Stevenage fell to a last-gasp defeat at Swindon Town on Tuesday as Sky Bet League Two top goalscorer Eoin Doyle struck in added time to complete a 1-0 scoreline for the home side...
Despite restricting the Robins to very little in-front of goal throughout the match, Boro couldn't hold on as Swindon's main marksman found enough space inside the box on 90 minutes, to get away a quick turn and shot to win the match.
Boro remain bottom of the table, just behind Morecambe, ahead of Saturday’s huge home match with the Shrimps.
Mark Sampson named three changes from the 1-1 draw at Port Vale on Saturday as Terence Vancooten, Joel Byrom and Emmanuel Sonupe came into the side in place of James-Wildin, Michael Timlin and Jason Cowley.
During the early stages of the contest, it was Stevenage with the upper hand as they enjoyed the majority of possession and territory inside the opening 15 minutes. Watts had a penalty shout denied, Sonupe almost found an opening as he tried to take it around the on-rushing goalkeeper before Boro’s number 11 tried his luck from 35 yards out with a dipping strike, that flew just over the crossbar.
The promotion-chasing home side soon found their groove though and began to assert their authority on the match, dominating possession and creating a couple of good opportunities before the half was out.
League Two top scorer Doyle headed right at Farman on 23 minutes when he had the whole goal to aim at, much to the relief of the travelling Boro faithful, before Yates fired over from close range after a flowing move that cut through the Stevenage defence. That was about it though in terms of clear-cut chances for the Robins as Sampson’s side played a disciplined half of football, restricting the opposition to very little in-front of goal.
Then, with the minutes dwindling down, Boro had their best opportunity of the half, as Cuthbert headed narrowly wide with a free header from inside the six-yard box, that landed just the wrong side of the near-post.
It was a tight first half with chances coming at a premium but Stevenage could be pleased with their 45 minutes of work.
Swindon had a claim for a penalty turned down early in the second half, as the dangerous Lloyd Isgrove took the attack to Stevenage on a counter-attack with a driving run into the box, before being challenged by Vancooten. It was a sign of things to come from the home side, as minutes later Yates hit a snapshot on the half volley that rocketed a foot away from smashing into the net.
With 60 minutes on the clock, Swindon had another claim for a penalty, this time via handball as a fizzing cross smashed into the arm of Nugent. With his hand by his side and no chance to move it out of the way, the referee waved away all protests.
Dean Parrett made his return to the side a couple of minutes later as he replaced Emmanuel Sonupe and Michael Timlin came on for Charlie Carter as Stevenage attempted to shore up the midfield with the home side on top of the game.
Parrett made an immediate impact and struck a decent effort at goal with 23 minutes remaining, from a narrow angle that Benda did well to get behind. Two minutes later, he had clearest opportunity yet, as the ball broke to him inside the box to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his dinked effort fell wide of the goal.
As time wore on, the match began to open up and it looked like there could well be a winner as Mackail-Smith came on for Vancooten on 84 minutes, who was struggling with cramp. Farman performed wonders to pull off a triple save as the clock approached 90 minutes, and then, as added time was shown, Doyle struck a brilliant finish from 12 yards out on the swivel, to send the home fans into raptures and the away fans into despair.
---
