane Smith forced a clearance off the line from Sean Fraser. Smith did fire through a crowded area to reduce the deficit on 79 minutes but there was to be no equaliser.

The win means Slough are up to third in the league table, nine points behind leaders Chippenham Town and nine ahead of Banbury United in sixth place.

Slough are away to St Neots Town on Tuesday (7.45pm) before returning to Arbour Park for the visit of bottom side Cinderford Town on Saturday (3pm).

Burnham remain bottom of the Hellenic Premier Division after a 3-1 defeat away at Ardley United.

Nathaniel Lewars, Leam Howards and Jack Heap were on target for Ardley. Jesse Wilson scored for Burnham.

Grab a copy of the Observer on Friday match pictures and reaction to the results.