Swindon drop crucial points
Two points went begging for Town in a score draw against Fleetwood, failing to capitalise on other misfortunes.
Billy Bodin fired The Robins into the lead on the stroke of half time, but Mark Helm replied with an individual effort early in the second half.
Ian Holloway named three changes to his side which made it consecutive victories last time out. Ollie Palmer, Michael Olakigbe, and Billy Kirkman all came into the starting eleven.
The visitors had the first effort at goal through some quick passing, opening Matthew Virtue to have a shot on the right hand side of the box, Ripley did well to match the low effort.
Fleetwood’s crossing strength came to the fore around the 15th minute, when they put Town under a spell of pressure. Ryan Tafazolli stabilised Town’s shaky defence, making sure to win his fair share of headers, and release the pressure.
Swindon would almost go the entire half without manufacturing an opportunity. Michael Olakigbe appeared a fish out of water on his unnatural right side, Ollie Palmer failed to meet the demands of the number ten role, and Ollie Clarke was badly missed in winning those second balls in midfield.
But then as so often can be the case in football, it changed in a flash, and I had to eat my words.
Michael Olakigbe, in injury time, burst to the byline and found Aaron Drinan at the back post. Drinan’s header was tipped on to the underside of the crossbar by Jay Lynch, but Billy Bodin was on hand to smash home the rebound.
It was far from a classic, but in contrast to recent first halves Swindon had the all-important lead.
Fleetwood levelled the contest in the 57th minute, with Swindon just switching off. Mark Helm, Fleetwood’s leading scorer, had licence to roam into the box and weave on to his right foot, later curling past Ripley. It was a fine individual effort, but a soft one to concede.
Swindon continued to struggle to create, with Ian Holloway calling on reinforcements such as Fletcher Holman.
Chances were at premium, and when one of Fleetwood’s substitutes, James Norwood, found room to fire at Ripley,
Swindon hearts were in their mouths. Town’s number one did well to stand strong and deny the veteran striker.
Desperate for a winner, Swindon applied a small amount of late pressure with a series of set pieces. The final one saw Connor Ripley enter the mix, proving that draws are no good for anybody at this point of the season.
With teams above dropping points, Swindon missed a huge opportunity to further their automatic promotion bid.
However, no complaints can be made, and it looks too like they’ll have little to offer in defence of failing to make the top three.
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