Swindon
continued their unbeaten run with a 5-3 victory over Bath at
the University. Both sides struggled to settle with some
unusually poor passing from Swindon and slack marking. Bath
failed to capitalise on the chances they created and were
punished when the visitors opened the scoring. Wright received
the ball on the edge of the penalty area following good
approach play by Brown and Henshall. The Swindon skipper then
weaved his way past four defenders before placing the ball
beyond the ‘keeper. Bath continued to play some attractive
football, passing the ball crisply to break swiftly down the
flanks. Swindon’s lead lasted less than ten minutes as the
home side attacked again down the right. A deep cross found
Oswin unmarked on the far left and he drove his shot beyond
Swatridge. Swindon worked hard to regain the advantage;
Henshall caused problems down the left whilst Jefferies and
Wilkinson found gaps down the right. The visitors re-took the
lead in spectacular fashion. A throw from Wilkinson on the
right found Wright who attempted to shield the ball for
Jefferies’ run across the edge of the area. Thomas arrived
unmarked from defence and Wright rolled the ball back to him.
The Liden pupil unleashed a powerful drive from fully twenty
five metres which flew into the top corner of the net. A
superb shot with which to open his ‘A’ side account. Bath had
several chances to level but Swatridge was on fine form to
deny Hedges, diving at the Norris’ feet and holding on to
Oswin’s fiercely struck shot from a tight angle. Swindon
countered swiftly; Jefferies charged through the midfield
before laying off the ball to Henshall. The left winger pace
took him past the full back. The Bath ‘keeper did well to
parry Henshall’s low drive but only into the path of Brown who
made it 3-1. After the break Bath continued to press hard as
Swindon seemed content to sit on their lead. Hedges deservedly
pulled a goal back for Bath. Swindon should have heeded this
warning but lapses in concentration from the defence and poor
tracking of players off the ball enabled Norris to level the
scores. As the game moved into its final quarter Swindon took
more control of the game. Wilkinson and Thomas battled hard to
contain Oswin whilst Diss, Fleming and Miles showed more
composure playing the ball out of defence. With five minutes
remaining the game seemed destined to end in a draw.
Jefferies’ determination won Swindon a corner which Henshall
took. His cross was cleared only as far as Wright and French
and between them the two players managed to steer the ball
through a congested penalty area before French slid the ball
into the bottom right corner. French made it 5-3 moments later
when he ran on to Miles’ clever overhead kick to volley home.
A just reward for his hard work throughout the whole of the
game. Bath could feel slightly aggrieved at losing, especially
after their second half fight back. Swindon have shown this
season that they are capable of playing much better than this.
However they took their chances when presented them and should
great resilience in the final quarter of the game to defeat
their hosts.
