Swindon Town boss Mark Kennedy claimed his side’s 1-1 draw with Barrow was a game they ‘dominated from start to finish’, deserving their 98th-minute equaliser.
On a crazy afternoon at Holker Street, fans saw two red cards, an outfield player go in goal and a late, late strike salvaging something from a game in which the Robins didn’t look like they were going to get anything from.
Barrow took the lead against the run of play nine minutes before half-time. Ged Garner’s attempt, likely intended as a cross, ended up looping over Swindon goalkeeper Jack Bycroft and into the net, marking his third goal of the season.
The game’s first dramatic moment occurred just before half-time when Barrow’s first-choice goalkeeper, Paul Farman, was sent off for handling the ball outside his area. Farman had rushed out nearly 40 yards from goal to clear the ball but misjudged his clearance, forcing him to use his hand to deny Swindon’s Gavin Kilkenny a clear shot at an empty net. With no substitute goalkeeper on the bench, former Gaelic footballer Rory Feely was handed the gloves for the remainder of the match.
Despite being down to 10 men, Barrow’s defence stood firm. Feely, who had no previous experience in goal at professional level, received excellent protection from his teammates and made a few crucial saves to keep Swindon at bay. The makeshift goalkeeper tipped away a dangerous corner from Jeff King and denied substitute Paul Glatzel with a well-held save from a close-range header.
Swindon, however, refused to give up, pressing for an equaliser even after they were also reduced to 10 men following Smith’s dismissal for an altercation with Theo Vassell.
Just when it seemed Barrow would hold on for a famous victory, Swindon found their breakthrough in the dying moments. Butterworth’s speculative long-range strike squirmed out of Feely’s grasp, sending the travelling Swindon fans into jubilation and earning the Robins a hard-fought point.
Barrow, who had occupied the top spot in the division at one stage during the match, was left to rue the late equaliser, while Swindon will feel relieved to have snatched a point in such dramatic fashion. The result left Swindon boss Kennedy surprised, given that he felt his team had handed the home side the opener.
“That was probably the most bizarre game I have ever been involved in,” said the former Lincoln boss. “We have had to make two substitutions in the first half, we have conceded a goal from a poor decision from one of our players but a ridiculous finish, we had a ball going into the back of the net but then a hits a hand and goes over the bar, and then we get a man sent off ourself.”
“It was a really bizarre game but I thought we dominated it from start to finish, we were down to ten men for 35 minutes in the second half and had 78 per cent possession. There were a lot of positives.”
The result leaves dominant Swindon 21st in the table, with three points from their opening five fixtures, while high-flying Barrow are third, holding ten points from their five outings.
Writer’s View
In fairness to Kennedy, his side did do relatively well here, with 19 shots compared to seven for the home side. However, to not be taking pot shots from all over was surely to their detriment, as if they had, Butterworth’s late goal might have been a winner, rather than a leveller.
Barrow will feel hard done by, and they showed some steel and resilience after Farman’s dismissal. There’s no complaints about either red card, and the paying fans certainly got a spectacle, even if neither set got the result they wanted.
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