No.4 – Swindon 4 Huddersfield 1

This FA Cup 1^st Round tie pitted Swindon against League One Huddersfield Town, who at that point had only been defeated twice this season and undefeated in 42 games in League One.

Swindon ran out 4-1 victors and in response Paolo Di Canio summed it all up perfectly by stating the result ‘was this the best performance of the season’. That’s an understatement…this fantastic win was easily the best performance of the whole of 2011.

For a while it didn’t look that way as Swindon struggled to get the ball back off their League One opponents and the pressure finally got to them in the 22nd minute as Lee Novak stabbed home from outside the area to put The Terriers ahead. Novak claimed the ball outside the area and without any defensive pressure, placed the ball into Foderingham’s right hand corner to give Huddersfield the lead. Importantly this was Wes’ first goal conceded in a Swindon shirt.

This moment seemed to shock a few of the Town fans in attendance but the silent shock wouldn’t last long as Town stuck to their game plan and struck back with not only one but two goals in a three minute spell before the break.

After Paul Caddis won another free kick on the right wing, Ritchie stepped up to whip in a lovely ball onto the head of Aden Flint who planted his header into the corner. Several of Town’s set pieces had been largely wasteful but this one was effective with Town equalising and getting momentum to get a second before half time.

The second was another ‘special’ with quick passing and movement creating space at a pace that Huddersfield couldn’t keep up with. Simon Ferry was the architect this time as his burst into the box left The Terriers wandering as Raffaele De Vita found space to receive Ferry’s pull back and smash home from a few yards to give Town real reward for their persistence

The first half came to a close but proceedings didn’t change as Swindon once again came out the brighter side in search for that killer third goal. Captain Caddis made a good run down the right but his drilled cross didn’t find a red shirt and Huddersfield easily cleared.

Swindon were under pressure for much of the second half, relying on the counter attack and trusting in the solid frame of Foderingham who when called upon in the 56th minute saved well from Alan Lee who should have done better with his and Huddersfield’s clearest chance besides the goal.

Simon Ferry though would again play a pivotal role in putting Swindon’s name into the second round hat as his run and break from Swindon’s half found Etienne Esajas who crossed and found substitute Mehdi Kerrouche for the Algerian to poke home for the 4-1 demolition.

Whether this magnificent result flatters to deceive in a similar vain to the 4-2 victory at Charlton Athletic in January we’ll only find out on at the end of the season; but I’m more confident that today this was a sign of good things to come.

View the other key moments of 2011