MK Dons 2

Swindon Town 3

Swindon racked up their third consecutive away win with a very convincing and deserved victory against MK Dons, when they won by the odd goal in five, in a game highlighted by several outstanding quality finishes writes Peter Mitchell.

They made no less than five changes from the debacle against Crawley with new signings Theo Robinson and Danny Rose among the starters. Matt Taylor’s return as captain was unfortunately cut short when he sustained a calf injury and was subbed after only 26 minutes. Dion Conroy replaced the injured Luke Wolfenden and Kyle Knoyle made a welcome, and expected, reappearance at right back.

Town were on the front foot from the start and deservedly took the lead on 34 minutes when Michael Doughty won the ball from the Don’s defence and slotted home a superb shot placed to perfection. Swindon were full value for their half time lead with their three-pronged pacey attack, enhanced by Robinson, really stretching the home side on their expansive pitch.

Disappointment came on the hour mark when Town failed to close down Jake Hesketh and he curled home a super strike from outside the area. Swindon’s response was immediate when Keshi Anderson smashed home a long-range thunderbolt into the top corner, directly from the restart.

With 20 minutes left Kaiyne Woolery was brought down in the area when he raced onto a Robinson pass. Fortunately, Swindon’s Penalty King, Doughty, duly converted yet another kick, albeit in the cockiest manner possible, when he chipped the ball over the diving keeper.

The hosts changed to a strategy of long high balls for the remainder of the game and their proven striker Kieran Agard pulled one back near the end, to ensure Town endured a nervous five minutes of injury time. Although not overworked, Lawrence Vigouroux made two or three excellent saves when it really mattered.

The statistics were all on Swindon’s side this time as they managed to conjure up 18 shots, with 8 being on target.

There is no doubt that Richie Wellens is a really perceptive young manager with a broad understanding of the game. Now that he has his targets on board, he has already gauged their capabilities and decided that he has just twenty players, other than keepers, he considers good enough for his first team squad.

There are two or three players, who although having been told they are wanted by him for next season, are unwilling to go out on loan, in order to get game time and further their career prospects. Wellens is justifiably disappointed by this attitude, so it seems that at least three players will be training with the youth team for the foreseeable future.

Swindon’s next three games - all at home – will almost certainly determine whether they are going to be in a challenging position coming down the straight. The first one, on Tuesday, is a real challenge when they face local rivals and promotion chasers, Forest Green Rovers.

Finally, a few words about Danny Williams, who sadly passed away recently at the grand age of 94. Danny was undoubtedly Swindon’s most successful manager when he assembled and oversaw a side not just famous for their League Cup win over Arsenal in 1969, but also for winning promotion from Division Three that same season.

He had the ability to spot and secure good players – both youngsters and those towards the end of their careers - and managed to meld them into an attractive winning side with a brilliant team spirit.