Swindon Town secured all three points against Bristol Rovers with a second half Christian Roberts penalty, but both teams ended the match with 9 players, writes Adrian Smith.
The Robins gained a hard earned win with an improved second half display in the West Country derby thanks to Christian Roberts 65th minute penalty but Premiership referee Rob Styles eventually took centre stage by sending off Jerel ifil and Rovers players Richard Walker and Steve Elliot in one incident and then Sofiene Zaaboub saw red in added time in a match which was competitive but never dirty. Swindon were also grateful to several outstanding saves by Peter Brezovan with Rovers pressing hard throughout the match and few would argue that it was the big Town keeper who was 'man of the match' for the Robins.
Rovers almost seized a 2nd minute lead when Rickie Lambert was put through by Stuart Campbell and and he lobbed the ball past Peter Brezovan but Town fans were relieved to see the ball rebound off the crossbar and it was cleared. The visitors had another opportunity shortly afterwards when Jack Smith conceded a foul on Town's right wing but the resulting ball forward was gathered cleanly by Brezovan.
Swindon's s first attack of the afternoon saw Michael Pook fire in a hard shot wide of goal after Easton had passed to the him in near the edge of the penalty area.
Christian Roberts was unceremoniously body checked by David Pipe on the left wing and the resulting free-kick saw the ball eventually reach Jon-Paul McGovern in space near the penalty spot but his shot rebounded off the ground and Rovers keeper Steve Phillips was able to catch the ball easily.
On 13 minutes Peter Brezovan kept Swindon in the game with a superb double save from Sean Rigg after the Rovers attacker found himself in space deep in the Town penalty area but the big Town keeper spread himself to parry the first shot and then pounced to gather the ball after Rigg had fired goalwards again.
Swindon's first corner of the game came in the 18th minute but the resulting cross was easily cleared only for Rovers to charge upfield and gain their first corner but Brezovan commanded his area well and punched the ball away from goal.
Swindon were getting marginally more of the attacking play without being able to get a clear shot of goal and that pattern continued with Ifil firing high and wide in the 29th minute. Shortly afterwards Roberts wasted a good opportunity with the Rovers keeper way out of his goal after punching the ball but Roberts elected to go for goal with a powerful cross and his effort flew well past the far post much to the amusement of the Rover fans on the Stratton Bank.
Rovers had a good chance through a counterattack in the 40th minute when Lambert laid the ball off to Rigg and his curled effort was well caught by Brezovan. One minute later Simon Cox's tenacity earned a corner but McGovern's cross was headed clear and the chance was gone.
There was a minor scare when Lambert was charging towards the Swindon penalty area and he collided with Brezovan and Aljofree but the ball was cleared and the last main action of the half came when Rovers had a corner in the one minute of added time but the ball was eventually gathered cleanly by Brezovan from a shot by Rigg.
Half Time: Swindon Town 0 Bristol Rovers 0
Swindon started the second half in determined fashion gaining an early corner which was cleared by the Rovers defence and Jon-Paul McGovern fired in a powerful volley from the right side of the penalty area which struck Joe Jacobson in the 6 yard box and he cleared upfield.
Sean Rigg got injured in a challenge with Brezovan after outmuscling Ifil and the Rovers forward eventually had to be substituted by Andy Williams.
The Robins had another corner in the 53rd minute and although McGovern fired in a shot goalwards, the referee Rob Styles spotted an infringement and Rovers regained possession.
Simon Cox was cautioned in the 57th minute for a late challenge on the Rovers keeper when he had darted from his box to hack a long ball into touch. The referee also lectured Ryan Green for getting involved in some pushing away from the incident.
Swindon were presented with a penalty on 65 minutes after Roberts had done brilliantly to control a long ball from Pook on the tip of his toes and although he was going away from goal, he was bundled over by Joe Jacobson in the penalty area and Rob Styles had no hesitation in awarding the spot kick to the Robins. Up stepped Christian Roberts to send a powerful shot past Steve Phillips's right hand and lift the noise levels around the County Ground with the match being watched by 9342, the best crowd of the season so far.
Lewis Haldane almost pulled the visitors level with a vicious long range shot which Brezovan did well to push clear at the expense of a corner and the Swindon defence dealt with the resulting cross and the ball was cleared upfield.
Rovers manager Paul Trollope decided to shuffle his pack and introduced former Town player Sammy Igoe in place of David Pipe and also replaced Haldane with Andy Williams in the 68th minute. Igoe was quickly in the action and he fired in a long range shot which dipped over the crossbar with Brezovan backpedalling and Swindon were indebted to the big keeper shortly afterwards when he dived at the feet of Andy Williams to deny the Rovers player an equaliser.
Paul Sturrock made his first substitution in the 77th minute replacing Paynter with Barry Corr.
Rovers were peppering the Swindon goal with shots keeping Brezovan busy. Suddenly the match exploded in the 82nd minute with the ball on the halfway line, Jerel Ifil and Richard Walker tangled in the Swindon half for no obvious reason. The referee stopped play and after a two minute delay,brandished red cards at Ifil and Walker and then shortly afterwards also showed a red card to Steve Elliott, presumably for something which happened in the resulting melee.
Swindon replaced Roberts with youngster Ben Tozer in the 84th minute and shortly afterwards Rovers had the ball in the net but the flag had already been raised for offside much to the disgust of the Rovers fans who had started celebrating on the Stratton Bank.
Sofiene Zaaboub replaced McGovern in the 88th minute and his first main involvement in the game saw the Frenchman receive a straight red card in the 1st minute of added time for a late challenge on Green after the Swindon player had lost the ball instead of passing to the unmarked Cox, so parity had been restored with both teams down to 9 players.
Jack Smith also saw yellow for timewasting at a goal kick as Town tried hard to hang on to their narrow lead.
Three more minutes of added time were played with frantic attacking by Rovers including a corner which saw Steve Phillips join the attack but Town held out to secure a hard earned three points and send the Pirates home empty handed.
Full Time: Swindon Town 1 Bristol Rovers 0
