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Parting Gift from Cox?
On-loan star on the spot as ten-man Swindon battle back from almost certain defeat
Coca-Cola League One RESULT: Swindon Town 1 Swansea City 1 Swindon scorer: Cox (pen) 90, Corr sent-off 20
Swansea scorer: Butler 87
A late, late Simon Cox penalty secured a richly deserved point against the league leaders Swansea City – this after Town played over 70 minutes of the game with ten men following the dismissal of Barry Corr for violent conduct.
The Reading striker signed of his loan spell in style with a coolly taken penalty in the dying moments, much to the relief of a jubilant bumper home crowd.
Not for the first time this season some of the refereeing decisions baffled even the most knowledgeable of football fans. None more so than the dismissal of Barry Corr in the 20th minute, the in-form Irishman was involved in an off the ball incident with Swan's defender Gary Monk and was shown a straight red card for an alleged stamp. With Town down to ten men Byrne was forced to shuffle his pack and quickly replaced Sofi Zaaboub with target man Billy Paynter – a decision that didn't go down well with the fiery Frenchman.
Swindon headed into the interval level and despite the loss of Corr seemed to be coping well against a side chasing automatic promotion. Byrne was again forced into another substitution at half time as Craig Easton was replaced by Michael Pook due to injury. Swansea began to pile on the pressure as they looked to make their numerical advantage pay off. However, the Town defence marshalled by captain Hasney Aljofree stood firm as they battled for a point. Swansea striker Giullem Buaza went closest for the visitors but his header was brilliantly saved by Peter Brezovan in the Town goal.
Despite looking like holding out Town were undone in the 87th minute when Thomas Butler slotted home from close range. This goal appeared to have given Swansea three undeserved points, but Cox and Co. had other ideas. Aljofree played as a make-shift striker and should have been awarded a penalty when he was dragged down by Dennis Lawrence, but his appeals were waved away by referee Mellin. But as the final whistle approached Swindon were handed a lifeline when Cox was tripped by Kristian O'Leary, and this time Mr Mellin did point to the spot. Swansea tried all sorts of delaying tactics and goalkeeper Dorus Devries was shown a yellow card for time wasting.
Cox stood up and took the penalty himself, firing low to the keeper's left and into the back of the net. The goal and point were no more than the team deserved and was a perfect way for Cox to finish his loan spell with the club. No doubt Town fans will be hoping that Cox might decide to extend his stay at the club or better still make the move permanent. But with his impressive scoring record there will no doubt be many suitors for the young striker. The League 1 Table
1 Swansea 22 21 44
2 Nottm Forest 23 19 41 -------------------------- 3 Carlisle 22 13 39 4 Doncaster 24 13 38 5 Leeds 24 23 37 6 Walsall 24 8 37 -------------------------- 7 Leyton Orient 24 -2 37 8 Yeovil 24 -1 35 9 Tranmere 24 5 34 10 Brighton 23 3 33 11 Southend 24 -1 33 12 Swindon 23 2 31 13 Oldham 23 2 31 14 Huddersfield 24 -14 30 15 Hartlepool 24 0 29 16 Northampton 24 -5 28 17 Crewe 24 -13 28 18 Gillingham 23 -12 27 19 Bristol Rovers 22 -3 26 20 Millwall 23 -8 26 --------------------------- 21 Luton 23 1 23 22 Bournemouth 24 -17 20 23 Cheltenham 22 -18 18 24 Port Vale 23 -16 17 NEXT GAME
Barnet (h)
Saturday 5 January 2008, 3.00pm
FA Cup Third Round
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