Chaos As Referee Leigh Doughty Is Indicted As Swindon Draws With Harrogate.
Anthony O’Connor opened the scoring with a goal from a set-piece for the away side in the 52nd minute before Charlie Austin came off the bench to score his 50th league goal for Swindon Town late on in the second half.
Town made four changes to the side which overcame Tranmere on Tuesday night with Harry McKirdy given his first start since returning in January, Williams Kokolo coming back on the left-hand side of defence, and Saidou Khan and Aaron Drinan also given the chance to impress from the start.
It was an even first half, with both sides creating half chances across the 45, but Swindon will feel they could’ve been ahead following the nearly moments they created.
The first of these came in the 15th minute, with Williams Kokolo and Sean McGurk combining before the latter looped in a cross that saw Aaron Drinan look to head goalwards, but unfortunately saw his glancing effort go just wide of the far post.
Nine minutes later, Town had another chance with Ricky Aguiar and Aaron Drinan combining to allow Drinan to shoot from the edge of the box but saw his effort arrow just wide of the right post as Swindon continued to push.
With the first half drawing to a close, Aguiar again provided an opportunity by finding Conor McCarthy from a corner, but unfortunately saw his header go just wide of the near post.
One final chance came just two minutes before the break with midfielder Saidou Khan seeing an effort blocked inside the Harrogate penalty area before Harrogate keeper James Belshaw eventually claimed the ball and ended what was a promising spell of Swindon pressure and a first half that left both sides looking for the game’s opening goal.
Half-time: Swindon 0 Harrogate 0
Unfortunately, it would be Harrogate who would take the advantage early in the second half, with defender Anthony O’Connor climbing highest from a set-piece to give his side the lead.
Gavin Gunning and Swindon looked to respond and brought in an immediate switch, with skipper Charlie Austin introduced in place of Sean McGurk as Town had just over half an hour to look for their equaliser.
Dawson Devoy saw a dangerous free-kick blocked in the 56th minute after an impressive run towards goal by second-half substitute Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, with Town continuing to push late on.
