Swindon Town: The race for the Play-Offs

Hello everyone and thanks for taking the time to read my latest post.

Five games to go in then in the race for a play off spot and our first of four games in April was a trip to the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster. Before the end of the loan transfer window I picked up attacking  winger Tomas Kupisz from Wigan until the end of the season. Tomas made an immediate impact finding Zamblera after 8 minutes to give us an early lead. Brandy who was on fire had loads of chances in the first half and finally made one count to double our lead. Doncaster pulled one back before half time and after the interval took the game by the scruff of the neck and we found ourselves on the back foot. We eventually succumbed to a 35 yard effort as Doncaster tied the game but just as it looked like another draw until substitute Sneijder picked out Brandy who delicately chipped the ball over the Doncaster keeper to score the winning goal.

Our second game of the month was home to Cardiff City who were a couple of points behind us and in play off contention. A rousing locker room talk before the kick off paid dividends as we took the game to Cardiff and scored two goals in the first twenty minutes through Brandy and Zamblera, both having tormented the Cardiff defense every which way. The tables were turned on us in the second half and although we defended well we couldn’t keep out two thirty yard efforts from Chopra in the space of two minutes to tie the game. Fortunately the draw did not affect our  standing in the table and we’ve held onto third place.

The following Saturday was a trip up to mid table Coventry and we were in pretty confident to take all three points. The first half was a very dull affair with neither side being able to produce anything. The second half exploded when Coventry took the lead 5 minutes after the interval and they continued to bombard our goal mouth to which we seemingly unable to do anything about. Finally we got a chance when Sichi managed to centre a ball from the right flank which Brandy headed home to make 1-1. Zamblera then hit the bar 2 minutes later and so we had to settle for another draw our 17^th of the season!

Next up was our final home game of the regular season and a chance to secure a play off place with the visit of Preston. The team was fully fit and ready to go. The game started briskly and we set up shop in the heart of the Preston defense with Zamblera, Brandy and Munoz all going close in the first 5 minutes. Zamblera finally gave us the lead after 22 minutes when Beardsley played a fine ball along the right flank to Kupisz who cut inside to Brandy who then squared it to Zamblera to slot home. Eleven minutes later Preston tied the game as the back four decided to play the ball around amongst themselves instead of clearing it like they are suppose to and one pass too many created the chance for Preston. After the interval we set up base camp out side the Preston penalty area creating chances for almost everyone on the team and finally from a corner kick Kupisz latched onto a poor clearance to fire home what would be the winning goal 6 minutes from time. After the final whistle our play off spot was confirmed with Everton and Wigan getting promoted. Do I now rest my best players for the final game and save them for the play-offs?

After much deliberating I decided to sacrifice league position over players and so rested the regular starting eleven for the game against Sheffield United. Fabio Zamblera who had been outstanding for us returned to Newcastle as we were only able to get him on a short term loan so I’m hoping Tomas Peckhart will be fully fit again for the play offs having been injured for several months. With a strange looking starting eleven we fell behind to Sheffield after only 18 seconds and I was expecting an avalanche of goals after that. However the team kept there heads and defended well even after Kerra Gilbert was sent off which meant playing with a lone striker in Sissoko. Sheffield forward Ched Evans managed to turn fouling into an art form throughout the game and somehow stayed on the field which I was a bit aggrieved about. That early goal turned out to be the only one of the game and surprisingly as other results went our way our final position was a remarkable 3^rd place. We will now face Birmingham in the play offs with the first game at St. Andrews.

Results at a glance

Final Top Ten Standings: Coca Cola Championship

Relegated Teams: Coca Cola Championship

So that’s it for the regular season and astonishingly we held onto our play off spot which I’m more than delighted about. Everton and Wigan always looked like they were to return to the Premier League whilst the chasing pack were involed in close affair to secure a play off position.