MATCH REPORT | Swindon Town 2-2 Morecambe

Swindon came into the match against Morecambe with an unchanged starting eleven following their 2-0 win last week against Walsall. Michael Flynn’s men were hoping to make it eight games unbeaten and three wins in a row.

First Half:

Right from the start Swindon went on the attack, winning a throw-in that was thrown to Charlie Austin, who had the first effort of the game deflected wide. The early stages showed signs of a repeat of the Walsall game, Morecambe were content to sit back and allow Swindon the ball. The Town players were being hunted down as soon as they progressed into the midfield.

The opening ten minutes went by with Swindon dominating the game and they were rewarded in the 12th minute when Dan Kemp made it 1-0 Swindon. The move was started by Austin who played a ball through to Jake Young whose perfect cross found Kemp who headed home from close range. 

Just moments later the hosts would have their first chance of the game from a corner that forced Murphy Mahoney into action, the ball fell to Jordan Slew who then should’ve scored but fired against the post. 

Following the opener Morecambe seemed to immediately take control of the game and the following few minutes saw them controlling the midfield and creating another chance when Donald Love broke down the right side and tried his luck forcing Tom Brewitt to clear. 

Swindon came close to making it 2-0 when Kemp played in Austin who attempted a chipped effort that went just wide. Morecambe would punish Swindon and level the game in the 31st minute, the home side countered with Tom Bloxham floating a ball to the back post and Jake Taylor was there to scramble the ball over the line. 

The home side kept going hoping to take the lead, John McKiernan had a shot deflected wide after being set up by Slew. The resulting corner saw Jacob Bedeaue head over, keeping the score level. 

The Morecambe spell would end with Kemp nearly retaking the lead, he played a beautiful one-two with Young before firing a shot at Stuart Moore. 

The half-time whistle would come and a great back-and-forth half that saw both sides find the net would come to an end.

Second Half:

Swindon had the first chance of the half; a corner found Uwakwe on the end of the box, he met the ball and fired forcing Moore to save. The second half continued the same way the first ended, Morecambe had their chance when Bloxham had the right side of the pitch to himself, sending a driven cross to Taylor but the striker wasted the chance. 

Yann Songo’o would go into the book for a foul on Frazer Blake-Tracy, moments later Kemp would charge into the box and be hacked down by Songo’o moments after receiving a yellow, he got himself sent off and Swindon won a penalty.

Austin fired past Moore restoring Swindon's lead. Following the goal Swindon looked to kill the game, Young and Remeao Hutton would both have chances with the latter close to making it three. 

The red card had clearly impacted the ten men of Morecambe who were just chasing the ball around with little of the intensity that had hurt Swindon. It should have been three when Austin found free space down the right, he tried to find Kemp in the centre but a brilliant recovery effort denied him.

With 15 minutes to go the game looked to be going only one way and the visitors continued their search for that killer third goal, Hutton's attempt on goal deflected off of a Morecambe man and looked destined to go in, but a fine save from Moore kept Morecambe on life support. 

The home side struck in the 80th minute, a quintuple change from Morecambe immediately paid off. Love was able to find substitute Ethan Walker who managed to squeeze a shot in at the near post, making it 2-2.

Walker had revived the home side and he nearly gave them the lead, the substitute aimed a powerful shot at Mahoney's goal from outside the area, forcing the keeper to push the ball behind. 

Swindon recovered from the blow of going level well and the final ten minutes saw them try and find any way to breach the Morecambe defence. Try as they might, Swindon could not find the winning goal and the game would end 2-2.

Summary:

Michael Flynn’s men will be bitterly disappointed to not win against ten men. 

Despite remaining unbeaten in the league it could have been so much more. Swindon will need to settle for nothing less than a win in a week's time when they play host to Grimsby Town.