Swindon vs. Stockport - Playoff consolidation at the expense of The Hatters

Stuart Pearce was on hand last night to witness yet another win at the County Ground last night. A win that stretches our unbeaten run in the league to 12 games, 9 in all competitions, with our last set-back being far from a disgrace against Premiership outfit Fulham at Craven Cottage. Supposedly Pearce's 4th visit to the County Ground this season as he looks to bolster his Under-21 side, it was a chance for the likes of Danny Ward and Charlie Austin to make the step up to represent their country. Bristol Rovers were the last League 1 side to take all 3 points against Swindon, with recent performances a long way from what we were forced to sit through at the Memorial Stadium back in December.
With many fans expecting a complete drubbing of midweek opponents Stockport County, it would be typical of Swindon not to make things easy for themselves, even after opening the scoring early on. In fact, a rather drab first 45 minutes, even with 3 goals, saw Town fans expecting A LOT more from their side in the 2nd half, as the domination had not quite paid dividends in the half time score.

On the 6th minute, expectations were raised as many a Swindon fan would have been thinking "this is going to be a rout!". A short corner from Jon-Paul McGovern found Jonathan Douglas on the edge of the area who managed to mishit an attempt goalwards. However, welsh stopper Owain Fôn Williams' attempted save was typical of amateur football, not something you would expect to see in League 1, and his poor block allowed 18 year old Danny Ward to fire a shot of his own, which eventually found the net after the melee of red and blue shirts in between Ward and the goal deviated the ball past a helpless Fôn Williams.
Ward's contribution was short and sweet as he was forced off on 28 minutes after picking up a knock; a precautionary measure from Wilson, allowing Matt Ritchie to make his first appearance after joining on loan from poverty-stricken Portsmouth 2 weeks previous.

As the game quietened down and begun to stagnate towards half time, Swindon's dominance over nethermost Stockport County was showing, though the score told a different story. There were plenty of chances as in-form striker Charlie Austin's effort was matched by Fôn Williams and top scorer Billy Paynter sent a sitter far wide off the goal after being found unmarked by McGovern's inch perfect crossing. Shortly after, the scouse frontman had Stockport's stopper at full stretch as he pulled a powerful shot back across the goal after finding a lot of room just outside the area. The keeper make a good save to denyPaynter and Swindon. Even 19 year old Sean Morrison, who recently returned from a loan spell at League 1 rivals Southend United, got in on the action but the giant defender could only head straight into Fôn Williams' clutches from a corner.

But Stockport's 22 year old keeper's heroics were finally beaten to strengthen Town's lead with 45 minutes on the clock as Paynter turned in another spill from Fôn Williams. Alan Sheehan burst into the box and his low shot was parried by Fôn Williams, and Billy Paynter was on hand to finish the job, putting the ball in from what looked like a very tight angle to take his tally of the season up to an impressive 21 goals.
That wasn't the first half over and done with though, as Stockport restarted with some fire in their bellies. A sloppy free-kick was given away on the edge of the Swindon area, and Greg Tansey was on-hand to convert, suddenly changing the whole complexion of the game bang on half time. Perhaps just deserts for not putting away the countless chances we had squandered.

Wilson was forced into another change and a reshuffle of formation during the break, as wing back Kevin Amankwaah was swapped for midfielder Craig Easton due to a hamstring complaint. And our lacking right side showed as stand-in captain Jonathan Douglas also became stand-in wing back to fill the hole left by Amankwaah's departure.

It seemed Douglas' presence bossing the midfield was sorely missed, as Stockport pushed on to find an equaliser to stun playoff hopefuls Swindon. As they grew in confidence some sloppy defending could have gifted County a point. Stockport's best chance came in the form of Jabo Ibehre, who found himself racing clear of Sean Morrison, only to be thwarted by on-rushing David Lucas.

Stockport's league position began to show as they were unable to capitalise on the chances given to them by an out-of-sort Swindon team, and Town managed to weather the storm and deliver the killing blow on 74 minutes. Jon-Paul McGovern's teasing cross was met by Celtic loanee Simon Ferry's head at the far post as he bagged his 2nd goal for Swindon. An assist for Jon-Paul McGovern that is a testament to his performance throughout the season.
The goal proved to be what Swindon needed, as the wind behind Stockport's sails disappeared and their heads dropped. It was only a matter of time until number 4 came as Town pushed forward with their 2 goal advantage. It came in the shape of a sublime 25 yard finish from striker Billy Paynter, as he looped a stunning shot over Fôn Williams and into the back of the net.
The 83 Stockport fans were sent packing as Town set themselves up nicely for the trip to Leyton Orient on Saturday. It wasn't the best performance, but its +3 points, +3 Goal difference, and we're now a point behind Charlton, who failed to overcome Brighton, with two games in hand.

See you in London!

Swindon vs. Charlton - Deja Vu at the County Ground

Saturday saw most of League 1's promotion hopefuls have a rare slip up as the top of the table opened up for a split second, but only Millwall really grabbed the opportunity with two hands as they recorded a memorable victory over leaders Norwich City, top of the form leader board across Europe.

Elsewhere fellow promotion favourites Leeds United failed to gain as much ground on Norwich as they would have hoped as host Hartlepool scored a dramatic 93rd minute goal to share a point with Leeds, I would have loved to see Jeff Stelling's reaction! Huddersfield failed to overcome visitors Carlisle as they drew 1-1, and Charlton and ourselves will have to wait for another rare opportunity to push for automatic promotion as a sickening 93rd minute equaliser saw Charlton head back east with a point in their swag bag as they robbed the Robins of all 3.

County Ground officials were expecting over 10,000 for the Saturday afternoon tie between two teams sat in the playoffs, with both knowing there is still a possibility of reaching the elusive 2nd place. However, the official attendance was recorded at under 10,000, no doubt hit by the surprise small number of Charlton fans. What has happened to their away fan base? I was extremely shocked by their numbers and their noise.

Wilson made one change to the side that threw away 3 points at Southend the weekend before as David Lucas took his regular spot in the between the sticks after recovering from a niggle, and Phil Smith would have to make do with a seat on the bench. Fellow recovers Alan O'Brien and Lloyd Macklin had a space reserved for them on the bench as well.

The first half was a cagey affair, with few clear cut chances for either side. Gordon Greer put his header from a Jon-Paul McGovern corner onto the crossbar. Then at the opposite end Nicky Bailey shook Lucas' goal as a thunderous effort from him was also kept out by the woodwork after Kyel Reid managed to find him unmarked on the edge of Town's box.

Danny Ward saw his poke towards goal turned away by the backside of team mate Billy Paynter after Charlie Austin had played in the Bolton loanee. And Austin saw an effort of his own flash wide of the goal as he managed to make something of a ball bouncing behind him, but was unable to connect cleanly.

Simon Ferry nearly put Town ahead with an audacious dipping effort but this went just the wrong side of the post, and looked like it was going in from where I was sat. The spirits of the home support was high as a physical first 45 came to a halt, knowing that we were definitely in with a shout against the Addicks.

As the players were reintroduced to the pitch, the pace of the game continued from where it had left off. Strong tackling and classy passing however allowed Swindon to grab the initiative. Ward played a short corner to McGovern, a move that riles up Town support as usually we see possession squandered from such attempts. However, this time the moved worked as McGovern played a first time ball to Gordon Greer, who had found himself involved heavily in Town's attacking play today. The captain had lost his marker at the near post and flicked the ball across Charlton's box where big wing back Kevin Amankwaah applied the finish for his 3rd goal of the campaign, causing the County Ground to erupt.

With just under half an hour remaining, it seemed Town took the gear down a bit too early and as we have on so many occasions, let Charlton back into the game rather than putting it to bed. Nicky Bailey was guilty of wasting two great chances to get Charlton back into it as Town's attacking prowess from the first 60 minutes disappeared, and our classy passing football turned into an un-confident "'AVE IT!" fest. And as the fourth official raised his board to display 5 minutes of added time, deja vu struck, and the chances of a boxing day repeat were on the cards.

And in the 93rd minute, lightning had struck twice for The Robins, and it would be Nicky Bailey, undoubtedly Charlton's biggest danger throughout the game, who would send the hearts of around 8000 Town faithful sinking.

Charlton broke down the left flank and Deon Burton, who was once on-loan at the County Ground, played a ball into the area and finding un-marked Nicky Bailey. Bailey drilled his shot low and hard, giving David Lucas little chance of scuppering Charlton's celebrations.

Once again, and for the 2nd time in a week, and for the 2nd time against Charlton this season, we conceded a late, late injury time equaliser. The draw felt like a loss to me, as it had on Boxing day at the Valley, and rather than having a cushion going in to our game Tuesday night against Oldham, the home faithful will be thinking that 3 points are a must if we want to keep up our push for playoffs or automatic promotion come the end of the season.

But there is a lot that we, and Danny Wilson can take from the performance that we put in. And the results around us have proven that any one can truly beat anyone in this league. And this, coupled with our thumping thrashing of Leeds 7 days ago, and numerous other results this season prove that we deserve to be competing come the end of the season, its now a question of whether we can weather the storm and keep on pushing.

Anyway, I'm off the Stamford Bridge now for the Super Sunday clash between Chelsea and Arsenal! Sat in the away section so expecting a brilliant atmosphere and great day out, should be a cracker!

January at Swindon Town

You'll have to speak louder, the atmosphere at the County Ground is deafening!

The January transfer window usually brings a flurry of players in and out of clubs. However, January at the County Ground has been strangely quiet off the pitch, perhaps to compliment the storm The Robins are currently kicking up on the pitch!

Now that the transfer window has slammed shut, lets sum up the hello's and goodbye's so far. Though not all restricted to the transfer window, in a busy period a couple could have been missed:

Players Out
Yinka Casal (Terminated)
Anthony McNamee (Norwich)
Alex Revell (Loan End)
Ben Hutchinson (Loan End)
Hasney Aljofree (Terminated)
Lee Peacock (Grimsby)

Players In
Alan Sheehan (Leeds Loan Extension until end of season plus playoffs)
Danny Ward (Bolton Loan Extension until end of season plus playoffs)
Vincent Pericard (Free Agent)
Simon Ferry (Celtic Loan Extension until end of season plus playoffs)

Wilson admitted he failed in a bit to add 3 new names to his squad as deals broke down at the 11th hour on deadline day. Strong rumours are linking two of the names as Scotland Under 21 Captain and Celtic Right Winger Paul Caddis and Portsmouth's 20 year old midfielder Matt Ritchie. Wilson has promised he will be following up his enquiries when the emergency loan window opens next week, so hopefully the latter list above will grow.

In comparison, on the pitch Town's football has been raising the decibel level at SN1 as Town have moved themselves into a very strong position to compete for a playoff spot come the end of the season. This has been aided by another unbeaten streak, this time of 7 games, with just our gutsy fall at Craven Cottage in the FA Cup being the blemish since our poor performance against Bristol Rovers back in December last year.

A certain two men who play off of each other better than Ant and Dec, or even Phil and Fern, have been setting alight League 1. Billy Paynter has bagged 16 goals to his name this season in all competitions, whilst non-league prodigy Charlie Austin has put away 10 in his last 13 outings in a red shirt! A feat that has earned 20 year old Austin a new 2 and a half year deal, putting the mockers on all those rumours floating about telling me the lad wouldn't be helping us push for promotion come the end of the season.

And the form we've found ourselves in hasn't been due to poor opposition. Town have racked the points up against worthy opponents, with the most notable points this season coming from a 1-0 victory over Southampton eons ago back at the start of the season, a 2-2 draw with Charlton at The Valley, and of course the 3-0 thrashing of Leeds United just 8 days ago. That one will certainly live long in the memory of every Swindon Town fan in the first sell out crowd since 2007 at the County Ground.

But its not going to be a cruise to the playoffs at the end of the season, as now we find ourselves coming up against teams in and around our position, and when you are doing so well, teams will come up against you with added vigour as a victory will mean so much more.

Saturday we welcome Charlton Athletic to the County Ground for the first time in League competition since the season of the millennium. One Michael Carrick scored for Town as they fell victim to a 2-1 Charlton victory. In 2007 Charlton made the trip West down the M4 as the teams were drawn in the League Cup. Charlton ran out 2-0 winners as the gulf in class became evident after a battling first half from Town. The likes of Nicky Weaver, Lloyd Sam, Marcus Bent, Darren Ambrose and Andy Reid outshone Town's battlers of Peter Brezovan, Miguel Comminges, Christian Roberts and Lee Peacock.

Hoping for another bumper crowd at the County Ground, as the other half of the ground who turned up for the Leeds game were treated to a Swindon carnival of football in our last game. Keep the performances up and the fans will stay, COME ON YOU REDS!