Swindon Town boss Michael Flynn has suggested his side played Gillingham off the park but rued defensive issues as his side were beaten 1-0 at the County Ground, in quotes provided by Joe Acklam of The Swindon Advertiser.
The Robins suffered their first home defeat of the season as managerless Gillingham picked up all three points to end their barren run of five away defeats in a row. Connor Mahoney opened the scoring in the first half after a deflection wrong footed the Swindon Town goalkeeper to take the lead. Jake Turner then became the hero as he saved a powerful Jake Young volley after a Dan Kemp set up. Both sides had chances as Charlie Austin and Macaulay Bonne fade away.
The Gills then had a chance to double their lead after they were awarded a 74th minute penalty, however, Cheye Alexander saw a poor attempt head wide of the goal.
Michael Flynn’s side have struggled defensively since the start of the season, which was offset by their ability to outscore their opponents, but with goals starting to dry up and striker Jake Young in the middle of a barren run it could spell trouble for the League Two side. The former Walsall boss admitted his side need to improve and stop giving away simple goals.
What’s Been Said?
In quotes provided to the Swindon Advertiser Flynn admitted his concerns:
“It is worrying that we let a left-footed player who is playing on the right [Mahoney] cut in, they didn’t allow Tyrese [Shade] to do that.
“They knew he was right-footed, so they tried to show him down the line all the time, and it is those basics of football that we are not quite getting right.
“I don’t think we are prone to them [those kinds of mistakes]; it has just happened, and I think it is only twice that we have been punished for it.
“But again, it is the key things like Salford’s second goal on Saturday and the two Crewe goals when we have dominated them.
“I am not even talking about the Doncaster game when we played against ten, that doesn’t even come into it because we didn’t do enough to win the game.
“The goal tonight, Salford, Morecambe, and Crewe. We have thrown them away, we have dominated the game and Bradford is a game we shouldn’t have lost.
“The penny has got to drop at some point because you can’t keep throwing points away and giving them away.”
“He [Jake Turner] made some good saves, but on another day, we score four or five, but tonight wasn’t a different day.
“When I come here, I think I am very honest with you about whether we deserved to get anything out of the game.
“He [Jake Turner] made some good saves, but on another day, we score four or five, but tonight wasn’t a different day.
“When I come here, I think I am very honest with you about whether we deserved to get anything out of the game.
“I would love to come in and you say ‘Michael, that performance was way below par tonight, but you got the points.’ That is what I want to see.
“We can’t just keep thinking we are going to score four or five [goals] each game and punish teams.
“Gillingham came here, they have worked extremely hard, and they were organised, but we played them off the park.”
Writer’s View
It is blindingly obvious to everyone who has watched Swindon this season, the front three of Austin, Kemp and Young are superb. But you cannot expect an attacking side to score 3+ goals every game. There will be periods as with any forward that they struggle for goals. As Sir Alex Ferguson once famously stated “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles”. It couldn’t be more true in Swindon’s case with the side leaking goals. They must tighten up to be able to challenge the play-off/promotion spots.