Swindon Town v Stevenage Official Matchday Thread

[@mwooly63]

Well that was a game off two halves - literally and yet another shit ref

Still - we are thru

Play like the second half v posh and they will tear us a new one

Are the area finals televised   be some cash if are, 3800 odd was a bit poor as was the 79 travelling fans

[kerry red]

I know there's some stiff competition this season for the shittest ref but this fucker takes the biscuit.

Not saying he was pro-Stevenage just awful for both sides. Where on God's earth do they get them from?

Good 60 minutes under the belt for Mason. Thought both N'Guessan and Ajose worked their bollocks off throughout. N'Guessan especially noticeable tracking back all game. Well done them.

Second half we didn't seem to want to put in a challenge and it smacked of a misplaced sense of superiority. Truly awful.

The new fella, Gladwin, did some nice stuff but also lost possession a couple of times but looks a possibility.

Yet again, some Keystone Cop defending in the 2nd half and a better team would have punished us.

Still, whe. It comes to knockout games the only aim is to get through, so mission accomplished.

[Summerof69]

Officials shite again. How can neither spot the two handed push on Ajose as he's about to head the ball in from a yard, but instead takes the net with him as he's pushed into the net?

And could've had a couple more for handballs, but I did think, as soon as we scored, we thought we could coast the game.

Hey, we're into the area final...two games from that place in London.

[ronnie21]

The clear push on Ajose early on where he ended up in the back of the net, breaking it in the process, was - according to the ref - a case of him throwing himself into the net!!  N'Guessan was booked for diving, so why wasn't Ajose?  And their guy in the second half threw himself to the ground in the box after a challenge yet the ref took no action other than to wave play on!!  An absolute bell-end who allowed them to get away with heavy challenges all game, yet books Barthram for his first bad tackle.

[Summerof69]

The clear push on Ajose early on where he ended up in the back of the net, breaking it in the process, was - according to the ref - a case of him throwing himself into the net!!

Considering that he was a yard out and an open goal...what was the point of diving into the net?

[Batch]

Well that was a struggle!!  Played superbly for 25 minutes, beat them all over the park with pace and precision passing, then dropped right off and allowed them to get into our faces.  Sloppy for the whole of the second half, although we did hit the bar.  Allowed them to push us back and a goal was always coming.  Awful ref again, how come we get the absolute crap that the league has!

sums it up perfectly.

For me mason and Luongo didn't work hard enough. Good on the ball, not interested off it. Guess that's why cooper eventually replaced them.

Looked dodgy at the back. Even with Barthram playing more traditional rb.

Keeper didn't play as well this time out. Looks to have been coached to always play short. But Stevenage closed us down too quickly second half so he had nowhere to go. Sometimes long is the only option. Hero in the shootout though, no question.

Has ranger gone full retard again?

[4D]

Did Hertha get home on time? 

[sonicyouth]

The decision not to award a penalty when Ajose was shoved in the back on the line has to be one of the worst decisions I've ever seen.

Same as most games I've seen over the past month or two - we fall to bits when teams pressure us and close us down effectively. We need to sort that out urgently.

[Dozno9]

We brought/bring the pressure on ourselves though. We dominate, score and then turn to shit.

[THE FLASH]

I lapped up the early play and my brother attending his first game of the season....living in Cornwall was also impressed.

Fucking joke decision that no penalty was given for the push...you could see it from space, ref was a total dick for both sides throughout. Booking one and not the other for identical challenges.
I still think a header from that position should be a goal anyway.

Keeper was flappy at best....if it was a friendly or last game of the season then so be it but this isn't, so I judge him on his performance 'in play'....and I didn't like it. What he tuck was he doing for the goal.

Second half was woeful....they just seemed to want it more than us.

New boy showed promise although caught in pocession a few times.


I decided to miss the pens.....I just can't seem to bear it...and fucked off early. I hear the keeper redeemed himself a bit...hope that lifts his spirits.

SO....through to the area finals (I really wanted Newport as I reckon we would of taken quite a few).

Where do the away fans go at Posh now? Can see me working at MK HQ that night!

Nice to see Fatty Evans knocked out up north.......is the rematch on?

I feel it in my piss...we  are going to win it....

[TheMajorSTFC]

Away 1st leg, home 2nd leg in Area Final!

[suttonred]

Away fans are now housed in the stand to the right, if you were stood on the terrace looking.

[Minnesota Fats]

We had over 10'000 at the County Ground for the Barnet game a few years ago but then it was only a tenner to get in.
Be interesting to see how the club market this one.

[TheMajorSTFC]

According to BBC Sport fixture list, we're playing Wednesday 5th February away and Monday 17th February at home...JPT official feed says both these dates are for TV but fixtures for tv dates are tbc. I thought they'd show 1 North/1 South final on tv? I'll wait for official confirmation!

[Tails]

We'll probably get 7 or 8K for the Posh game.. if that.

The game has already been summed up really. That shove on Ajose was such a bad decision it was laughable, I don't think I've been that genuinely gobsmacked at a decision before! But nonetheless, we did well most of the first half, second half we clearly thought the game was over. Belfords kicking was beyond awful but to his credit he was vocal and he made some decent stops.

Some mouthbreathers in the town end though who consistently and maliciously abused Belford throughout the second half. Also got a chant of 'You don't know what you're doing' at Cooper going. Luckily it was only a few. Fucking hell imagine how they'd react if we weren't chasing the playoffs!

Progress was key, and we did it. Although judging by these forums we will have no players left to play Peterborough!