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Sports Round-Up 10 April 2008
Following Swindon's impressive 3-0 victory over Oldham on Saturday, boss Maurice Malpas was upbeat in today's weekly video interview.
Having watched his side dent Oldham's promotion hopes, the manager is looking for more of the same tomorrow night against Doncaster.
“It's not going to be an easy game, but there is no reason we can't get three points,” said Malpas. However with the boss sweating over a number of injuries he is unsure of his starting line-up. “I would like to have named an unchanged team but that seems unlikely at the moment,” added Malpas. Jack Smith and Sofi Zaaboub are both struggling having picked up knocks in training but are hoping they will be fit for tomorrow night's trip up north. With only four games left, Malpas is looking for a positive end to the season and one they can take into the next campaign. “I believe that teams who finish the season on a high note are more inclined to start the following season well,” claimed the Town boss.
Having narrowly lost to the Essex outfit last Friday, Alun Rossiter is confident of victory this evening. “We battled back well against them at their place but round Blunsdon we are a very solid team,” said Rosco. With Theo Pijper still on the sidelines with injury, reserve Cory Gathercole will once again deputise for him. “Cory will come in again and he has far from disgraced himself so far and I'm sure he will do a great job,” added Rossiter. Tapes are up at the Abbey Stadium at 7.30pm and tickets are available on the gate.
The result left Swindon with no chance of qualifying for the finals weekend in April. Despite twice taking the lead, the Cats were unable to hold on for the victory that would have potentially handed them a finals weekend spot. However the team managed to finish the season on a high, with a spirited shoot-out win in the return fixture on Sunday night in Slough. With the game all tied-up going into over-time, neither team could find the killer blow that would have won the game. In the shoot-out Nathan Craze was the hero for the Wildcats as he saved all three penalty shots to hand his side a deserved win. After the game, coach Pete Russell was full of praise for his side's performance throughout the season. “The guys have worked hard all season and no-one can doubt their commitment, but unfortunately we just didn't have enough to go all the way,” said Russell.
Finding themselves 4-1 down with 80 minutes played, a Mark Draycott double and a Richard Kear goal were enough to complete a dramatic comeback. Having taken the lead on the half-hour mark Swindon quickly found themselves behind, and things went from bad to worse when two second-half goals looked to have given the home side a comfortable victory. The result even more impressive considering Halesowen are the league leaders and one of three teams challenging for the Southern League Premier title. |
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