| I left home today in bright sunshine, dressed for the weather - short-sleeved shirt, three-quarter length trousers - when I arrived in Swindon for the match an hour later, it was absolutely hammering down. As I queued for a ticket, with the rain beating down on my face and getting in my eyes, I pondered on what a plank I must look. With some of the looks I was getting from people dressed up for the winter, I think some may have agreed with me.\r\n\r\nForest started the match, but it was Swindon who had the better of the opening ten minutes or so. Summerbee had the first effort of the game - a typical low drive from 35 yards, reminiscent of some of the shots he had in a Town shirt over a decade ago - which was well held by Pedersen. For once, and despite Fallon being in the starting line-up to aim for, the Town were keeping the ball on the floor, and it looked quite good.\r\n\r\nAs the half progressed though, Forest began to take control of the game, and though they were creating little in the way of chances, they certainly looked the more threatening. The big centre forward pairing of Dobie and Taylor were causing problems for Ifil and O`Hanlon - and both were giving away plenty of free-kicks, though to be fair, O`Hanlon was winning his fair share also. Ifil was guilty of conceding one on the edge of the penalty area, but the chance was harmlessly deflected away by the wall. Forest were also winning corner after corner - at one stage, they had six in the space of a five minute spell - though all were adequately dealt with by the defence.\r\n\r\nIt was therefore somewhat of a surprise when Swindon took the lead on the half-hour, through Rory Fallon. A ball was played through from midfield, and both Nicolau and Fallon managed to spring the offside trap - though in my opinion Nicolau was offside, Fallon wasn`t. For a moment, they both threatened to get in each other`s way, but Fallon took the initiative, collecting the ball on the edge of the area before slamming it past the onrushing keeper. It was a good finish, and he celebrated with a Klinsmann dive in front of the South Stand. The goal atoned for a miss just minutes previously, when Fallon had latched onto an appalling 50 yard attempted back pass from a Forest midfielder, only to drag a shot wide from 25 yards, when he really should have done better - the keeper stranded in the middle of his area.\r\n\r\nIt wasn`t long before Forest were back on level terms. Evans saved two efforts from Commons well, but it was bad defending that lead to the goal. A long crossed ball into the box left Collins having to mark two attackers - and after a bit of a bundle with Taylor, the ball broke to Commons, who slotted the ball past Evans. It was a bit of a messy goal to concede, and afterwards Evans was obviously incensed with something - perhaps a handball from Taylor. Personally, I`d question how Collins was left with two players to mark in the penalty area, and it was probably no more than Forest deserved - that was pretty much it for the half.\r\n\r\nIf the first half was Forest`s, the second was undoubtedly Swindon`s. To start, it seemed like the half would go in much the same way as the first - early on, bad marking from a Forest corner resulted in a free header for Taylor, who managed to miss the target - but Breckin redirected the header with one of his own, the ball bouncing off the top of the crossbar. It was a bit of a let-off, but the only effort I can remember Forest having in the second half. \r\n\r\nSwindon gradually got back into the game, but much like Forest in the first half, didn`t really create anything of note. It needed a change, and with twenty minutes to go, King made a double substitution - amazingly doing exactly what I would have - took off Cureton for Roberts, and Summerbee for Shakes, though not before the fourth official confused everyone by holding up the board saying number 96 was being substituted. Also around this period, David Johnson was brought on for Fo |
Swindon Town 2 Nottingham Forest 1
Posted - 13 Aug 2005 : 22:08:49
