“Ruthless striving overcomes everything.”
Petrarch
After our abject display at Barnet and a fairly turgid performance at Walsall, I felt there was a lot riding on last night’s performance against Swindon. We are a good side with some very gifted individuals in it. Ben Knight is far too good for League Two, as are several others in the team. We should be promoted. We could be champions if we believe and want it enough. In front of the Sky TV cameras and another huge and expectant crowd, would we fluff our lines again or produce a statement of intent?
Within minutes we knew the answer. Our front three were soon frightening the life out of a fairly sluggish back four. The speed of movement and passing was bewildering. Certainly Swindon had no answer to it, hoofing the ball as far away as possible. To be fair to Swindon, they didn’t resort to the kind of skullduggery some teams embrace. We missed a few chances very narrowly. Connor Ripley was having the game of his life. A Bennett header which missed narrowly would have been one of the goals of the season. Surely we would score soon? Despite Swindon’s massive squad , pedigree and passionate fans, it was a very uneven contest. Eastwood was alert to a couple of defiant and rare breakaways. It was hard to believe that Knights finely crafted and taken goal would be our only reward.
At the break I reflected that we might have had a penalty when Mpanzu was bundled over and , even without that, 3-0 would have been a fairer reflection of the game. We were much the better team. Would 1-0 be enough? Would Swindon come at us?
The second half began well for us. Surely this was the best football we had played all season? Unfortunately, we have been squandering chances very regularly. A miserable devil behind me spent a lot of wasted energy on berating Appare ,who was having a good game but surely would have done better with Nevitt alongside him? We have yet to see that combination. We probably won’t see him with Kouassi either. Knight went on a rampaging gallop, only to be denied by a brilliant save from the inspired Ripley. We had a lot of chances, possession and corners but couldn’t find the second we all thought we needed.
Astonishingly, and much to the relief of the beleaguered Swindon defenders, we took Knight off. Would this be Milton Keynes again? When we sat back fatally. Bennett forced another outstanding save from Ripley as a dozen silly boys behind us entertained themselves by being as pointlessly noisy as they could. It just helped to shred our nerves even further. Swindon then scored a mysteriously scruffy goal and yet it wasn’t all over- yet. Lavery forced another great save from the giant Swindon Keeper and then Mayor’s shot was going in until a desperate Swindon defender got a leg in the way. Fair play-this was heroic defending. And then it was all over. Knight, Mayor and a number of United players had been inspired. It was a great performance which just didn’t get the result it deserved. Today’s results have shown that absolutely anyone can be beaten during the run in. Standing up to pressure and believing in ourselves will decide our destiny. I expect the Norwegian branch of the CUFC fans will have enjoyed what I thought was a very skilful and entertaining performance. If we can beat Cheltenham and Notts County, and why shouldn’t we? We’ll be on our way back to League One and I might have to write another, more celebratory, book. Not much to ask is it?