Swindon Town

A second-half treble from Town sealed a 3-0 win and all three points at Barnsley.

Nathan Byrne opened the scoring before Jake Reeves and Andy Williams wrapped up Swindon’s second away win inside a week.

Mark Cooper handed debuts to Jack Stephens and Amari’I Bell with the injured Rapha Branco and Brad Smith missing out. After the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy victory at Newport in midweek, there were also recalls to the side for Massimo Luongo, Yaser Kasim, Wes Foderingham and Michael Smith.

The first forty-five minutes was largely a half dominated by a battle in midfield with neither side able to create too much of note in front of goal.

Town’s best chances fell to strikers Michael Smith and Andy Williams. The former did well to work himself a yard of space on the edge of the box before striking through the ball and forcing Ross Turnbull into a neat save low down to his left-hand side.

Williams, who had stepped off the bench to replace the injured Jonathan Obika, twice headed over the bar on the stretch after being picked out by Smith and Nathan Byrne.

At the other end, the best the hosts could muster came from a set-piece. Jean-Yves M’Voto attacked a free-kick but side-footed his shot into the ground and over the crossbar.

Just short of the hour mark, Town made the vital breakthrough. Nathan Byrne’s exquisite trickery took him into the box before he stabbed the ball beyond the grasp of Turnbull and into the corner of the net.

The visitors continued to create chances but found Turnbull in fine form between the sticks for the Tykes.

As the game entered the final ten minutes, Swindon wrapped up the points with a double salvo in the space of a minute. Firstly, Byrne’s neat work on the right put him in a crossing position. He picked out the onrushing Jake Reeves who turned the ball into the net.

Less than a minute later, the Town had sealed the win thanks to Andy Williams. From the kick-off, Michael Smith snaffled back possession. As Swindon worked their way towards goal, Williams was in the right place to steer the ball home and secure all three points.