It was a great day out with the right result and plenty of singing on the coach on the way back . The coach expertly organised by entrepreneur Louis . Nothing was too much trouble for Mr L , any problems , hassles , arguments , we’re all sorted . I have never been to Swindon and there was great excitement on the way down as some supporters couldn’t wait to see the ‘ Roundabout ‘ . I assumed this was some sort of tourist attraction and was told it was actually called the “ Magic Roundabout “ . Having got to the ground I eagerly dashed off the coach and sprinted across the car park towards the attraction . I expected to see giant posters of Dougall the Dog and Zeberdee but was disappointed to see five mini roundabouts in a rather bizarre formation creating congestion and chaos . I used to be a driving instructor a long time ago and how you would instruct a learner to deal with one roundabout never mind five in one go is beyond me ! Standing at that roadside I was quickly ushered along to the Merlin Inn for a pre match drink and snack . Good pub there , plenty of Sky Sports going on , golf and a footy match between Slough and Ebbsfleet . Anyway onto the Swindon v County game . I enjoyed the match , I have never seen a penalty and a sending off in the first thirty seconds of a game , ever . This was a bitter sweet moment for both sets of fans . The Swindon fans barracked the referee Mr Young , they did that all match , then their main stand roared their approval as the penalty was saved . County fans were delighted with the penalty decision , which was spot on and then we were all a bit disappointed at Paddy Maddens penalty kick was fairly weak instead of blasting it down the middle as Harry Kane did recently against Italy , and also Will Collar against Rochdale . A lot of these league two games sometimes just need that bit of quality and we got that when Rydel made a great run , a quality ball in and a superb finish from Croasdale . I thought Croasdale had a good game , he is on a bit of a purple patch at the moment , Wootton worked hard and was unlucky with two great headers , Wright and Knowle put good shifts in , Evans did pretty well , I would give Lemon Head a run perhaps ? Hinchcliffe had nothing to do all game . Charlie Austin for Swindon had no service and did nothing and only lasted forty five minutes . Am a bit concerned though about all our injuries with Byrne hobbling off although Lewis did ok , I would imagine it will be Lewis and Johno against Salford on Friday ? Anyway we won the game , all the top teams , apart from Leyton Orient , are all wobbling a bit , Stevenage lost again , Carlisle up and down , we still have a chance for the top three , but our injuries may cost us . A very happy bunch of County fanactics on the coach trip home plenty of singing , this time we had impressions of Michael Jackson , ABBA , Madonna and a mediocre attempt of John Denver . Next time why not try the song by Starship , “ Built this City with rock and roll “ , a really good travel song , let’s have that next time please folks !
That was the worse penalty that I’ve ever witnessed a County player take. It was a powder puff attempt at putting the ball in the back of the net and had it been converted then we may have been 3 nil up by HT. Despite the booking I thought Lewis improved as the game wore on. Hussey was his usual self particularly in the first half of when going forward slows up and pegs the ball backwards.
On to Salford and if memory serves a team that have yet to beat us. It will be interesting to see what players will be fully fit and available for Friday’s fixture.
Don’t think it was worse than the Hippolyte effort a few weeks ago Paddy’s effort was right in the corner but lacked power - the keeper guessed correctly - it was a decent save - and thankfully it was not decisive
I always feel our lads lack confidence at EP instead of having just the opposite with 9 to 10k County supporters there egging them on …
Most of them have played at home to “acclimatise “ themselves to the crowd but … it’s as if the home crowd isn’t an advantage which to my way of thinking is weird..
I come to the conclusion that scoring goals in the first 10/20 minutes is a priority to settle the team down and boost their confidence..
Just a thought …. 😀 Make new friends but keep the old …
on 26/3/2023, 10:07 pm
