Eoin Doyle was in an utterly ruthless mood as he secured a hat-trick as Swindon put Crawley to the sword in a perfect 4-0 win at the People’s Pension Stadium.
Doyle had two before half-time bookending the first 45 minutes before finishing his third on the hour mark. Jerry Yates put the cherry on the cake late on with a simple finish following a sumptuous team move.
First Half
It couldn’t have been a better start for Swindon as the rain poured down at the People’s Pension Stadium. Within four minutes they were ahead and, despite the short amount of time played, it was deserved. Camped out in the Crawley final third, Swindon piled on the pressure and broke their opponents resolve with relative ease.
Anthony Grant picked up the second ball after Isgrove’s cross was cleared - he chested the ball down and advanced down the right inside of the penalty area. He squared to the back post and the man in form was there to prod in. Doyle with his 11th of the season to get Swindon off to a flyer.
Chances were at a premium following the goal as the half evened up – Michael Doughty fired from a free-kick midway through the half before Lloyd Isgrove hobbled off to be replaced by Keshi Anderson.
Town finished the half as well as they had started it, however. Doughty clipped a pass down the left channel to Anderson. He backheeled to Donohue who flew past on the overlap and his cross was as pinpoint as they come. Doyle couldn’t turn this down and his diving header flew past Glenn Morris.
Seconds later, and it could have been game over had Doughty’s curled effort from 25 yards been four inches lower. The ball pinged of the crossbar as seven minutes of added time was announced around the ground.
Crawley almost halved the deficit with a minute to play but Nathan Ferguson’s effort cannoned back off the post.
Second Half
It took until the hour mark for Town to extend their lead. It was Wellens’ side at their absolute best – from back to front – as Doughty played into Keshi Anderson who advanced towards goal, slipped in Doyle who was never, ever going to miss.
Swindon popped the ball around seamlessly for the remaining half an hour – the home side effectively chasing shadows as the team in grey worked the ball from side to side in style.
That work on the ball paid dividends on 88 minutes as someone else managed to get in on the act – Jerry Yates was the beneficiary of superb football from Steven Benda all the way through the lines to Kaiyne Woolery. He skipped past his man and found Yates who made no mistake in rounding off a sumptuous away day.
