Swindon Town 2 Gillingham 2

Match 18/13/1045 - Saturday, 24th August 2013 - League One

Swindon Town (1) 2 Byrne 12, Thompson 70
Gillingham (1) 2 Kedwell 18, McDonald 85
Att. 7,520

Entrance: £19 Senior
Programme: £3
Mileage: 272/1,369

Match Report

It was a sorry set of statistics to take into any fixture, no win at the County Ground for 31 years and not even a point since 1987. Despite the slight lift of confidence brought about by the spirited draw against Brentford, hopes were not high that the Swindon bogey could be laid to rest.

The rivalry that has existed between the clubs since the infamous clashes of 1979 has generated an atmosphere that has not been conducive to a pleasant visit in the past, but on this occasion, it appeared that some of the heat is beginning to finally subside from this fixture.

Ex-Newcastle United striker, Nile Ranger, the subject of a charge of rape to which he has pleaded not guilty in his initial court appearance, was a sitting target for abuse and this deflected the majority of the customary "banter" between the two sets of supporters.

The day had begun badly with a painful journey around the M25 that added the best part of an hour to the journey, it picked up with the best fish and chips consumed within the vicinity of a football ground for some while and ended happily with a well-earned point from another improved performance.

Martin Allen kept faith with the team that had performed admirably against Brentford and had an early chance to open the scoring when Adebayo Akinfenwa shot narrowly wide of the right hand post but it was the hosts that took the lead after 12 minutes.

Swindon employed an out-and-out winger in Alex Pritchard and positioned Jay McEveley almost as wide behind him. This twin threat curtailed Michael Harriman's adventurous nature from full back and he required continual help to counter the threat. Pritchard was the initial provider for the goal, with Nathan Byrne bundling the ball into the net from close range following a cross.

Any thoughts that the long throw into the box routine that worked well in League Two might be a bit agricultural for the division above were dispelled when Chris Whelpdale hurled a throw to the near post and Danny Kedwell rose highest to glance the ball past Wes Foderingham. It was simple, effective and surprising that it worked.

Gillingham were struggling to contain the wing play that was being serviced from midfield by Ryan Harley and Stuart Nelson was called upon a trio of times to make saves before on the half-hour a fierce free kick from Charlie Lee was spilt by Foderingham, who recovered to smother Kedwell's attempt from the rebound.

For much of the opening 25 minutes of the second half, Gillingham more than held their own, although Harley was continuing to be difficult to contain and from his cross in the 69th minute Nathan Thompson scored at the far post to give the home side a barely deserved lead.

Cody McDonald was introduced for Akinfenwa straight away and he injected pace to the front line. Five minutes from the end, a Swindon attack was broken up by a long clearance from Leon Legge and McDonald raced clear of Grant Hall before steadying himself in the box to shoot past Foderingham to the absolute delight of the 452 travelling supporters.

At the final whistle, there was further evidence that the animosity is not considered such a threat when, on leaving the ground, we were not greeted with the ring of police of previous years. It was a quiet, untroubled walk back to the car with an inner satisfaction from another improved performance and whilst it is still 31 years since victory was tasted at the County Ground, at least the other sorry statistic was consigned to the bin.

Swindon Town 3 Gillingham 1

Match 40/09/792 - Saturday, 16th January 2010 - League One

Swindon Town (1) 3 Austin 37, Cuthbertson 51, Paynter (pen) 73
Gillingham (0) 1 Palmer 87
Att. 6,773

Entrance: £22
Programme: £3
Mileage: 268/5,040

Match Report

Winter loosened its icy grip on the nation and a superb effort from the Swindon Town ground staff allowed Gillingham to contest their first game of 2010 on a much better than expected surface at the County Ground.

Sadly, the new year brought more of the same in terms of away performance as the visitors slumped to their 11th league defeat on the road out of 13. Keeping faith with the formation that earned only their second away point at Exeter over the Christmas period, Mark Stimson chose to leave fit again Curtis Weston and Febian Brandy on the bench.

Undone by a neat turn and strike, albeit with the aid of poor marking, from Charlie Austin, Gillingham probably felt hard-done-by to enter the break a goal in arrears. They had enjoyed their share of possession and created a couple of reasonable half chances. As early as the fourth minute Simeon Jackson shot wide and also hit a post on the half hour. Moments before half time a stabbed effort from Stuart Lewis rolled agonisingly wide as the visitors failed to gain half time parity.

Expectations that may have been raised by an evenly contested first half were quickly dashed as the home side went further ahead in the 51st minute. A corner from the left, taken by Jon-Paul McGovern travelled a long way to beyond the back post where it was met by a looping header from Scott Cuthbertson that crept in at the far stick. As with the opening goal, questions have to be asked of the defence as the Swindon full back had oceans of space in which to pick his spot.

The home side were now buoyant and dominating proceedings. Off the pitch, the vocal element of the Gillingham support, which had spent the vast majority of their efforts baiting the home support rather than supporting their own, now turned on their team and manager. Febian Brandy’s introduction was greeted with rousing cheers as much for the substitution of Kevin Maher as the diminutive striker’s entrance and Curtis Weston entered the fray at the expense of one of Gillingham’s better performers, Stuart Lewis.

Brandy brought about a upsurge in the tempo drawing a couple of fouls from defenders harassed by his pace and trickery, but, in truth, the goalkeeper was not being tested with only an off target effort by Rashid Yussuff deserving of his attention.

Swindon put the game beyond the reach of the visitors when a foul by Mark Bentley on Vincent Pericard allowed Billy Paynter to seal the game from the penalty spot. At this point the depressing scoreline and the woeful second half performance had this particular blogger eyeing the exit. Even those thoughts were brought to a close with a stadium announcement that Gillingham fans were to be kept behind after the game.

Why this age-old hostility continues to inconvenience the law-abiding citizens of both clubs when the vast majority of the protagonists were merely a twinkle in their father’s eyes in the days of Ray McHale and Ken Price is beyond me. But I suppose I have them to thank for keeping me in my position to see Chris Palmer’s well struck consolation from the edge of the box to score his first goal for the Gills.

The County Ground is a functional but tired looking stadium. The visiting support of around 450 was housed in a corner of the Arkells Stand which was a blessing as, despite the upturn in the weather, the open to the elements seating behind the goal looked particularly uninviting, much the same as, errrr, the Brian Moore Stand. Opposite the Arkells is a modern stand taking the name of Swindon legend Don Rogers. Being a football stadium traditionalist it was nice to see the old fashioned floodlight pylons remain, but whether it was an optical illusion or fact, they didn’t appear to be pointing in the direction of the pitch, more so down the touchlines and the front rows of the stands and I have to say that the illumination of the pitch seemed to confirm my viewpoint.

Sadly the light at the end of Gillingham’s away day tunnel is just as dim.