Swindon Town match report - part two: player ratings

PLAYER RATINGS:
Davies 7: commanded the area well, occasionally doing a good job as ‘sweeper’ by coming well off his line and even out of his area to intercept. Caught crosses well on a day of strongish winds, which might have caused him problems. Inspired confidence and never looked greatly troubled. Made his one good save from Obika.
Bree 7: never exposed to the supposed wiles of Ormonde-Ottewill. Read the game very well. Good first touch. Got most of his passes to a black shirt. Broke with purpose to support the attack at times, again providing good quality ball when doing so. Looked confident and as if he had a good few seasons’ experience under his belt. Impressive.
Long 8: commanding at the back, winning the key headers without any great trouble. Linked well with Mawson and the others, so that they operated as an effective unit throughout the game. I think that his loan is up now, but I hope he wants the chance to play at Wembley and will extend the deal, or even sign permanently because his contribution to the solidity of the back four was considerable. He will be hard to replace if he doesn’t stay on.
Mawson 8: another good performance. He needs a solid player like Long beside him because he is more of an all-round footballer than just a defender, as shown by his superb bit of skill on the attack in the first half and his reading of the game. He can contribute as effectively as a controlling midfielder, given the chances to break out of defence. Impressive performance of footballing skil and the reading of the game.
George Williams 7: like Bree, there was no evidence of the supposed ‘weakness’ in our defence down the flanks. Swindon changed their right winger at half time and that is a pretty good statement as to the extent that George had him in his pocket. The risk was that he would get drawn out to the far flank when the winger had the ball, but Isgrove came back as first line of cover for this and the best aspect of George’s display was that he kept his side of the back four in shape and read the threat to our left flank so well that it did not materialise. Once the winger got anywhere near the edge of the penalty area, George took him on and had him. Very calm on the ball, giving the impression of having time to decide how to play a pass. Very good.
Watkins 8: mainly for effort and effectiveness. Most impressive when we did not have the ball, as he pressed the Swindon back four and midfield into mistakes and giving the ball away. Also impressive in battling forwards. Effective performance and good work-rate, with and without the ball.
Brownhill 7: very good first touch and played his full part in the flowing one-touch passing when it was at its best. Very mobile and covers a lot of the middle ground. Not a Pearson type, but with, the work rate of him and Hourihane, this was not missed, as we dominated possession there anyhow. Promising.
Hourihane 7: it was a day when I stopped and tried to remember what Conor did and couldn’t specify much, but that was because it was a day when the ball did a lot of the work and that was because of our very good first touch control and one-touch football, the ball being played rapidly amongst midfield, of whom Conor was one. Had one chance with a trade-mark free kick, but got it too high. Captained the team well and played a full part is setting the tone and style of the passing game which won us the match. Significant contribution to the result.
Isgrove 9: I think I will give young Lloyd my ‘Man of the Match,’ because, at times, he had that extra touch of class which made things happen. I say ‘class.’ In fact, a lot of it was raw pace to get beyond the last defender, but he also needed the insight to see the space opening up and to run for a pass which would open up the defence in front of him. He showed all these qualities today and gave us some of the most exciting moments when we were breaking into attack. Got back to defend to support Williams with Barry and Balmy, which was necessary and that is an aspect of his game which is developing well by the look of it.
Fletcher 6: did his bit in putting pressure on the Swindon back three and preventing them from building from the back effectively. He is young and learning at professional level, but showed some promise today, albeit with being a threat to the Swindon goal this time. The coaching staff will work on him and I have no doubt that he will have memorable games and score some significant goals if he continues to set himself the best standards.
Winnall 8: led the line well and took his goal in characteristic manner. I sometimes think we forget what it is like when a team doesn’t have a striker like Super Sam in it. We would have drawn that game, even though we deserved to win it. Specialist and consistent goalscorers are like gold dust and we have one in Sam. He also led the line well, winning headers against bigger defenders and laying the ball off accurately to link with the midfielders and bring them into play. Loved the Sam Winnall song. Singing it all the way home. So did he by the looks of it and I like the way he beats himself up on missing any chance at all as if he hadn’t scored for weeks. Great stuff. Great professional.
Scowen 7: did what Scowen does best down the right side for twenty minutes and made the winning goal. Sounds pretty good to me. One of those players who characterises and defines the spirit of the team – commitment and the will to battle on and win.
So there we have it. Individually, the players can all be proud of their performances today. They all are honed professionals with high levels of skill to control and pass the ball and to read the game. Best of all, the team played as a unit of several units. The back four; the midfield; the strikers. Each section worked well, but the three ranks of them also were a cohesive unit and that is down to the coaching of good individual skills, as well as team coherence. Do I think that Lee Johnson could do for us what someone like Eddie Howe has done for Bournemouth? On the evidence of today, I would say ‘yes’ to that. I know it was only a month or so ago when things did not look so rosy, but you can see the ethic of the coaching staff and they deserve that this ‘purist’ and longer-term view should ultimately prosper. On today’s evidence I think it will and deservedly so.

 

I've been today and think your report is spot on. I' agree with pretty much everything you say and your mom. Isgrove had a great first half in particular. The centre backs were solid as a rock. The full backs good edefensivley and going fwd.
Swindon however were pedestrian at best. Slow and very tippy tippy balls across their back line. I guess that shows how elk we were organised that they couldn't find a way thru.
All credit to Lee and the team. I love our manager and have always thought that with his positive mindset and analytical ability that he would bring us to a point where we could look positive again. Good to see all the n'er sayers coming on here with their change of view re him.

 

Excellent bed time reading that! Sounds like what I heard on the commentary. Another great TEAM performance.

 

Thanks for that. Excellent write up for those of us who weren't there today.

 

great insight, there, ThomasE. and well written anawl. thanks fer that.

 

thanks for match report , considered driving down on day yesterday but didnt fancy the long drive