BLUES made it three wins on the trot with a deserved victory over an improving Slough side.

Manager Martin Hayes had to make one change to the side that defeated Worthing with the injured Carl Fannon being replaced by Tyrone Hercules on the right side of midfield.o

Slough took the lead with 27 minutes played when a corner was swung into the Blues box. Micky Desborough could only palm the ball on to the bar and Slough debutant Anthony Howard was on hand to slam the loose ball into the net.

The Blues picked up the pace after this set-back and the final 15 minutes of the first half saw them pressurising the Slough defence.

On 42 minutes this paid off as a cross from Braham was not held by McCann in the Slough goal and John bundled home the ball from close range.

Stortford increased their lead a minute later when Kimble fed Paul, who in turn crossed for John to fire home from five yards.

The second half started off in a similar sterile fashion to the first but the Blues were more in control against a Slough side that appeared to have run out of steam. The game became niggly and referee Mr Monk had little choice but to reach for his notebook following a crude challenge from Gallagher on Kimble.

As Slough committed more men forward in search of the equaliser it was the Blues that benefited with extra space on the counter-attack. It was one such counter-attack that saw them score their third goal.

Purcell ran on to a pass from midfield and with a touch of class chipped the ball over McCann into the back of the net.

The main talking point of the game came a few minutes later. John caught Slough defender Keith McPherson when tackling him. However, the actions of McPherson were inexcusable as he got up and launched himself from five yards away, kicking and punching the Blues striker.

John retaliated and a free-for-all materialised. Whilr McPherson lay on the floor in a blatant attempt to exonerate himself, John received his marching order. Mr Monk consulted with his linesman and when McPherson returned to his feet he too was shown the red card.

The sendings-off affected Stortford more than Slough, and they fought back and reduced the arrears with five minutes to go when Veli Hakki fired home.

There was still time for Stortford to nearly add to the scoring when Danny Wolf's header appeared to creep over the line, but not according to the linesman.

The win lifted the Blues up to seventh place in the table with 23 points and puts them in a good position to begin a push for promotion.