Home to Banbury

Match Report > Click Here

I was delighted with the result, especially after going behind and conceding a goal against the run of play in the first 10 minutes.

To be honest, we should have been in front before Banbury took the lead, but made up for it with the strike from Steve Gentle and then the one from Matt Haniver. Both were obviously good goals, and Steve’s strike gave him plenty of confidence, and I thought he was a handful for their defence for most of the evening.

We’ve seen Matty strike a goal like that before when we played Kettering last season, so we know he is capable of such things. I told our full backs to get into advance positions to expose the pattern of play that Banbury were adopting, so it was good that Matty took heed of that and it was a memorable goal.

I was pleased we kept David Stone quiet. He is a quality player, and was one that I was after last season, but unfortunately he was not ready to leave Rugby when I enquired as to his availability. Make no mistake about it though, Banbury are a decent side, and put us under considerable pressure at times, and I thought we handled that pressure well.

That said, I would have liked us to keep the ball a bit better in the second half where I felt we looked a bit leggy. This is probably due to two high intensity games in 48 hours, which the players haven’t been used to for a while, and also the fact that some of the players are still coming back to full fitness after suffering pre-season injuries.

I’m pleased that John Fenbo has come to us from Chelmsford. He’s a clever player and a good finisher at this level. He is with us on non-contract terms.

The issue with Antonio Murray has been put to bed. He signed and played for Chelmsford last night, so we can rule him out coming to City.

Obviously we were without Scott Neilson, who would have probably had a field day, but I thought Pat Bexfield came in and did an excellent job for us. We will wait and see how Scott progresses this week at Bradford to see if he will be available for us on Saturday.

Looking ahead to Saturday, and as I said after the Oxford game, we will be without Dave Theobald who is unavailable, so maybe Laurie Stewart will come in. Whoever plays in the centre of defence will need to be alert to Swindon’s front two of Griffin and Barnes who are both excellent players.

Injury wise, Matt Haniver is experiencing some tightness in his hamstring, but that is probably just the number of games. Tom Pepper is still a week away from getting fit, but we really don’t want to rush him back in case he breaks down and prolongs his injury further. Adie Cambridge and Steve Gentle both have routine knocks, but I’m confident they will overcome them by the weekend.

Swindon have the luxury of having a big squad, and have plenty of quality and I expect them to go well this season but, the reality is that we have made an excellent start and there is plenty of confidence in the squad at the moment.

The crowd can always play their part, and although it maybe disappointing not to have had more in the ground, we had almost the same amount for the Corby game which we started with last season. It’s all about winning games. If we can continue to do that, and with the style we play, then we have to be confident that more people will come and watch.

Finally, I thought the Milton Road pitch looks excellent, and is a credit to the club.