Swindon Town Under-18s earned a 2-2 draw with an Indonesian Select made up of some of the most promising youngsters representing the Asian country as part of a high profile friendly hosted in Wiltshire.
The encounter, hosted at Melksham Town’s Oakfield Stadium as part of an early afternoon kick off yesterday, ended with four goals and a share of the spoils in a game broadcast live to millions across the world.
Not only was the clash featured on Mola.TV with former pro Lee Hendrie in the studio on punditry, but marked the return of ex-Town boss Dennis Wise, who took charge of Garuda Select alongside another big footballing name in Des Walker.
Swindon took the lead through Flynn Hamilton on 18-minutes after he found space on the edge of the box to lash home a low left-footed strike into the bottom right corner of the net.
However, the visitors turned the game on its head and were leading very late on before Town rescued a draw with a last gasp goal as the clock hit 90-minutes.
Good work from Fletcher Hubbard saw him cut the ball back from the by-line for Josh Keyes to smash home the equaliser.
Garuda is a UK-based football academy based out of Loughborough University hosting Indonesian football protégés who are starring on a sports documentary called ‘Dream Chasers: Garuda Select.’
The programme is in its fourth season and shows some of the best young players in the country facing English academy sides like Arsenal and Manchester City.
Ahead of the game, Town's senior academy director, Jamie Russell, said: “This is a fixture we have always looked forward to over the past few years, and is a real showcase event for our talented young players with the game featuring on TV all over the world.
“This always proves a difficult game for us with Garuda possessing some really exciting prospects themselves, but from a developmental perspective it plays a really key role.
“I think this game highlights the great work Swindon Town is doing in not only nurturing local talent, with many of our young players having already had a taste of first-team football this term.
“It also shows how influential our academy is in driving young people to play football all over the world."
