MATCH REPORT: Swindon Town (2) V (1) Crewe Alexandra

SWINDON TOWN ended their two-game losing streak to record just their fifth win under manager John Sheridan as the Robins climbed out of the League One relegation zone with a dramatic goal in added time earning them a 2-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra.

Picture credit: Swindon Town FC

Tom Lowery opened the scoring for Crewe Alexandra after just four minutes before Swindon were brought back level courtesy of a Travis Johnson own-goal just moments later. Mikael Mandron had countless chances to restore parity between the two sides before substitute Scott Twine secured three points for Swindon with a goal in stoppage time.

Tom Lowery scored his second goal of the season to give Crewe Alexandra an early lead within the opening five minutes as Mikael Mandron used his pace to get in behind the Swindon defence and cut the ball back for the unmarked Lowery who tapped in from close-range. 

Mandron looked set to double Crewe’s advantage moments later after wayward defending inside the Swindon box allowed the striker to find space for himself and connect with Charlie Kirk’s cross as Joe Wollacott did brilliantly to deny the attacker with a diving save down to his left. 

Two minutes later Swindon had pulled one back as Crewe defender Travis Johnson produced a strikers header when attempting to play Dion Conroy’s stabbed cross back to keeper Dave Richards and scoring an own goal as his attempted back-pass nestled in the corner of the goal. 

Two goals in the opening ten minutes made for a lively start to proceedings as both teams looked to bounce back from recent defeats. Luke Murphy’s chipped cross nearly resulted in Crewe restoring their lead in the 12th minute as Mandron beat Grounds to the ball but could only put his stretched effort onto the roof of the Town goal.

The game began to settle down as both sides tried to find a breakthrough goal with Swindon’s lacklustre press allowing Crewe to play around them and get to the edge of the Town box won countless occasions with a lack of quality in the final third stopping them from testing Wollacott. 

In contrast, Swindon rarely threatened, with John Sheridan’s side not managing a shot on target in the first-half as the strike force of Brett Pitman and Jordon Garrick were bullied by Crewe’s defenders.

The majority of the away side’s attacks came down Swindon’s right-hand side as Paul Caddis struggled to deal with Kirk’s pace and movement on the ball but despite starting brightly and largely dominating the match, Crewe failed to create any significant goal-scoring chances for the remainder of the half.

Swindon had their backs to the wall for the majority of the first 45 minutes but held on to go in level at half-time as Crewe rued missed chances.

The second-half started almost as frantic as the first with Mandron presented with a golden opportunity to grab his first goal of the game just five minutes after the restart as he brought down Murphy’s clip over the top of Swindon’s defence, but failed to compose himself in front of goal and blasted his shot over the bar.

Swindon responded with an effort of their own minutes later as Garrick’s cut-back across the six-yard box saw Crewe’s keeper produce a great save from Pitman with the striker hitting his effort hard and low to win Town their first shot-on-target of the game.

End-to-end play saw both side’s go close to scoring in the opening minutes of the second-half with Kirk again linking up well with Mandron in the 64th minute as the latter was left stretching inside the Swindon box as he attempted to guide Kirk’s cross into the net but was unable to reach the ball.

Both managers decided to push for a win as each made attacking changes with John Sheridan bringing on Scott Twine, whilst David Artell introduced Daniell Powell to the fray as the attacker marked his return from a recent knee injury.

Both sides had chances to grab victory, with Mandron forcing an excellent save from Wollacott in the 88th minute, but it was Swindon who ran out victors as Scott Twine scored with his first shot of the game in added on time after Richards palmed Hope’s shot into Twine’s path leaving the attacker with an open goal to shoot into. 

Swindon didn’t deserve three points in this enthralling match at SN1, but John Sheridan won’t care as he records his fifth win as STFC manager and Swindon climb out of the relegation zone.