Swindon Town’s recent match ended in a 2-2 draw against Colchester United, with Michael Flynn’s verdict still lingering. In their first home game of the year, goals from Charlie Austin and Tom Brewitt provided hope for the lead at halftime, but a last-minute goal from Connor Wilkinson ultimately resulted in a draw.
The team made three changes from their previous game against Crawley on New Year’s Day. Tom Brewitt returned to the starting XI, Jake Cain took the place of Dan Kemp in midfield, and Williams Kokolo moved back to his usual left-hand side position. Tyrese Shade was given the opportunity up front alongside captain Charlie Austin.
The opening 15 minutes saw a quiet period, but the first chance came when Jake Cain delivered a quality free-kick to Tyrese Shade. However, Shade’s half-volley on the turn was well-saved. Shortly after, Town was awarded a penalty after Udoka Godwin-Malife was brought down in the box. Captain Charlie Austin confidently converted the penalty with a powerful shot down the middle.
Colchester United attempted to respond, with Matt Jay finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Yet, an outstanding recovery tackle from Tom Brewitt and a subsequent save from Lewis Ward kept the scoreline in Swindon’s favor. Austin and Brewitt combined later, with Brewitt’s attempt finding the net, extending Swindon’s lead to 2-0.
However, just before halftime, Colchester pulled one back with a well-worked corner that found Matt Jay at the front post. His header eluded defenders and goalkeepers, finding the back of the net. The halftime score stood at Swindon 2, Colchester 1.
Colchester came back strongly in the second half, applying pressure, and Jay’s shot seemed destined for the bottom left-hand corner before a heroic clearance from Liam Kinsella. Swindon found themselves defending resolutely, but a repeat of the first half occurred with Colchester capitalizing on a set piece. Conor Wilkinson scored a last-minute goal from a corner, securing the 2-2 draw.
Despite the disappointment of dropping two points, Swindon Town will now look ahead to their next League 2 game against Crewe Alexandra. The Swindon lineup for the match included L. Ward, Hutton, Khan, Brewitt, Cain, Kokolo, Godwin-Malife, Kinsella, Shade, Minturn, and Austin as captain. Goals were scored by Austin (18th minute, penalty) and Brewitt (43rd minute). Substitutes included Aguiar, McEachran, Evans, Genesini, Dworzak, Hart, and Obodo.
Colchester’s lineup featured Goodman, Iandolo, Hall, Dallison, Jay, Chilvers, Hopper, Mitchell, Read, Marshall-Miranda, and Fevrier. Jay scored in the 45+1st minute, and Wilkinson netted in the 90+3rd minute. Substitutes for Colchester were Akinde, Wilkinson, Edwards, Ihionvien, Hornby, Greenidge, and Kazeem. The match was officiated by referee Richie Watkins, and the attendance was 7,564, including 329 away fans.
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