Coming to a game at Swindon Town, when their ground is only just off the infamously named Magic Roundabout, only prompts me to take one of the two early nineties rave tracks which used the theme from the Magic Roundabout in their songs. I’ve gone for Badman’s ‘Magic Style’ – which limped to number 61 in the UK singles chart, as it’s the wrong season for Mark Summers’ ‘Summer’s Magic’ which was in the chart at the same time and was more successful, hitting the top thirty.
Quiz answer time, how many other sides have we played this season who have been managed by Micky Mellon? Three – Fleetwood Town, Shrewsbury Town, and Tranmere Rovers.
After the rollercoaster, but ultimately disappointing 2-2 draw against Oldham Athletic last Saturday the League Two grind continues with a cross-country journey to Wiltshire to visit Swindon Town.
Did anyone else notice the error added at the top of my piece in the Oldham Programme? I didn’t put the score (or teams) at the top, so someone had added it for me, but they wrote it as Salford 3 – Reds 4. If only that had had been the case. (And did you see they won their next home league game 4-3 as well, this time coming from 3-1 down in the second half and getting an injury time winner.)
I spent a lot of time condensing down the last two match reports to having two or three photos and about a thousand words each for the next programme. I hate editing so much. By the time it gets to the next one, I need to work out how to cram five matches into four pages.
With the programme selling pre-game on Saturday I didn’t get a chance to get my ticket for the Swindon game, so I wandered over on Monday lunchtime. Now, I’m not saying that we always go in the Downsman on the way back from the Broadfield, but I had turned and gone up the steps and was at the door before I remembered I hadn’t been to a game, it was only lunchtime and I had to get back to work.
When I picked the ticket up, I thought I was getting a normal ticket, but it would seem that as there is advertising for Specsavers on the ticket, I must have got one of the ones reserved for the match officials instead.
Tuesday saw the player of the month winner for November announced, with Harry Forster being the winner, thoroughly deserved in my opinion.
Ever since Cambridge United won their FA Cup second round tie, I’ve been repeating the mantra in my head for when the rearranged game should be, something along the lines of “any week apart from w/c 9th February”, so of course it has been rearranged for that week, so unless there is another postponement to that game for adverse weather, it scuppers what is likely to be my only ever chance to do all forty-six league games in a season. I’ll now be practising my rain dance for adverse weather to get it postponed to another date. Watch out for stories of the strange English bloke appearing to be doing a rain dance in the middle of the Uffizi gallery on that Tuesday.
For some reason I was convinced that Perry Digweed had played for Swindon and I spent some time looking for a card for him, only to realise he didn’t play for them at all, and it was a different ‘dig’ I was remembering, Fraser Digby, of whom I did have a card from the 90-91 Proset collection, and to add to my confusion (or maybe it is what caused it), he was a goalkeeper as well.
Also in the same collection is a rarity which features the current Swindon Town boss, Ian Holloway, playing at the time for Bristol Rovers (yeah, more southwest locations for him). And the rare thing? He has hair.
There were a plethora of programmes for games against Swindon in the collection.
A few stood out though, with this one being from THAT FA Cup run and a game against them in the 2nd round in 2010, we drew that one and went on to beat them away in the replay.
Then I looked at this one as it would appear to be the home debut for the ill-fated short-term manager, Matthew Etherington, who wouldn’t survive until the end of the month this programme is from. And opening the programme up, we find Scott Lindsey, who was coming to the end of his time as the Swindon boss, and who would replace Etherington as the next (permanent) Crawley manager the following month.
The return fixture from that season is an oddity as well, it was the final game of the season, and had been moved to the extra bank holiday Monday as it was King Charles III’s coronation on the Saturday, I can’t think there have been many programmes with the reigning monarch on the cover. And on the day, they had a big fanfare for the announcement that Michael Flynn would be becoming their new manager for the next season, which didn’t go well.
That was during the peak smoke flare time, and several were launched down from the back of the stand, the main problem being those doing the throwing were shit at throwing them and were hitting our own fans without them making it to the pitch. We had clinched survival the previous week, but a 2-1 loss to finish the season did sum up how bad it had been that year. Yet we had more points at that point in the season than we have this season, which is worrying.
There is a fair bit of crossover in the squad today. As previously mentioned, Scott Lindsey was Swindon Town’s manager before taking over at Crawley in his first stint. Dion Conroy, Kabongo Tshimanga, Harry McKirdy, and JoJo Wollacott have all played for them as well. And Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, Ben Gladwin, and Ronan Darcy were all playing for Swindon under Scott in that season before he moved to us. In the current Swindon squad there are Crawley old boys Will Wright, Tom Nichols, and Ollie Palmer. Others to have played for both include Nicky Ajose, Gary Alexander, Anthony Grant, Mark Marshall, Luke Rooney, James Collins, Josh Lelan, Kellan Gordon, and Nathan Byrne.
There have been a lot of games between the two, with the two aforementioned FA Cup games, and last season’s Carabao Cup encounter there have been twenty-two games in total, with nine wins, seven draws, and six losses. At the County Ground, there have been four wins, two draws, and four losses, with our last game there being the 6-0 drubbing in the August of our promotion season.
Any mention of Swindon Town has me at least thinking mackerel, if not saying it out loud. This dates back to the early noughties and the Soccer Saturday drinking game, where if Swindon came up on the screen, the last person to shout out ‘mackerel’ had to do a shot. One of many, many ways to drink oneself into a coma by five o’clock on a Saturday afternoon. It came from Swindon Town being the only English or Scottish league side whose full name didn’t contain a letter from the word mackerel. (Dundee were the other team requiring a shout out, they were the only side not to contain a letter from the word football.)
Going into the game we are the mere eighteen places and nineteen points behind Swindon, who are in the automatic promotion spots and have more than double the number of points we do. We are a point above the relegation places, but with Bristol Rovers playing last night, and only getting a point from that usual new manager bounce, we can only end up in the relegation places if Harrogate get at least a point and we lose by fourteen.
The train journey over was a blast from the past. I regularly made the trip to Reading for monthly team meetings as it was equally inconvenient for everyone around the country to get to. The train didn’t stop there, but I did the wonderfully named Winnersh Triangle as we trundled through.
Being in Swindon early meant a chance to wander around taking photos, loads of street art on display.
And to poke in charity shops, where I found a wonderful array of books suited to a stats freak like me.
In the ground nice and early to pick the most favourable seat for me after nipping in the club shop and getting pen and fridge magnet, and a programme. A programme, which at four quid is at the pricey end, and is now a shadow of what it was on my last visit.
I check the lineup and there are two changes from last week’s starting lineup against Oldham, with Geraldo Bajrami and Dion Pereira starting, and Kaheim Dixon and Ade Adeyemo dropping to the bench.
We are in our all white with red trim kit as Swindon are in red shirts and socks and white shorts. Much to the disgust of the home support Dion Conroy wins the toss and swaps ends.
It’s a slow start to the game. Geraldo Bajrami is down and needing treatment as something has hit him in the face. Ryan Loft slides into a tackle in midfield a bit late and comes off worse.
The first real attack sees Josh Flint bring the ball out from midfield and take a shot from the edge of the area which is easily saved. At the other end Swindon fans are claiming handball as Harvey Davies picks the ball up right on the edge of the box.
Back on the attack, Flint and Jack Roles link up well down the left, and the former’s cross is deflected for a corner, which is flicked behind for another on the other side. That’s taken short and put out for yet another corner, but the attempted whatever goes out for a goal kick. A free kick is won on the right by Reece Brown in line with the edge of the D, it’s crossed in and cleared.
Dion Pereira turns his man inside out on the right and pings a low cross into the six-yard box, Harry Forster gets to it under pressure but can only poke it wide for a goal kick.
Swindon attack and get a free kick just outside the box on the left. They shoot and it goes well over the bar. Pereira drives down the right and into the box, he is tackled and goes down and the ref points to the spot. He is then surrounded by Swindon players, and it is Deja vu all over again as he changes his mind and gives a corner. Absolutely un-fucking-believable. And no action for surrounding the ref. The corner is cleared.
Again there is decent play from Pereira down the right, he plays it to Loft, and then on to Brown who crosses, but it’s claimed by the keeper. Then down the left Forster whips a cross in which Loft gets his head on, but it goes wide. A free kick on the left from Forster goes straight to the keeper.
A long Swindon clearance sees some hesitation and Davies comes out of the area and clears with his shoulder as the home fans scream for a handball. A shot in the box is blocked, and they are screaming for a handball again. But as it hit someone’s backside it just shows they don’t know their arse from their elbow.
Forster picks up a yellow card in midfield. Bit soft. A Brown shot on the edge of the box is blocked. A long throw from Flint is hacked clear. There are a lot of touches in and around the box but struggle to get a clear chance and there is another blocked shot from Brown. We win the ball back in midfield and Roles has a shot from thirty-five yards which takes a deflection and the keeper prevents going for a corner.
Another long throw from Flint is flicked on by a Swindon player and Loft gets on the end of it and it is blocked on the line for a corner. It is cleared and Swindon break and get a corner of their own which Davies punches clear. There are two added minutes which are our most frantic defensively of the half, and the half time whistle goes with it scoreless 0-0.
It isn’t a slow start to the second half, Pereira teasing the Swindon players before playing it to Roles, he plays it into the box to Forster, and he isn’t tackled and we get a corner. It comes across and Flint, Brown, and Pereira all attempt shots before the ref blows for a foul.
Another Flint long throw into the box and Loft tries an overhead effort which goes out for a goal kick. Swindon come down the left and into the box, Pereira treads on the back of a boot, which comes off, the player goes down and the ref points to the spot. We don’t surround the ref, so the decision stands. Ollie Palmer takes, sends Davies the wrong way and we trail 0-1.
We win the ball in midfield put it over the top to Forster in the box and he’s tackled for a corner. It’s taken deep and Charlie Barker gets his head to it at the far post, but it just goes straight up and the Keeper claims. A good ball out from the back by Bajrami finds Brown who plays it on to Pereira who’s cross is put behind for a corner.
Swindon clear and attack themselves only for us to clear long. Loft does well to get on the end of it and hold it up and is fouled on the right about thirty-five yards out. We make two substitutions with Ade Adeyemo and Kabby Tshimanga coming on to replace Bajrami and Forster (who typically, having won November player of the month has probably his worst game of the season). The free kick is cleared back to Roles, and he puts it back in and Flint has a header, but straight at the keeper.
Loft does another excellent job harassing defenders and wins the ball and then a throw. It’s taken long by Barker and headed for a corner, which is cleared for a throw which comes back to Barker and his cross drifts out for a goal kick.
Swindon break and look to be in in goal but Dion Conroy does well to get back in and block the attempt. At the other end a Swindon player is down getting treatment. Another swift Swindon counterattack sees Davies have to make a smart save down low. Jay Williams gets a yellow card for preventing another Swindon break in midfield and we make two more substitutions with Gavan Holohan and Louie Watson coming on to replace Roles and Brown.
A ball down the right and Pereira puts another good cross in and Adeyemo connects at far post and forces a save. Then a ball down the left sees Adeyemo win a corner only for the offside flag to go up. The board goes up and there are eight added minutes.
Another ball into the box, a shot blocked and it spins for a corner. It’s taken deep, flicked clear and booted high into the stand. We’re keeping the ball in the Swindon half, a long throw from Barker is put behind for a corner which is headed clear. It’s put back in, we’re keeping the pressure on, and cross sees Barker on the end of it, but not enough power to trouble the keeper.
We are struggling to find that final quality ball or shot. Then Pereira is fouled twenty-five yards out just right of centre. Conroy pings it right to Barker and his cross is booted high over the stand and the ref blows for full time rather than let us take the corner and we’ve lost again. 0-1.
The players traipse over in dribs and drabs to applaud the away fans, but it’s a subdued atmosphere. The performance and heart were there; it’s that lack of quality at the end of moves which is killing us.
Despite the loss we stay twenty first in the table as Harrogate took a hammering from MK Dons.
The crowd is announced as 8,172 with there being 213 more subdued than usual away fans. Their loudest and most coherent chant was the ‘you’re not fit to referee’ after the overturned penalty decision.
Post match curry location was changed as I had a look at the originally planned one on the way to the ground and it was really a takeaway. The one I did go to gave me a Christmas cracker, not sure who I was meant to pull it with, even against myself I’d have lost. It was a good curry, but the journey home seems to take forever, a late train from Swindon saw me watch the Gatwick train pull away as I got there, and the journey always seems to take longer after a defeat.
I did the match part of this on my phone on the journey home, instead of killing myself heaving my laptop around to get it out as soon as possible as there’s no point in rushing as it will sit awaiting admin approval on the Facebook page for twelve hours or more whilst everyone else’s posts get published without impunity minutes after they add them.
Quiz time – Swindon Town won the League Cup back in 1969, but which other League Cup winning side (in all its guises/names) have we played this season?
Next up is Colchester United at home on Boxing Day, a long journey down from Morecambe that day to make it for that one after Christmas at my mum’s. In the meantime there is the small matter of Christmas Day, so happy Christmas to all those who celebrate.
Come on you reds.