Swindon 1 Hartlepool 1

Lee Peacock scores his second goal in a Swindon shirt to give Town a share of the points this afternoon at the County Ground.

he game started off very sloppy with Hartlepool enjoying most of the possession. Hartlepool really couldn't do much wrong. With tensions high and relegation becoming more of a certainty, the players seem to lack the quality to even mount a challenge to stay in League One.

In the 32nd minute the inevitable happened and Hartlepool took a well earned lead with Richie Humphreys taking a free-kick on the edge of the area which was deflected and slipped past Swindon keeper Rhys Evans, who thought the ball was going wide.

Rhys Evans couldn't be blamed really for his performance on the day as he made crucial saves to ensure the deficit was only one. Swindon looked to finally get a break when they were awarded a penalty. Jamie Cureton took it and completly wasted it by kicking it into the keepers hands.

Half time soon came without a challenge from Swindon and the team left the pitch at half time to cries of "what a load of rubbish".

In the second half the team was booed back onto the pitch. The second half started much like the first, with no committment at all and sloppy play all around. The groans and boos grew louder at the County Ground with the club failing to put any effort at all into the game.

Things finally picked up for Town and they finally put on a few attacks and were rewarded in the 54th minute with a Lee Peacock goal sending the fans into a frenzy. Chants of "we are staying up" began. The goal appeared to lift Town and several other goal scoring oppourtunities arose.

Town had an excellent chance to go ahead after the ball hit the cross bar, then a defender and then another defender before being kicked wide.

Late in the game Swindon appeared to slow down and Rhys Evans appeared to have problems kicking the ball down the field against the win.

The game ended 1-1. Another point gained or is it 2 lost? Swindon now find themselves 3 points adrift safety and every game now is a must win. Any more hiccups and its League Two next season.

Toumani Diagouraga - Was the best out of a bad bunch. Had pace and skill and was the only highlight of a bad afternoon. Definatly a star of the future.
A few good saves, couldn't really be faulted for thinking Hartlepool's goal would go wide of the net. Definalty made sure that Swindon didnt go down by 3 or 4 goals. Put some good crosses in but wasn't really anything special on the day. Town's best defender on the day and put some decent crosses into the box. Worse game in a Swindon shirt. It just wasn't his day. Was substituted late in the game. Reliable Charlie put some decisive tackles in. Was unlucky to score late in the game. Our captain was the quietest man on the pitch defensively and vocally. I think it's time to look for a vocal captain to rally the troops. Man of the match. Tackled, held posession, out smarted the opposition. The only thing he didn't do was score. Will definatly be a star at Watford in the future. Had a good game. Is finally back at his best. The ex-Wigan man admitted he thought his Swindon career was over. If we do go down, Whalley is one to keep for sure. Another decent performance from the ex-QPR man. Fought hard for the ball and put in decent crosses from the left. Limped off early in the game. Looked clueless and lost during his time on the pitch though. An off-day for Cureton. Not through lack of trying though. The service just wasn't there. Missed a penalty at the end of the first half. Came on late. Wasn't on the pitch long enough to have any real impact on the game. Finally got his second goal. He has been a great player for the Town. He totally deserved his goal and has worked hard every minute he has played for Swindon. The on loan Brighton and Hove Albion striker, came on late and didn't really have a chance to shine. Did however get up front quickly. Had trouble with balls in the air. Out of the resources available to Iffy Onuora you really can't fault him for the loss. Perhaps the only thing that could have been done was to substitute Jerel Ifil sooner. "It's two points dropped and it makes Tuesdays game even more important. I didn't think we could play any worse than we did in the first half, as we didn't play football.

"In the second half we got hold of the ball and played a lot better. Over the last three or four games we were brave and played football. Thankfully things did improve in the second half.

"Lee Peacock came on in the first half, with Trevor going off with a hamstring injury. I thought Lee did well and was a bright spark for us. Hopefully he won't suffer any reaction over the weekend and we can keep going.



"I thought Toumani Diagouraga had a good full debut for us. He worked the ball well and looked composed at all times. He is a decent player and after a nervous first few minutes played very well. "We are three points from safety which means that Tuesday is extremely important. Next Saturday is the next big game after that but we have to take each game as it comes.

"There are eighteen points still on offer and we have everything to play for. We know what needs to be done and it's just whether we can carry that out,"

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