SWINDON TOWN 2

FOREST GREEN 0

Opinion

Swindon won their first home game since early December when they followed up Saturday’s excellent away win with an impressive victory over top six side Forest Green Rovers writes Peter Mitchell.

As we expected, Rovers moved the ball around well, but didn’t pose any real threat to Town in the first half.

Swindon were looking the more dangerous and so it was proved, after 36 minutes, when Kaiyne Woolery received a pin-point through ball from Theo Robinson to drive home a powerful angled shot off the post from the edge of the area.

Robinson marked his home debut in style just before half time.

After a super piece of ball control by Keshi Anderson, Robinson cut inside and finished well with a low drive into the corner.

In the second half the visitors were far more dominant and carved out several chances, with Lawrence Vigouroux responding with a couple of excellent saves.

However, plenty of mass defending and timely blocks, enabled Swindon to see the game out fairly comfortably in the end.

Why they played so deep for most of the second half, and didn’t put more pressure on the Rovers’ defence was puzzling.

Defending corners Town didn’t post a single man on the half way line, leaving the green shirts to push men forward even more.

Robinson’s late departure, to be replaced briefly by Marc Richards, was probably one of the slowest exits from the field I can remember, and even involved him hugging the referee.

But this was an impressive performance by the new man, with his clever linking play, constant running and a class finish.

In a nice tribute to former manager Danny Williams, there was a burst of sustained applause on 69 minutes to acknowledge his link to the famous 1969 Wembley Triumph.

Swindon move up to tenth place with this win, and are only five points outside a play-off spot.

The recent momentum will now be put on hold as their next game, home to Grimsby, isn’t for ten days.

Whether this enforced break will prove a welcome one or not remains to be seen, but the signs are definitely there that Richie Wellens is beginning to get the performances and results that the fans are hoping for.