We have a guest article from Swindon Town fan Josh Green. He attended the match against Northampton last night and wanted to share his thoughts on the game. If you want to submit a guest article please get in touch.
Swindon Town took on fellow promotion candidates Northampton Town at Sixfields Stadium. Much of the talk before the game had been surrounding the return of club legend Charlie Austin, who despite SkySports releasing an interview and the player himself teasing the move is yet to be confirmed. The Robins added to fan joy with a great win with goals coming from Tyrese Shade and a wonder strike from left-back Marcel Lavinier.
Swindon bounced back following their boxing day disappointment to Walsall which finished 2-1 to The Sadlers which prompted some fans on social media to question manager Scott Lindsey’s position.
Swindon’s first goal came from a sweeping counterattack which saw Remeao Hutton play a diagonal ball which Jonny Williams managed to meet, forcing a save from Lee Burge only for the rebound to fall to the edge of the six-
yard box. Tyrese Shade picked it up and played it past two defenders past goalkeeper Lee Burge into the net giving Swindon the lead after what could be described as a difficult start to the game. The rest of the first half was fought bravely by both sides and contested mainly in the middle of the park with neither side really threatening.
The two sides started the second half in the same vein as the final minutes of the first half, with much of the contest occurring in the midfield. Swindon grew into the contest and asserted some dominance over the hosts. They capitalised on this with a wonder strike of Marcel Lavinier to give the Robins a two-nil lead.
Northampton, knowing it was now or never, threw caution to the wind and went on the offensive. A couple of well-worked chances fell to Louis Appere and Sam Hoskins with neither managing to beat the superb Sol Brynn. Swindon Town boss Scott Lindsey then proceeded to make 2 changes, with Jacob Wakeling and Rushian Hepburn Murphy replacing Luke Jephcott and Jonny Williams.
The hosts also made changes with Kieran Bowie and Joshua Eppiah coming on to try and bolster their attacking options. However, they managed a goal late into the contest to give a nervy finale. Sam Hoskins curled a right-footed shot into the top corner. This then set up for a grandstand finish with only 6 minutes remaining to try and find a winner. The Swindon defence battled valiantly and managed to hold back the late push. Goalkeeper Lee Burge went up for a 90+6 minute free kick but did not manage to get on the end off. The whistle blew much to the relief of the fans of Swindon Town. A job well done with a vital 3 points on the road to their fellow promotion rivals. This win
and the return of club legend Charlie Austin can hopefully provide something for the Swindon fans to get behind and push on for the rest of the season.
Writer’s View
In my opinion, Swindon had 3 players who performed superbly which helped them win the game
these being Angus Macdonald, Sol Brynn, and Marcel Lavinier. Macdonald put
won an impressive 7 out of 7 duels during the contest the most of any player on the pitch.
He amassed a total of 14 clearances and 4 total passes into the final third.
Marcel Lavinier will arguably capture the headlines for his stunning strike which had an XG of just
0.02, but he also had a sublime performance with the most tackles in the match and
a phenomenal work rate bombing up and down the left flank all game.
Lastly, Sol Brynn the on-loan Middlesborough goalkeeper might be creating a selection headache for Michael
Carrick when his loan expires in the summer after another immense display in the Swindon net. He made seven
saves from 1.93 expected goals faced. He was also key in eliminating the set piece threat from a very physical team in Northampton with two high claims in the ninety.
Swindon will travel next to Colchester on New Year’s Day and will hope to build on
this performance as they now sit 5th in the table.
