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Wrexham 5 Swindon Town 5

Swindon play out a ten-goal thriller in north Wales

19 August 2023

A late Elliot Lee finish cancelled out a strong away performance from Swindon as the sides played out an entertaining 5-5 draw in north Wales.

A clinical first-half performance from Swindon saw goals come through a Jake Young brace, Charlie Austina and Dan Kemp, cancelling out a Jake Bickerstaff effort midway through the first 45.

The second-half saw Wrexham respond through goals from James Jones twice and an Elliot Lee penalty as both sides left with a point apiece.

Town made one change to the starting XI of the side which completed the midweek comeback against Forest Green on Tuesday night, with midfielder Saidou Khan replacing Liam Kinsella who took his place on the bench.

Forward Jacob Wakeling also returned to the matchday squad with a place alongside Kinsella on the bench, following a short injury sustained against Peterborough that kept him out for the last league game against FGR.

The first chance came nine minutes in with Jake Bickerstaff latching onto a loose ball in the Swindon penalty area, but Murphy Mahoney produced a brilliant save from close-range to deny him by tipping the effort around the far post.

Despite this, Swindon took the lead with a well-taken header by Jake Young in the 17th minute.

Neat build-up play allowed Remeao Hutton to cross far post to Charlie Austin who cushioned the ball back across to strike partner Young, converting from close range and giving him his second goal in three games for Town.

Another big save came from Mahoney in the 25th minute, with Ollie Palmer's header from a Wrexham corner tipped over from the Town keeper.

However, it was Town who found the back of the net with skipper Austin notching his first of the season in the 27th minute.

A low cross from Dan Kemp allowed Austin to ghost in and poke home in front of the approaching Ben Foster.

Wrexham responded through Bickerstaff two minutes later with a narrow finish as the game began to liven up.

However, once again Town got their two-goal advantage back through Dan Kemp two minutes later again.

The ball fell to the creative midfielder just outside the Wrexham penalty area, who shimmied to create space and whip the ball into the left-hand corner with an exceptional finish.

Not long later and it was four for Town with Young getting his second of the game in the 34th minute.

The forward latched onto a loose pass and smashed the ball past Foster at his near post, with Town looking deadly in front of goal.

Wrexham created their next chance with Elliot Lee's drilled effort in the 40th minute, but thankfully, the shot drifted wide of the left-hand post.

Young almost got himself a first-half hat-trick, after jinking past two Wrexham defenders, the forward found room for the shot, but unfortunately saw his outside-of-the-boot effort straight at Foster.

This opportunity ended what was a clinical first-half from Town as they looked to continue this in the second 45.

Half Time: Wrexham 1 Swindon 4

The home side started the second half brightly and forced two good early saves from Mahoney to deny Ollie Palmer and Lee.

Wrexham then had the chance to get their second of the game from the penalty spot which Lee converted to make it 4-2 in the 51st minute.

It would be Wrexham who gets the next chance and the next goal, with a well-worked move allowing James Jones to score inside the penalty area four minutes later.

Swindon had their best chance of the second half in the 57th minute, with a powerful run from Frazer Blake-Tracy releasing Jake Young down the right, but his chip went agonisingly wide of the far post with Foster beaten.

Town were almost gifted a fifth with Ben Tozer's back pass slicing just past the near post, as Swindon looked to control the second-half pressure from the home side.

Again, Town looked for a fifth after another spell of Wrexham pressure with Kemp driving forward and seeing his effort bounce back off the bar from a wide angle in the 70th minute.

It was Kemp who got the fifth just a minute later as he find the net with a drilled effort finding the bottom corner and restoring a two-goal advantage for Town.

Following this goal, the game began to slow down as Swindon looked to see out the victory for the second game away from home this week.

Wrexham found a late fourth early into second-half stoppage time through Jones again, flicking on a long throw into the box, with Tom Brewitt almost able to clear off the goal line.

With seconds left, Wrexham found the equaliser and it was Lee who scored from close-range, following a late free-kick that fell kindly to him in the Town penalty area.

Town switch focus to the first group stage fixture of the EFL Trophy against Arsenal U21s at the County Ground on Tuesday.


Wrexham:
Foster, Tozer (C), Palmer (Dalby 82), O'Connell, Mendy, Cannon (Young 71), Boyle (O'Connor 82), Bickerstaff (Waters 82), Barnett (Forde 88), Jones, Lee
Goals: Bickerstaff 29, Lee 51 (P), 90+4, Jones 55, 90+1
Subs not used: Howard, Hosannah

Swindon Town: Mahoney, Hutton, Blake-Tracy, McEachran (Kinsella 71), Young, Khan, Kemp, Brewitt, Genesini (Ward 59), Godwin-Malife, Austin (C)
Goals: Young 17, 34, Austin 27, Kemp 31, 71
Subs not used: Brann, Uwakwe, Wakeling, Minturn

Referee: Charles Breakspear

Attendance: 10,258 (1153 away fans)


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