Swindon Town

A first half hat-trick from Ben Gladwin set the platform for a 4-2 Swindon success at Rochdale.

All the damage was done by the visitors in the first forty five with the Town midfielder taking centre stage.

Mark Cooper made two changes to the starting line-up with skipper Nathan Thompson and Michael Smith both being restored to the side.

It was the home side who had the better of the early chances with Foderingham keeping out both Bunney and Rose with a pair of smart stops. From the latter, Town broke upfield with Jon Obika playing in Ben Gladwin. One-on-one, he tucked it away into the bottom corner.

Barely two minutes later it was two. A ball in from the right landed at the feet of Michael Smith. The striker shifted it onto his right foot before planting a shot into the corner beyond the dive of Jones.

At the other end, Henderson struck the post for the visitors and Bunney headed over before the visitors made it 3-0. Jon Obika flicked a high ball into the space behind him. Gladwin raced onto it and out-muscled his defender before prodding the ball into the back of the net.

Before the break, Swindon added another to their tally. Gladwin made excellent progress down the right before being felled in the area. He dusted himself off and took charge of the resultant spot-kick, striding up to the ball and smashing it home.

The home side completed a remarkable half of scoring just before the interval. Gladwin brought down Cannon in the area and Ian Henderson dispatched the penalty despite Foderingham getting a hand to the ball.

After a cagey opening to the second period, the hosts’ Jamie Allen saw his run end with Foderingham making a comfortable save to hold on to his shot.

With little in the way of clear-cut opportunities compared to the first forty-five, Town’s best opportunity to add to their total fell to Jon Obika. After some excellent work from Gladwin down the left, the striker was twice kept out from close range by Jamie Jones.

As the clock ticked into injury time, a cross from the Town right flank was turned into his own net by Nathan Thompson to reduce the arrears to just two goals at the final whistle.