MATCH REPORT: Swindon Town (1) v (1) Manchester United U23

SWINDON TOWN were made to rue missed opportunities as Manchester United’s U23 side scored a second-half penalty to cancel out Lloyd Isgrove’s opener and draw the pre-season fixture at the County Ground. Total Sport Swindon’s Ryan Walker gives his match report following the action.

Swindon Town began their pre-season game against Manchester United’s Under-23’s in the experimental and tedious fashion that you often associate with pre-season matches. In the midst of the sweltering heat that bathed much of the UK throughout the day, Richie Wellens gave an insight into his plans for the upcoming season. 

A fast-paced start to the men vs kids pre-season fixture saw Swindon dominate the initial proceedings with trialist Lloyd Isgrove putting Town ahead after just six minutes. 

Good play down the left wing saw the home side work their way into the opposition box well before a poor clearance by the United defence fell to the waiting Isgrove who’s left-footed shot rifled past Woolston to give STFC an early lead. 

A goal up within the games opening ten minutes put Swindon in good stead to push on and bounce back from the 6-1 hammering suffered against Birmingham just last Friday. However, despite Town looking the more threatening side, Kaiyne Woolery’s 17th minute run into the United penalty area was Swindon’s only notable attack after 30 minutes of play. 

For all of Town’s dominance, the team of Man Utd youngsters struggled to make any significant impact with Swindon’s Luke McCormick remaining untested for the duration of the first half. 

A mad scramble in the United box after a Town corner just past the half-hour mark saw the ball bounce off the heads of about four Swindon players before a free-kick was given as Town looked to extend their lead. 

The attacking intent from Swindon continued as the first half entered its final minutes, with Baudry’s 37th-minute close-range header almost double Town’s lead. Other speculative efforts saw Kaiyne Woolery’s attempted long-range curling effort go just wide with Dought’s similarly distanced strike sail over the bar in the halves closing minutes. Swindon went in at half-time comfortably and deservedly in front but with just the solo goal to show for their efforts.

Play resumed and Swindon picked up from where they had left, using open, quick, and attacking play to unlock the Manchester United defence. Goalscorer Isgrove made a handful of himself from the whistle with a dangerous cross into the visitor's box narrowly avoiding the head of Yates just minutes into the second half.

Many expected a testing pre-season game for Swindon but after 60 minutes, the match felt like a training game with both sides looking settled with the result. Swindon attempted to get forward without much end product to show for their efforts whilst the United academy players looked out of their depth against a fully-fledged men’s league side. 

The game disappeared into nothingness with just thirty minutes of play left. However, a heavy challenge by trialist Paul Anderson on one of the United youngsters saw the referee point to the penalty spot as Dylan Levitt sent McCormick the wrong way to level the game.

Swindon were punished for not taking their chances and even though it was only a pre-season game, Wellens would’ve expected his side to push on with Town dominating in every area for the entirety of the game. 

Tactical substitutions saw Wellens introduce Broadbent, Twine, Anderson, Reid, Curran, and Asante into the fray with the latter going close to scoring just minutes after coming on with his shot drifting just wide of the post. 

Kaiyne Woolery looked certain to restore Swindon’s lead with just five minutes remaining after taking the ball around the United keeper only to skew his shot wayward to the groans of the Swindon fans. 

Swindon continued to push for a winner until the final whistle with frequent attacking football down the wings creating space, but quality in the final third evaded Swindon as Town finished their pre-season fixture with a draw.