Match Report: Swindon vs Morecambe

Swindon vs Morcambe
Saturday 31st August 2019
Swindon Town: 3, Morcambe: 1

An explosive first half display was enough to give Swindon the three points as they beat Morecambe 3-1 at the County Ground.

The opening ten minutes saw Swindon dominate possession and as a reward they opened the scoring in the 5th minute. A deflected Keshi Anderson shot found its way through to town striker Eoin Doyle who smartly finished through the legs of the Morecambe keeper.

Despite Swindon having most of the possession they were punished in the 13th minute. Danny Rose got caught in possession on the half way line and Morecambe quickly advanced up the pitch they then completed the move when Lewis Alessandra slotted past Luke McCormick. Morecambe three minutes later found themselves again in on Town's goal as Luke McCormick prevented the hosts from falling behind as he produced a good save from a shot after Town gave the ball away again. From the resulting corner Morecambe had another good chance but their shot sailed well wide of McCormick's goal.

In the 17th minute Town had their second of the day after a beautiful team move was rounded off by the returning Jerry Yates as he scored his third in three games. Then four minutes later Swindon got their third after some stepovers and some skillful dribbling by town winger Lloyd Isgrove resulted in him beating his man and finding a delightful cross to Eoin Doyle who found the goal with a lovely header. For the rest of the first half there was little to shout about. Lloyd Isgrove had a shot saved at the near post and Keshi Anderson fired his free kick straight into the wall. As the first half drew to a close a Morecambe corner caused McCormick to punch away. The ball quickly came back in but a Morecambe header flew over the bar. Half time 3-1.

The second half struggled to match the first half with Town looking a bit sleepy and their touches were loose. In the attacking phase they struggled to get out of first gear but with the game already done this was understandable. The chance of the half for Swindon came when Lloyd Isgrove cut a corner to the edge of the penalty area but Eoin Doyle failed to convert a difficult chance as his shot went over the bar. Meanwhile Morecambe had their best chance in the 70th minute as they swung a ball into the box and it found its way through to Steven Old but he failed to convert into the open goal from 2 yards out. For the rest of the second half Swindon managed the game well as they kept possession well and restricted Morecambe to only a handful of half  chances.

The game finished 3-1 and it was a good result for Town who always have a tendency to struggle against lower ranked teams. And Eoin Doyle has now become top scorer in the league despite only being a Swindon player for four games which of course is a huge positive for Town.

This report has been compiled by our 14-year-old football correspondent Alfie Howlett.