	Date added: 26 January 2008

Crewe 0 Swindon Town 0

Paynter off as Town hang on for a point

Coca-Cola League One

RESULT: Crewe 0 Swindon Town 0

Swindon: Paynter, sent-off 74

Despite dominating for large periods of the game Swindon had to settle for a draw following the harsh dismissal of Billy Paynter 15 minutes from the final whistle.

New manager Maurice Malpas had asked for a reaction from his players following the disappointing loss to Barnet on Tuesday night, and on the whole that is what he got.

Malpas handed full debuts to two of his new signings, with Moses Ashikodi coming in for the unfortunate Blair Sturrock, and Anthony McNamee replacing the injured Sofi Zaaboub.

With the better of the opening chances, Town looked like they were going to secure all three points which would have lifted them further up the League 1 table. However, the home side managed to get to the half-time break with the scores still level.

Once again Town had the better of the opening exchanges of the second-half with Lee Peacock and Billy Paynter having chances to break the deadlock.

The turning point came in the 75th minute when Swindon's big front man was extremely unlucky to be shown a red card for an alleged elbow on Crewe's Michael O'Connor.

The numerical advantage gave the home team some much needed impetus and they were denied the win when Peter Brezovan made two top quality saves in as many minutes.

After the game, Swindon boss Maurice Malpas was happy to admit that once Paynter had been shown the red card he was happy to hold on for a draw, and was also delighted with the response from his players.

However, with local rivals Bristol Rovers managing to overcome Barnet in the F.A. Cup fourth round, Town's fans and players will no doubt be looking out for the fifth round draw and wondering what might have been.

But with a tough trip to Luton on Tuesday night, their concentration will have to be spot on if they are to continue in their quest for a play-off spot.

The League One table:
1 Swansea 26 30 56
2 Nottm Forest 26 22 45
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3 Carlisle 26 13 45
4 Doncaster 27 11 44
5 Leeds 27 26 43
6 Leyton Orient 28 -4 43
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7 Walsall 27 10 42
8 Southend 27 1 37
9 Tranmere 27 1 37
10 Yeovil 27 -3 37
11 Swindon 25 3 35
13 Northampton 28 -5 35
14 Oldham 26 2 34
15 Hartlepool 27 -1 33
16 Gillingham 26 -11 31
17 Huddersfield 26 -16 31
18 Bristol Rovers 24 -1 30
19 Cheltenham 26 -13 30
20 Crewe 27 -16 28
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21 Millwall 26 -11 27
22 Luton 26 -3 23
23 Bournemouth 27 -20 23
24 Port Vale 27 -18 20

NEXT GAME:

Luton Town (A)

Tuesday 29 January 2008, 7:45pm
Coca-Cola Football League One