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windon’s 0-3 win away to Barnsley the previous Saturday propelled the Club to third place in the League One table heightening expectations among supporters. Word is getting around that Swindon aren’t too bad and a bumper away crowd is expected away at Leyton Orient on Saturday; apparently, 1000 plus.
Leyton Orient have been a bogey team in recent times with
Swindon having lost their last four away encounters against the O’s. Orient reached the League One play-off final last
season and to use that well-worn football cliché "are suffering a hang-over
effect", currently sitting just above the relegation zone. This is a little surprising given that the
team is largely the same as it was in the previous campaign. Russell Slade’s departure won’t help
them. Being of a pessimistic bent, I would quite happily settle for a draw.
My girlfriend, my friend Mike and I take the DLR line up to
Stratford before switching on to the Central Line for Leyton. Mike, with his cloth gap, cords and Chelsea
boots, looks somewhere between Dr Who and one of those chaps in that Lowry
painting. The rain is falling steadily,
but not heavily, as we briskly walk to Brisbane Road. We are searched before we pass through the
turnstile, but not with any great rigour. We are not the most intimidating trio. As we climb the stairs in the East Stand we come to what we think are
our seats, but find them taken by three chaps dressed in onesies. I informed them that they were sitting in our
seats. They tell me to ‘f**k off’. I do as instructed and thankfully find three
unoccupied seats. As everyone is
standing, sitting is not an option. I
suppose admitting to a preference to sitting in such an environment would be
akin to castrating oneself.
Brisbane Road is a compact, clean, tidy ground. I particularly like the fact that the seats
are very close to the pitch*. Although
it’s smaller than the County Ground, it’s more ‘up together’. The press area might even be described as
plush. The residential apartment blocks
on the corners of the Ground are an oddity. If you’re not an ardent Orient fan or football lover, I would have
thought that such a residential arrangement might be a little
inconvenient. The pitch, like many lower
league pitches, these days, is immaculate. Swindon ought to be able to play their possession based football.
The 1000 plus Swindon fans are in good voice belting out the
familiar “RED ARMY”, “SWINDON TIL I DIE” and “GO FETCH YA FATHER’S GUN TO SHOOT
THE OXFORD SCUM”. The chant of “SH*T
GROUND, NO FANS, SHIT GROUND, NO FANS” seems confused and hypocritical given
Swindon’s stature. Former Swindon
player, Scott Cuthbert, now Leyton Orient right back is subjected to a tirade
of abuse, generally consisting of “W**KER, W**KER, W**KER” every time he is in
possession. He seems unfazed. The Swindon fans have also adapted the
popular Kolo/Yaya Toure chant ‘No Limit’ remix to the Thompson brothers –
Nathan and Louis. A gentleman in the row
in front of us is getting particularly exercised by this chant, crouching down
in simian** fashion with his arms outstretched. He’s as happy as Larry. Good for
him. His mood deteriorates when a fan
tries to get the chant of “SWINDON FANTASTICO, SWINDON MAGNIFICO” going (or
something not too dissimilar to Liverpool’s Balotelli chant). The said gentleman’s response is robust
chanting something along the lines of “YOU ARE A TWATIO, YOU ARE A
TWATIO”. His chant intimidates, and the ‘fantastico,
magnifico’ chant ends abruptly. This
confrontation is indicative of the relative lack of cohesion among the away
Swindon fans: a collection of disparate groups rather than one body.
The atmosphere is charged; a flare is launched on to the
pitch. Presumably, the Swindon fan
believes that his menace rivals that of a Galatasaray supporter. The game is halted. Swindon will probably be fined. Lee Power won’t be happy. Not long after another Swindon fan – possibly
in his late teens – is tackled to the ground on the edge of the pitch by
approximately five police officers. I
don’t know what he did to merit such attention. The fact that it takes five
police officers to capture the hardly Herculean Inbetweener suggests that the
Leyton/Leytonstone constabulary could do with flexing a dumbbell or two. Apprehended, the miscreant departs the Ground
to a rapturous reception from the Swindon fans. He is beaming with pride.
Turning to the football, Leyton Orient enjoy the better of
the opening exchanges carving out two clear goal scoring opportunities,
breaking the offside trap of the high line of Swindon’s back three. The Swindon fans are incensed, reckoning that
both these chances stemmed from offside positions (as did Mark Cooper in his
post-match comments). Noticing that the
linesman was not a linesman, but, a lineswoman, the Swindon fans concluded that
her ‘poor decision making’ simply derived from the unfamiliar environment in
which she was operating (not the kitchen). Swindon’s passing is a little sloppy (by their high standards),
seemingly affected by the wet conditions. However, they resolutely adhere to passing the ball out from the back
with keeper Foderingham rarely punting the ball long. The back three of Stephens, N.Thompson,
Turnbull are very classy on the ball.
Swindon take the lead on the half hour mark when Michael
Smith controls Luongo’s pass from the right before guiding a right footed
strike into the top corner of the Leyton Orient goal. Swindon’s passing improves and the team,
largely, controls proceedings until the 75 minute mark. At certain points the Swindon fans chant
“WE’RE TAKING THE PISS, WE’RE TAKING THE PISS, WE’RE SWINDON TOWN, AND WE’RE TAKING
THE PISS” (my favourite chant of the day). Just after half-time Swindon add a second goal when Byrne finishes off a
sublime passing move involving Foderingham, Luongo and M.Smith (see the Youtube
footage below).
In the final 15 minutes Swindon sit too deeply, inviting
Leyton Orient on. The Leyton Orient
tactic of long punts up to the big and burly Batt and Henderson cause Swindon a
few anxious moments. Henderson pulls a
goal back for Orient in injury time after heading in Cuthbert’s pin-point cross
from the right. Swindon hang on for a
1-2 victory. An excellent win against a
tricky opponent.
At the end of the game the Swindon players led by Nathan
Thompson and Yaser Kasim applaud the fans. Kasim gives his shirt away; I cover my girlfriend’s eyes to blank out
his chiselled physique. The Swindon fans
belt out “WE ARE GOING UP”.
Swindon’s performance was not as good as most commentators
have said as Leyton Orient could have drawn/won the game given the number of
clear goal scoring opportunities they had. Being hyper-critical, Swindon’s passing was a little out of kilter,
although they still had 62% possession (according to BBC Sport), probably
disrupted by the rain and the persistent fouling of Orient’s central
midfielders, Vincelot and Bartley, breaking Swindon’s rhythm. Swindon’s best players on the day were Nathan
Thompson with his calmness, well-timed interceptions and distribution; Luongo
with his inventiveness; and Michael Smith with his excellent link-up play. A particularly pleasing aspect was the
performance of Birmingham loanee Amari’i Bell at left wing back. He was good in possession and strong off the
ball. It’s difficult to fathom how he
couldn’t get a game for Mansfield earlier in the season. Swindon’s scouting triumphs yet again.
* No doubt if I was a TV commentator I’d be compelled to
substitute ‘pitch’ with ‘pitchside’.
** Mike’s observation.
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