Both sides could have scored within seconds of the restart. City started with a fine attack, Morgan Rogers delivering a killer ball across the area with nobody arriving. As Swindon cleared their lines, Pitman saw Palmer off his line and lifted a looping ball at goal which saw the stopper scrambling to palm it away for a corner.
Despite a positive start, we still couldn’t find a rhythm though, with misplaced passes and bad decisions littering the passages of play. An avoidable corner earned by Jack Payne caused panic at one stage, with Montsma seemingly heading the ball off the line.
The chances stopped flowing for a while after that, the most significant moment coming when Bramall came off for Edun. Tayo’s introduction gave City a fresh impetus, and he was involved in a half-chance almost as soon as he stepped on the field. Edun has been the most improved player over the course of the season and doubtless, many will be pointing at him for Man of the Match this evening.
City certainly seemed to get a fresh spring in their step, and Scully had another shot on target on 58 minutes, although it had all the venom of a basket of newborn kittens as it trickled through to Wollacott. The keeper might have been lulled into a false sense of security because a minute later he was picking the ball out of the back of the net. The goal came from nothing, Rogers collecting the ball 30-odd yards from goal and bursting forward, before driving a low shot from range. The keeper should have done better, but he saw it late and couldn’t stop it going inside his right-hand post. To be fair to Rogers, he did look dangerous in spells and he’s certainly ensuring he is amongst the goals at the moment.
That should have been the catalyst for us to go on and win the game, but a lethargic and tired City continued to beat themselves. Just past the hour mark a back pass by Jackson slipped under Palmer’s boot, and instead of busting a gut to keep the ball in, he remonstrated with his defender. The resulting corner saw Payne slice horribly over, but it was another chance of our own making. Maybe Palmer couldn’t have got the ball, but it just pointed at frustration on everyone’s part. We weren’t playing well, and everyone on the field knew it as much as we did at home.
I’m as happy as the next man about our league position, but this was a tired performance with one or two barely looking committed. A couple of times players shirked 50/50 challenges, and when we did string five passes together, the sixth almost inevitably saw the ball given away. Grant had a surprising off-day, and if the player pivoting the midfield doesn’t play well, the whole team suffers.
Still, City had a decent chance on 65 minutes, Tom Hopper working hard to play the ball out to Scully, whose delivery was neither a cross nor a shot. Scully has been excellent in recent weeks, but he had a tough time on the right this evening and was often caught making bad decisions or executing poorly.
If it wasn’t slack passes from City, it was silly fouls, and twice we gave Swindon the chance to get an effort off from the edge of the area. Firstly, Jack Payne had his standing leg taken 20-yards from goal, and Scott Twine teed up an effort, which Palmer saved superbly.
A minute later, a delivery from the right was flicked on by Jonathon Grounds, only for Pitman to get a weak touch and send the ball wide. The veteran striker thought he should have had a corner, and he might have had a point. From the goal kick, City swept up field and produced a carbon-copy effort, Johnson delivering from the wide area and Hopper getting a deft touch to send the ball wide.
The game certainly picked up pace and within a minute, City gave away another silly free kick in a good area. This time Twine was relieved of his dead-ball duties, Pitman lined up the shot and went for power, not poise. Again, Palmer was equal to it as he looked to make up for his error just before half time.
City have been strong in the last 15 minutes of games, and as James Jones came on for McGrandles, you sensed we might get a late goal, but it wasn’t to be. Swindon seemed to be happy with ten minutes to go to slow the game down, and it resulted in few chances. A break on 80 minutes saw Johnson go down in the box, with no penalty given. It was the right decision, and he got to his feet to quickly find Scully, who again played a poor ball into the area. Swindon were incensed they had not been given a free kick on the edge of the area up the other end moments before, again probably the right decision.
Regan Poole came on for Eyoma late on, and he almost had a say in the final result. His delivery has looked good since he has arrived, and he put a great ball over with one minute left on the clock, which Swindon touched wide. The quick corner caught the iFollow replay team out, and it almost caught the visitor out. Grant cut the ball back from the touchline and really, City should have scored, but Jones didn’t get a clean strike and the ball went over.
Even with the impetus, we still seemed hellbent on self-destruction. Scully gave the ball away easily late on, which saw Swindon break menacingly and goalscorer Garrick get a dangerous shot away, which an Imps touched out for a corner. Thankfully, they wasted the corner and the game was done.
I have found it hard writing this report, because from start to finish we were poor and yet I don’t want to be a bandwagoner saying things must improve, etc, etc. Yes, our goals both came from moments of quality from Morgan Rogers, but it would be hard to say he, or any of his teammates, played particularly well. We looked jaded and tired at times, completely broken at others. Our passing patterns went out of the window, aside from a short spell after Edun came on, and to pick a Man of the Match would be tough. If anyone gets it, I think it would be Hopper, one of the only players who did play a sloppy pass all game that I can recall.
I can’t say that I am worried about the performance, but I do think there will be some harsh words from Michael in the dressing room because it was a dysfunctional City lacking purpose. As I alluded to earlier, I think one or two players were at 75% at best, not because of the passes, but pulling out of challenges, not chasing loose balls. Maybe it is fatigue, I certainly don’t think it is a lack of desire, but it did show at times.
The lads now have three days to recover, if that is anything like what they need, but these Tuesday/Saturday games are going to keep wearing the squad down. I felt without Bridcutt and Walsh we looked horribly uncertain at the back, and without options on the bench we didn’t have a change we could make to impact the game.
I don’t want to end on a low though, after all, we are still second in the table and we have to trust in the process and the direction the club is going in. We didn’t lose, it is one more point towards our total and as we always say, never too high when we win, never too low when we don’t. It is alright talking about home and away form, but in this uncertain season only one type of form matters – all form. In that respect, we are the second-best team in the division.
Nobody ever said this season would be easy, but take away all notion of performance, ask yourself if you’d have taken the position we’re in right now at the start of the season. The answer would undoubtedly have been yes, so we just pack this one up and move on to Plymouth away, another tough afternoon which might just suit us more than these so-called straightforward home ties.
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