Swindon Town: March 2011

Authors Note:

I did play the game more than usual last weekend and got ahead of myself compared to postings. In retrospect I should have done a «Winter Report» last time which included March as well. And yes in Canada, March is still considered winter.

Thanks for taking the time to read what is to come..

Our opening game in March was against second place Wigan and I was expecting a hard time of it. I decided to close them down them right from the start combined with a more direct style of football as well as using Munoz as an anchorman. This made an impact straight away with us winning the ball in midfield and setting up several chances that forced Kirkland to pull off a number of dramatic saves in the Wigan goal. The second half played out much the same way until we were awarded a free kick on the right flank that substitute Rodney Sneijder curled beautifully into the top corner of the net to the delight of the home fans and an unlikely 3 points won.

With a week off we were well rested for our trip to London to face Crystal Palace who were the last of the four play off contenders. Febian Brandy finally ended his eight hour goal drought putting us ahead 16 minutes thanks to some good link up play between Mellis and Zamblera. It should have been two-nil moments later but Brandy put the ball well wide after intercepting a back pass. Palace equalized just on the stroke of half time when we fell victim to a poor offside decision because the assistant referee failed to keep up with play. The second half produced chances for both sides but no goals though I was happy to come away with a point.

A Tuesday night game was next, and the visit of Plymouth Argyle. The day before I had terminated Rhys Murphy’s loan and Arsenal had sent Harris Vuckic as a straight replacement. We pressured Plymouth right from the kick off with Mellis and Munoz both setting up fine chances for Brandy who was unlucky to hit the woodwork twice. However, it was Munoz’s well timed through ball that found Zamblera who fired home with some real venom to give us the lead. As much as we tried we couldn’t add to the tally until Scott Cuthburt’s long clearance found Zamblera again who scored an identical goal to the first. A useful 3 points as the battle for the play off spots is very fierce.

The final game of the month was a trip to the City Ground, Nottingham which turned out to be a frustrating afternoon. We fell behind after only 10 minutes when from a corner kick left back Geoffry Adjet decided not to take up his set defensive position on the goal line but stand on the half way line instead. This created a huge space in front of goal so 1-0 Forest. We did have a harder time closing down Forest and allowed them lots of scoring opportunities whilst at the other end we were failing to get anything into the box. Finally though Mellis picked out Brandy in the 84^th minute and he duly placed the ball home for the equalizer. Once again we were happy to come away with a draw.

March Results at a glance

Current Top Ten: Coca Cola Championship

We made it through the month unbeaten and are back into third spot in this topsy turvy race for a play off place. It’s going to be a «Grandstand» finish for sure!