The sign of a good team is that they grind out a results even when the performance is below par, and this is exactly what Swindon Town did today when they beat Macclesfield 1-0, writes STFC007.

The reverse fixture back in September last year was lost 0-2, when the Town centre back pairing were not equipped to deal with the physical threat of the Macclesfield Town forwards. Saturday’s fixture saw only 5 names on the team sheet who started on that nice autumnal Friday evening back in late September.

Beaten only once in fourteen League 2 matches and pushing for an automatic promotion place, picking up 3 points at home is a must if we are to reduce the lead of the teams above us in the table.

Swindon made their intentions known from the start having possession for large parts in the first half, but being unable to make any inroads into the Macclesfield defence.

For most of the time, Swindon were restricted to long range efforts as they were not given any space to get their free flowing football going. At times when they did put some nice overlapping moves together, the final pass was just not accurate enough, an opposition player had just closed down sufficiently or an individual effort lead to nothing.

Some glimpses of a potentially fruitful partnership between Connell and Benson were seen, but a couple of flick-ons were just not ending up in the right place.

The move of the first half came through some nice passing; Connell found Ferry with a back-heel, who went round the keeper, but the final pass across goal was too weak to reach Benson for the tap in.

A trademark curling Ritchie free kick from the right hand side – where most of the danger came from in the first half – about halfway down the Macclesfield half caused some panic in their defence. The resulting corner came to Ritchie who would have scored were it not for the Macclesfield #3 bravely putting his head in the path of the ball traveling with quite some speed. He went down but luckily was able to continue rubbing his head.

The Swindon back-line dealt confidently with Macclesfield’s limited escapades into Swindon’s half during the first 45 minutes. There could well have been some more pressure on Foderingham’s goal were it not for the hard graft from Risser, who – sometimes under-rated – was involved in a lot of the defensive work in midfield. He was battling hard throughout, blocking runs, defensively positioning himself well and putting his body on the line when it was needed, to the appreciation from the Swindon supporters.

Town were well on top at the half-way mark but did have little to show for their territorial advantage. The Macclesfield away support were in good voice throughout the game – unfortunately we never managed to hear it as there were only 38 of them who made the trip.

Surely, Swindon would come out with all guns blazing in the second half, pinning their opponents back into their half and forcing the first goal. Instead, a resurgent Macclesfield who were buoyed by their first half performance, made good use of the wind advantage, with it creating some good combinations. Fortunately for Town, their end product was missing with the ball boys having to retrieve the ball from the Stratton Bank.

Most of the offensive danger from Swindon came from the right hand side in the first half, with De Vita, who was operating on the left, being limited in his gazelle-like forward runs. These runs sometimes defy the laws of gravity, where it seems that the ball is glued to his boots.

The introduction of new signing Luke Rooney had not been expected until later that half. But with Swindon lacking ideas to break open the Macclesfield defence, his debut in front of the Swindon home crowd had an immediate positive effect on the game. His forward runs caused the Macclesfield defence to back off and suddenly we created opportunities from both flanks.

A long Macclesfield clearance found the fast Donnelly chasing an apparent lost ball. Flint who was shielding the ball for it to go out for a goal-kick was sent flying by Donnelly who then pulled the ball back for a great goal scoring opportunity but the shot went well over. Di Canio made his disapproval know – claiming Flint should have had a free-kick for the challenge.

The referee, who used to officiate Premier League games – and based on his poor performance it’s clear why that is no longer the case – dismissed Di Canio to the stands on guidance form the 4th official. A ridiculous decision – keeping in mind that the same weekend other managers did exactly the same in their technical area without any punishment. Di Canio showed his defiance and passion for what he believes was within the law of the game, during the post-match interview. There will be more on this incident from us on the blog tomorrow.

The crowd chanted Di Canio’s name when he made his way up into the stands and they really got behind the team, spurring them on for that illustrious goal. More pressure was brought to bear and a good free-kick from Caddis nearly found Risser at the back post. There were several more chances for Rooney, but his eagerness to impress on his debut with a goal instead of making the simple pass to a better positioned team-mate for a tap seemed to frustrate some as it remained goalless.

The goal when it finally came was a relief. A curling cross into the Macclesfield box, just far away enough for the keeper to have any chance, was met by Benson who crept in front of the defender Brown and headed the ball into the net past the stranded keeper.

Swindon continued to press and were awarded a penalty after Macclesfield’s Brown was sent off following a tussle with Flint at the back post. Rooney twice had a brief discussion with Ritchie requesting to take it. Ritchie however kept hold of the ball and put it on the spot only to blast well over the crossbar into the Town End.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the miss seemed to give Macclesfield some hope as they started to go forward in the final minutes. Ritchie, seemingly affected by the miss, gave some silly free kicks away, all adding to the pressure to hold on to the 1-0. Whereas in previous years, Swindon would have conceded in the last minute, they stood firm until the final whistle.

Overall, it wasn’t a great performance, but another 3 points were secured.

With other results going in Swindon’s favour, the entire squad better be carrying some extra mints with them, as the three teams above us in the table can feel us breathing down their necks.

Your man of the match: Paul Benson 36% of the vote

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