Match Report: Swindon Town FC 0-0 Accrington

Quality and goals were in short supply at The County Ground on Saturday with Swindon and Accrington playing out a drab stalemate.

The meeting brought the 15th and 20th placed teams in the division together in a contest which held very few stakes. Swindon named four changes to the team which enjoyed a classic against Cheltenham the previous weekend, with Sobowale, Cain, Ofoborh, and Glatzel all entering the frame. Two previous games against the opposition in league and cup had already brought consecutive 2-2 draws.

There was very little to write home about in the first quarter of an hour with neither team able to settle on the ball. Swindon needed a period in possession to assert their authority and they soon found it. A nice pattern of build-up play brought Town their first corner after Gavin Kilkenny had a goal-bound effort deflected. But we’d complete a pretty dismal half an hour with only a handful of half chances to show for it.

With 33 minutes on the clock, Accrington gave the woodwork a workout. Josh Woods found the frame of Connor Ripley following a free kick, but Town’s keeper did enough to turn the ball on to the post. Swindon would follow with an attempt of their own, Paul Glatzel latched first time on to a ball over the top and saw his effort trickle agonisingly wide past the post.

A pretty gruesome first half would come to a close with the sides level, although Swindon did have a goal wrongfully chalked off, with the referee deeming a direct route one goal too physical. Unfortunately, the irony was lost, Accrington had been the most dirty and disruptive team to play at SN1 all season.

Unlike most performances under Ian Holloway, a bad first half would be followed by an equally poor second half. Both sets of players were unable to find any sort of rhythm or final ball, making for some pretty dismal viewing.

Swindon carved their best opportunity of the contest two minutes shy of the hour mark. Tom Nichols headed a cross into the path of Harry Smith who caught it cleanly on the volley but found the throat of William Crellin in goal. Accrington would match that with a chance of their own. When the ball broke to Alex Henderson on the edge of the box the goal was gaping, but fortunately Henderson matched the quality of the game as he shanked his effort into the Town End.

Gavin Kilkenny was gracing a classless game with his quality, and he nearly went one better in assisting the opener. The midfielder plucked a high ball from the sky and took it into his stride, then he drove it across goal only for Harry Smith’s incredibly near post flick to be saved.

Substitute Joe Westley nearly created something from nothing when he spun his man from a throw in and fired a pop shot which had Crellin scrambling back to save. Later on Harry Smith came close to executing a clinical counterattack in injury time only to see his effort blocked for a corner. Danny Butterworth found a similar result after a mazy dribble and shot which Crellin juggled and claimed on the second attempt.

So, despite plenty of huff and puff neither team were good enough as the game finished goalless. It was Town’s fourth stalemate of the season. They’ll be hoping to get back to winning ways with a trip to relegation-threatened Morecambe next.