Brentford was the destination on Saturday, as Swindon Town took on another team who have recently gained promotion to League 1, the 3rd in 4 games against teams with that same feat. For many Town fans, the Brentford tie was one of the main picks of the away games this season because of the many avenues of travel you can take to get there, and the ease at which you can do this. For any travelling supporter, I would strongly recommend making this journey.
A few weeks earlier the opportunity arose for a few of us to get the train to Brentford, to carry out the prestigious "all day lash-up" that any Saturday football match where no driving is involved seems to bring on. Upon finding out I could get a lift with the ol' chap who would be driving, I decided it would be worthwhile doing this because of the outrageous train fairs, even though from past experience the train travel away days are a real good crack. And I am so glad I chose to get a lift...
For it was the night before the big game, and all was calm. Except for a few of us who had decided to go on a pub crawl in Hungerford as a "goodbye" to two of our chums who are heading off to Uni. I went out saying to myself that I'd only have a few as it was footy the next day, and somehow that just didn't happen. I remember feeling good at some point during the night, how early/late in the evening that was is a blur. And then I remember not feeling so goodand struggling to string meaningful sentences together. And then I remember waking up on Saturday morning with what was perhaps THE worst hangover I've ever had, if not extremely close to it.
I must apologise to and thank Dad and Will, who put up with me vomiting, moaning and complaining throughout Saturday. I think the whole day was helped by the extremely good game of football we watched and the result that followed - otherwise I could have left Brentford with a couple of black eyes.
Anyway, onto the football. Swindon went into the game Saturday on the back of four 1-1 draws and a 9-game unbeaten run in League 1. Danny Wilson had put the emphasis on getting all 3 points here, as the atmosphere amongst the Town faithful appeared to have been increasingly concerned with our inability to defend a lead, conceding late goals and dropping 2 points in games where we should be getting all three. The expectation amongst fans at the County Ground has understandably grown from that at the start of the season as we are seeing a team that has gelled quickly and giving us some top class performances and i think this has contributed to us expecting the right result and not just a good performance.
Pre-match news reports soon got round that Wilson had tinkered with his starting line-up. In particular, the exclusion of Billy Paynter, who has missed some gilt-edged chances in the last two games that could have been the difference between 1 and 3 points, and see us sat pretty in 4th place. He was replaced by Alex Revell, who as yet hadn't scored for Swindon since joining on-loan from fellow League 1 side Southend. The other change had been forced upon Wilson as Temitope Obadeyi, who's form had just appeared to be coming into fruition for The Robins, limped off in the first half at Exeter with a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Celtic striker Ben Hutchinson.
Another ray of light came from the treatment table, as long-term injury victim Lee Peacock was included amongst the seven substitutes, a sign that his back injury which required an operation that has kept him out of action for seven months could be healing nicely.
After finally getting parked in "The Beehive" car park the others had a few drinks in the fine establishment. I struggled to get down 3 quarters of a bottle of Budweiser, in the hope that "Hair of the dog" might help me. After a few toilet false alarms later we made our way to Griffin Park, renowned as being the only ground in Britain with a pub on each corner. Our stand was two-tiered, a terrace lower and seated upper. We saved a pound each and made our way to the terraces, where the view was slightly restricted by supporting pillars, but the atmosphere was electric thanks to the 1,244 fans that had made the trip.
The first real chance of the game happened early on in the 8th minute and sent the travelling support into a frenzy. Though difficult to see as it was at the opposite goal that the action happened, seeing the net ripple was enough. The move saw Amankwaah, McGovern and Revell combining well on the right-side and running Brentford's defenders ragged. Eventually, McGovern's cross into the ball was met by Revell who unleashed a powerful volley over the keeper's head and into the underside roof of the net. Revell wheeled away in celebration as he finally got his first goal in a Swindon shirt, much to the delight of Wilson and the travelling support.
Brentford then hit back with an attack and penalty appeal as defender Ryan Dickson was grounded. This time the action was at our end and it didn't look like a penalty to either myself or the official as the claim was waved away.
Swindon then had another attack as Kevin Amankwaah picked up a sloppy pass in our own half. His pass found Jonathan Douglas, who teamed up with Alex Revell. As Revell flicked the ball on it looked as if it would fall for the offside Ben Hutchinson and an over-zealous linesman raised his flag because of this. However, with his hands above his head, Hutchinson was deemed to not be interfering with play as he was returning from an offside position, and Douglas raised onto the ball as the referee over-ruled the flag. Douglas, seeing the raised flag stuttered then continued realising the ref had waved play on but saw his shot parried by keeper Nikki Bull and cleared by the defence. That was a great chance to double Swindon's lead.
The away sides persistence paid dividends as they proceeded to extend their lead on 21 minutes. A touch of McNamee magic allowed him to take on a couple of players and execute a superb through-ball for striker Ben Hutchinson, who finished the move with a cool and composed finish into the back of the net.
Hutchinson proceeded to run the length of the pitch to celebrate with the away fans who's celebrations were nearly rocking the Brook Road Stand.
Brentford looked shell-shocked by Swindon's attacking presence in this new territory and struggled to create any decent chances in the first half, even though Swindon sat back and looked happy to protect their two goal lead prior to the half time whistle.
And when the referee did call time on the first 45 minutes, the boys in white left the field to a huge ovation from the packed away stand as Swindon had dominated the first 45, and looked to have quelled any defensive worries that the supporters might have had carried over from recent weeks.
I'm not sure what manager Andy Scott told his players at halftime, but it certainly fired them up as Brentford started the 2nd half looking like a different side. The Bees managed to knock together some half decent chances, and 6 minutes in they should have given themselves a lifeline. As midfield Sam Saunders terrorized the Swindon defence around 25 yards out, he pulled off an amazing curled effort, beating David Lucas but shaking the goal as the pull struck the upright. The rebound fell beautifully for the completely unmarked striker Charlie McDonald, who somehow managed to put the ball into the home support behind when in the way was an open-goal 8 yards out. A truly embarrassing miss for the 28 year old, and lucky escape for The Robins.
Apart from this scare the Swindon defence looked strong as they survived the early onslaught in the 2nd half from Brentford. In comparison, Brentford's defence hadn't looked so calm and in the 63rd minute Wilson looked to shake things up by bringing on the pacey youngster Lloyd Macklin in place of Hutchinson, who had been quiet apart from his goal.
However, Brentford continued to press and as players helped back with defensive duties we became shut in and struggled to keep hold of possession. In the 78th minute Brentford seized the lifeline they had been striving for as veteran striker Carl Cort scored a well worked goal after side-stepping two defenders and finishing well from the edge of Lucas' box.
Town showed they weren't going to relinquish the 3 points as easy as they had done recently and struck back immediately. Jon-Paul McGovern played a super ball from his own half ahead of now lone-striker Alex Revell, who found himself up against a weak defence as Brentford pushed for an equaliser. As he surged into the right side of the area, he sidestepped one defender before firing a ferocious shot Nikki Bull and into the top right corner of the net. A real screamer as Revell stamped his authority on the match and kept quiet any doubters of his ability to score goals since joining The Robins.
Shortly after the goal, Micheal Timlin came on to replace Anthony McNamee, to sure up the defence as the end of the match approached. But that didn't seem to happen as more drama unfolded and the outcome of the match was again put on the line.
An 82nd minute corner was put in by an un-marked Charlie McDonald, who this time didn't miss from 8 yards. Suddenly The Robins' celebrations had been cut short, and I'm sure everyone struggled to keep out the back of their minds what has happened late on in so many games.
But this time it was meant to be for Swindon Town, has they defended miraculously and took home all 3 points after a thrilling 90 minutes of football. The first half performance was one to remember from Town, as we dominated and took our chances as they came, leaving nothing up to chance. Revell looked like a different player at Griffin Park and could be on the way to scoring more goals in a Swindon shirt now that he's off the mark.
In all honesty, Brentford did what you would expect them to do in the 2nd half and that was to pile players forward. On another day it could have been a completely different story and we may have more found chances where Brentford's defence was caught short on a counter attack like Revell's 2nd, and it could have been an extra two for us rather than to the home side. But just getting 3 points has delighted the Town faithful, and we head to Exeter on Tuesday night in good steed to match the positivity that Exeter will have following their 3-1 win over Hartlepool.
A few weeks earlier the opportunity arose for a few of us to get the train to Brentford, to carry out the prestigious "all day lash-up" that any Saturday football match where no driving is involved seems to bring on. Upon finding out I could get a lift with the ol' chap who would be driving, I decided it would be worthwhile doing this because of the outrageous train fairs, even though from past experience the train travel away days are a real good crack. And I am so glad I chose to get a lift...
For it was the night before the big game, and all was calm. Except for a few of us who had decided to go on a pub crawl in Hungerford as a "goodbye" to two of our chums who are heading off to Uni. I went out saying to myself that I'd only have a few as it was footy the next day, and somehow that just didn't happen. I remember feeling good at some point during the night, how early/late in the evening that was is a blur. And then I remember not feeling so goodand struggling to string meaningful sentences together. And then I remember waking up on Saturday morning with what was perhaps THE worst hangover I've ever had, if not extremely close to it.
I must apologise to and thank Dad and Will, who put up with me vomiting, moaning and complaining throughout Saturday. I think the whole day was helped by the extremely good game of football we watched and the result that followed - otherwise I could have left Brentford with a couple of black eyes.
Anyway, onto the football. Swindon went into the game Saturday on the back of four 1-1 draws and a 9-game unbeaten run in League 1. Danny Wilson had put the emphasis on getting all 3 points here, as the atmosphere amongst the Town faithful appeared to have been increasingly concerned with our inability to defend a lead, conceding late goals and dropping 2 points in games where we should be getting all three. The expectation amongst fans at the County Ground has understandably grown from that at the start of the season as we are seeing a team that has gelled quickly and giving us some top class performances and i think this has contributed to us expecting the right result and not just a good performance.
Pre-match news reports soon got round that Wilson had tinkered with his starting line-up. In particular, the exclusion of Billy Paynter, who has missed some gilt-edged chances in the last two games that could have been the difference between 1 and 3 points, and see us sat pretty in 4th place. He was replaced by Alex Revell, who as yet hadn't scored for Swindon since joining on-loan from fellow League 1 side Southend. The other change had been forced upon Wilson as Temitope Obadeyi, who's form had just appeared to be coming into fruition for The Robins, limped off in the first half at Exeter with a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Celtic striker Ben Hutchinson.
Another ray of light came from the treatment table, as long-term injury victim Lee Peacock was included amongst the seven substitutes, a sign that his back injury which required an operation that has kept him out of action for seven months could be healing nicely.
After finally getting parked in "The Beehive" car park the others had a few drinks in the fine establishment. I struggled to get down 3 quarters of a bottle of Budweiser, in the hope that "Hair of the dog" might help me. After a few toilet false alarms later we made our way to Griffin Park, renowned as being the only ground in Britain with a pub on each corner. Our stand was two-tiered, a terrace lower and seated upper. We saved a pound each and made our way to the terraces, where the view was slightly restricted by supporting pillars, but the atmosphere was electric thanks to the 1,244 fans that had made the trip.
The first real chance of the game happened early on in the 8th minute and sent the travelling support into a frenzy. Though difficult to see as it was at the opposite goal that the action happened, seeing the net ripple was enough. The move saw Amankwaah, McGovern and Revell combining well on the right-side and running Brentford's defenders ragged. Eventually, McGovern's cross into the ball was met by Revell who unleashed a powerful volley over the keeper's head and into the underside roof of the net. Revell wheeled away in celebration as he finally got his first goal in a Swindon shirt, much to the delight of Wilson and the travelling support.
Brentford then hit back with an attack and penalty appeal as defender Ryan Dickson was grounded. This time the action was at our end and it didn't look like a penalty to either myself or the official as the claim was waved away.
Swindon then had another attack as Kevin Amankwaah picked up a sloppy pass in our own half. His pass found Jonathan Douglas, who teamed up with Alex Revell. As Revell flicked the ball on it looked as if it would fall for the offside Ben Hutchinson and an over-zealous linesman raised his flag because of this. However, with his hands above his head, Hutchinson was deemed to not be interfering with play as he was returning from an offside position, and Douglas raised onto the ball as the referee over-ruled the flag. Douglas, seeing the raised flag stuttered then continued realising the ref had waved play on but saw his shot parried by keeper Nikki Bull and cleared by the defence. That was a great chance to double Swindon's lead.
The away sides persistence paid dividends as they proceeded to extend their lead on 21 minutes. A touch of McNamee magic allowed him to take on a couple of players and execute a superb through-ball for striker Ben Hutchinson, who finished the move with a cool and composed finish into the back of the net.
Hutchinson proceeded to run the length of the pitch to celebrate with the away fans who's celebrations were nearly rocking the Brook Road Stand.
Brentford looked shell-shocked by Swindon's attacking presence in this new territory and struggled to create any decent chances in the first half, even though Swindon sat back and looked happy to protect their two goal lead prior to the half time whistle.
And when the referee did call time on the first 45 minutes, the boys in white left the field to a huge ovation from the packed away stand as Swindon had dominated the first 45, and looked to have quelled any defensive worries that the supporters might have had carried over from recent weeks.
I'm not sure what manager Andy Scott told his players at halftime, but it certainly fired them up as Brentford started the 2nd half looking like a different side. The Bees managed to knock together some half decent chances, and 6 minutes in they should have given themselves a lifeline. As midfield Sam Saunders terrorized the Swindon defence around 25 yards out, he pulled off an amazing curled effort, beating David Lucas but shaking the goal as the pull struck the upright. The rebound fell beautifully for the completely unmarked striker Charlie McDonald, who somehow managed to put the ball into the home support behind when in the way was an open-goal 8 yards out. A truly embarrassing miss for the 28 year old, and lucky escape for The Robins.
Apart from this scare the Swindon defence looked strong as they survived the early onslaught in the 2nd half from Brentford. In comparison, Brentford's defence hadn't looked so calm and in the 63rd minute Wilson looked to shake things up by bringing on the pacey youngster Lloyd Macklin in place of Hutchinson, who had been quiet apart from his goal.
However, Brentford continued to press and as players helped back with defensive duties we became shut in and struggled to keep hold of possession. In the 78th minute Brentford seized the lifeline they had been striving for as veteran striker Carl Cort scored a well worked goal after side-stepping two defenders and finishing well from the edge of Lucas' box.
Town showed they weren't going to relinquish the 3 points as easy as they had done recently and struck back immediately. Jon-Paul McGovern played a super ball from his own half ahead of now lone-striker Alex Revell, who found himself up against a weak defence as Brentford pushed for an equaliser. As he surged into the right side of the area, he sidestepped one defender before firing a ferocious shot Nikki Bull and into the top right corner of the net. A real screamer as Revell stamped his authority on the match and kept quiet any doubters of his ability to score goals since joining The Robins.
Shortly after the goal, Micheal Timlin came on to replace Anthony McNamee, to sure up the defence as the end of the match approached. But that didn't seem to happen as more drama unfolded and the outcome of the match was again put on the line.
An 82nd minute corner was put in by an un-marked Charlie McDonald, who this time didn't miss from 8 yards. Suddenly The Robins' celebrations had been cut short, and I'm sure everyone struggled to keep out the back of their minds what has happened late on in so many games.
But this time it was meant to be for Swindon Town, has they defended miraculously and took home all 3 points after a thrilling 90 minutes of football. The first half performance was one to remember from Town, as we dominated and took our chances as they came, leaving nothing up to chance. Revell looked like a different player at Griffin Park and could be on the way to scoring more goals in a Swindon shirt now that he's off the mark.
In all honesty, Brentford did what you would expect them to do in the 2nd half and that was to pile players forward. On another day it could have been a completely different story and we may have more found chances where Brentford's defence was caught short on a counter attack like Revell's 2nd, and it could have been an extra two for us rather than to the home side. But just getting 3 points has delighted the Town faithful, and we head to Exeter on Tuesday night in good steed to match the positivity that Exeter will have following their 3-1 win over Hartlepool.
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