It was six of the best for Town’s Development side earlier today as they produced a dominant display to beat AFC Bournemouth 6-1 in the Central League at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground in Royal Wootton Bassett.
Anton Rodgers gave the Reds the lead in the first-half before Islam Feruz doubled his side’s advantage before the break with a sublime effort.
It only got better for Town in the second-half as Jermaine Hylton came off the bench to help himself to a superb four-goal haul, while Mikael Ndjoli added a consolation for the Cherries with a penalty.
Swindon opted to field a very strong and experienced side against their youthful counterparts with the likes of Anton Rodgers, Conor Thomas, Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill, Islam Feruz and Jordan Stewart all handed starts.
Deadline Day recruits Rohan Ince and Jesse Starkey were both given the chance to impress in Town shirts for the very first time.
Youngsters Will Henry and Tom Smith, who have been near ever-present in the Central League this term, also started while the likes of Christian Frimpong, Ellis Iandolo and Jordan Young were named among the subs.
There wasn’t a lot of action to digest in the opening stages of the game although Town did carve out the first chance with a trialist heading just over from an Anton Rodgers’ corner.
Jesse Starkey then saw his snapshot held by Callum Stanton in the Cherries’ goal following some good build-up play, but it wasn’t long before the hosts delivered the first blow of the afternoon.
Awarded a free-kick just outside the area, Rodgers stepped up and duly delivered with his strike taking a deflection before creeping in after rebounding off the post and hitting Stanton.
Town so nearly doubled their advantage mere minutes later as Dion Conroy reacted quickest to latch onto a loose ball, but the defender could only scoop his shot over the bar.
However, that miss didn’t matter as the Reds found the back of the target moments later courtesy of a brilliant goal.
Rodgers turned provider to pick out Islam Feruz with a lofted pass and the on-loan Chelsea striker displayed a brilliant touch before lobbing the ball over Stanton and into the back of the net.
That proved to be Feruz’s final action of the game as he was replaced by Jermaine Hylton at half-time, a decision which paid off hugely.
Starkey tried his luck from distance but he was unable to beat Stanton, who was powerless to stop Town from adding a third just a minute later.
Hylton galloped clean through on goal before rounding the Bournemouth stopper and slotting home to strengthen his side’s grip on proceedings.
And the striker was obviously in the mood to impress, adding to his tally just past the hour mark after being played in by Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill.
Bournemouth did pull a goal back shortly after courtesy of Mikael Ndjoli, who just about squeezed his penalty past Will Henry and into the back of the net.
But that didn’t deter Town and they were soon back in their groove, restoring their four-goal cushion thanks to Hylton once again.
After Ellis Iandolo, who was stepping up his comeback from injury, was brought down inside the area by the onrushing Stanton, Hylton stepped up and chipped home the resulting penalty to complete his hat-trick in fine style.
Town were not done there however and they put the gloss on an outstanding performance just shy of the 80-minute mark, Hylton slamming home the rebound after his initial lob had cannoned back off the post to notch his fourth and the Reds’ sixth goal of the afternoon.
There were still chances to be had too as Scott Twine lashed over before Jordan Young dragged an effort wide, while Henry had to be at his best at the other end to deny Mihai Dobre.
And that proved to be the final action of an action-packed encounter with Town able to celebrate an emphatic victory.
TOWN STARTING XI:
Henry; Thomas, Trialist (Christian Frimpong 60), Conroy; Smith, Ince (Ellis Iandolo 60), Rodgers (C), Starkey (Jordan Young 78), Ormonde-Ottewill; Feruz (Jermaine Hylton 45), Stewart (Scott Twine 78).
