PLAYER RATINGS: Swindon Town 2-0 Forest Green Rovers

SWINDON TOWN earned their first home clean sheet of the season as the SN1 club impressed in their two-nil win over Forest Green last night. Total Sport Swindon's Ryan Walker gives his Robins player ratings following the action.

GK: Lawrence Vigouroux (8)

Produced a brilliant save to palm the ball onto his post from Williams close-range effort early on in the second half but was relatively untested for the majority of the game. Collected aerial balls well as Forest Green peppered his area with high balls as they went in search of a late goal.

RB: Kyle Knoyle (7)

Back starting in front of the home crowd after being dropped for Swindon’s recent home defeat to Crawley Town, and put in an impressive performance. Seemed to win every battle when defending in one-on-one situations and was a constant presence overlapping on the wing. 

CB: Dion Conroy (8)

Deputising once again for the injured Luke Woolfenden, Dion Conroy put in a big shift that made defending look easy against a technically gifted Forest Green Rovers side. His performance was highlighted by two outstanding last-ditch tackles to stop the visitors scoring, one in the 29th minute Williams and the other late on in the second half. 

Marshalled the threat posed by Christian Doidge well and looked comfortable on the ball throughout. His STFC career has been plagued by injury, but are we starting to see the real Dion Conroy? 

CB: Tom Broadbent (8)

His signing raised many eyebrows of those associated with the club, but tonight’s performance was the perfect example to silence the doubters. Forest Green rarely looked like scoring but a lot of that was down to the defending of Broadbent. 

A big physical player, the 26-year-old looked at ease in Swindon’s backline and was well positioned to know when to step up and break up attacks or sit back and defend deep. 

LB: Ali Koiki (8)

Replacing the experienced Matty Taylor in the side, Ali Koiki has breathed a breath of fresh air into Swindon Town’s defence. Blistering pace combined with a desire to get forward made the on-loan fullback a constant threat down the left-hand side. Was sometimes caught out of position when committing himself to attacks but a brilliant showing from the youngster. 

CDM: Canice Carroll (7)

Drafted into the side just ten minutes before the match after Danny Rose picked up an injury in the warmup, Canice Carroll was solid in the heart of Swindon’s midfield. Operating as a defensive midfielder, Carroll protected his central defenders effectively whilst also contributing to Town’s attacks. 

Panicked on the ball at times in the first half but was much calmer following the interval. A good all-round performance especially after his horror showing right-back performance in his last outing at the County Ground

CM: Michael Doughty (7)

After a superb brace saw Swindon overcome MK Dons at the weekend, the Swindon skipper for the evening went under the radar for large parts of last nights match. However, he didn’t have to be at his best against an underwhelming opposition. 

Linked play up well in attack, but it was his defensive performance that caught the eye more than anything. Consistently dropping back to defend his own goal, Doughty was instrumental in limiting Rovers chances with his interception on Williams in the 20th minute almost certainly denying a goal. 

CM: Jak McCourt (6)

Partnered Doughty in attacking midfield and enjoyed lots of the ball when Swindon were in possession. Did the simple things extremely well but at times went for the picture-perfect ball that too frequently failed to pay off. A good performance but must stop trying to play extravagant football all the time. 

RW: Kaiyne Woolery (8)

Scored an absolute wondergoal to put Swindon in front that left Forest keeper Ward rooted to the spot. Deserves his rating simply for his outstanding strike but Woolery was brilliant throughout. Bursting down the flanks, Woolery continued to make space for himself and should’ve bagged his second when Koiki’s driven cross in the 58th minute required the slightest of touches from the attacker. The goal gave him confidence and Woolery wasn’t scared to take his man on in one-on-one situations as Town looked to further add to the scoreline. 

ST: Theo Robinson (9)

Theo Robinson showed Swindon fans exactly why they should be delighted to have him at SN1 with an exceptional showing against local rivals Forest Green. Making his home debut, Robinson never seemed to stop running and was even given a standing ovation when withdrawn late on in the second half. 

His runs in behind opened up space for Town’s other attackers, and his calm cool finish to make it two-nil highlighted exactly what Swindon have missed this season. Looks set to be a key player for Richie Wellens between now and the end of the season. 

LW: Keshi Anderson (7)

Was the main player linking up play between midfield and attack as he consistently ran with the ball at the heart of Rovers defence to create openings. 

Seemed to pop up all over the pitch and provided the assist for Robinson’s goal with a delicate through ball to unlock the Forest backline. Has been wasteful in games for large parts of the season but finally appears to be understanding the tactics of Richie Wellens.  

SUBSTITUTIONS: 

Kyle Bennett 

Came on to make his debut in the games closing stages and didn’t have much to do.

James Dunne (7)

Replaced Jak McCourt with twenty minutes left and fulfilled the same role. Protected his defence well and provided energy in midfield as Rover looked to overrun Swindon in search of a goal in the games closing stages. 

Marc Richards

Brought on in place of goalscorer Robinson with not long left and didn’t have much to do as Town ran down the clock.