Swindon 3rds 3 – 2 Bath Buccs F

...but they didn’t make it all that easy for themselves to start with. There was a pretty pumped up team talk from Captain Alex Hynes before the game, asking for us to be switched on and give it everything from the off - we did the opposite. The first goal came within 30 seconds after the opposition push back. About four passes was all it took to move the ball down the right hand side of the pitch, along the baseline and into the D with a well timed run-in tip by Mr Barron – an ex Swindon 1st team member.

Swindon woke up after this hiccup and begun to string the passes together, forcing many good saves from the Buccs keeper. The pressure soon tolled with the home side earning themselves a short corner. Alex Hynes injected another steaming ball to the top, where Will Porter perfectly cushioned the ball out and back into the D, finished off with a pure strike by T-Rob to bring the scores level at 1-1.

The game settled down with both teams enjoying decent spells of possession. Before long though, Buccs broke what had been a fairly solid Swindon back line, leaving the attacker with a one on one with the keeper. Tom Kerslake read the situation well and set off from his line early, logging / two footed chopping the ball to safety.

The half time whistle went and Swindon would have settled for 1-1 after their disastrous start. But Captain Al gave another one of his rousing team talks where we all knew what was coming; the request for stepping it up another gear. Step it up again we did!

Swindon dominated at the beginning of the second half and a second Swindon goal was soon to follow. The ball was fired into the D by Andrew, Phil took a swing and missed with the ball going between his legs (call it a dummy if you wish but it wasn’t) with T-Rob slotting home his second.

Buccs mid way through the second half applied some pressure themselves earning themselves a few short corners; one of which took a rather nasty deflection with pace off of the stick of James Newman, mid height to the keepers side but was kept out by a reaction save with a quickly rising right knee.

Swindon’s third and final goal came from new recruit Phil who has been on top form so far. Swindon were initially on a breakaway, again forcing the Buccs keeper to pull off a decent save. The ball was not cleared though and there was a scramble for the loose ball. Eventually the ball popped out from under the keeper with Phil jabbing the loose ball in.

Buccs really pressed hard in the closing stages of the game and to their credit did not stop pressing until the final whistle. Their pressure paid off, earning themselves a short corner. It was not the prettiest of short corners and there was a slight panic at the top of the D when the ball got to the young striker. To some peoples confusion the ball was fed out wide to the right, which was then fired back into the D very well timed deflection, again by Mr Barron, leaving the keeper no chance.

In all it was another excellent team performance by the thirds. There were a few people in completely new positions, all of whom fulfilled their roles well. Swindon remained disciplined throughout and kept their heads up throughout the more difficult spells of the games, characteristics which will be vital for our next few games. They are going to be tough!