Swindon Advertiser

Questions would have to be asked about the defending as Tyrese Hall netted in the first half but Swindon showed determination after the break with Danny Butterworth finishing after a slick one-two and then Sean McGurk curling in a delightful winner.

So, how did the players fare as individuals at The Nigel Eady County Ground?

GK: Dan Barden – 6

This was a better performance from Barden having lost his place back to Jack Bycroft. At 1-0 down right at the start of the second half, he made a massive save to keep Town in it and that quickly proved pivotal. His short passing definitely seemed more decisive even if his long balls remain wayward.

RB: Jeff King – 3

This was a tough night for King. He is not yet fully fit, so that did not help, but his lack of pace can be a problem and definitely proved to be so during this one as Hall, Leo Black, and others caused him an awful lot of defensive problems.

CB: Ant McCormick – 6

A very strong debut for the youngster. His comfort on the ball was very apparent and he never looked perturbed by what was at times a furious Spurs press. But he also showed the other side of him as he got the elbows out and made key defensive interventions.

CB: Ryan Delaney – 5

Delaney is another working their way back from injury and he was up and down in this one. In Town’s better periods, he was getting forward with the ball and picking nice passes but also when they came under pressure he got slightly panicked. He did well to negate the speed of Spurs in behind with his experience.

LB: Rosaire Longelo – 6

This performance from Longelo was more like what he showed in pre-season. Being the main provider of width on the left, he got into several very good positions and had some balls which deserved more. His speed in recovery was also very useful.

CM: Jake Cain – 6

I was very close to giving Cain a seven, but I think he drifted a little bit too much for that. In spells, he was very dangerous with his vision and ability to turn in midfield, but then there would be periods when he was not involved enough. Either way, it was his best display for a while.

CDM: Joel Cotterill – 6

The best thing about Cotterill’s performance is that some of the jitters he seemed to have receiving the ball deep earlier in the season looked to be gone. There is real talent in him and I think Ian Holloway can help to bring it out.

CM: Danny Butterworth – 5

He took his goal very well and in the first half took up good positions between the lines but he was probably the least impactful midfielder throughout.

RW: Botan Ameen – 5

Ameen, even in a down performance by his standards, looked at home in a first-team fixture. His speed did cause problems, but it did feel like his runs weren’t being utilised at the right times and that meant he was never able to get into dangerous positions.

ST: Paul Glatzel – 6

Asking Glatzel to be the Harry Smith player is definitely not the way to use him but when he was able to rotate into wide areas or drop in and get on the ball, he did look threatening. Then he had the presence of mind to feed McGurk for the winner. Special mention to the way he trapped the ball dead from a long punt out to the left in the first half.

LW: Sean McGurk – 7

To quote the great philosopher Anakin Skywalker: “This is where the fun begins.” McGurk seemed to understand his free role last night and it brought the best from him. He orchestrated all of the best attacks and then scored a fabulous goal. Holloway seems to understand McGurk and hopefully, this is the start of him taking off.

Substitutes:

Grant Hall – 6

Hall has come under fire with his more recent displays but in this game, he looked like an experienced defender should against an academy side. He was always in control and his passing was very slick.

Joel McGregor – 6

When coming up against an elite academy, there was a certain thrill in seeing our own youth player come on and look a cut above. He did not have a lot of openings going forward but defensively he locked Spurs down time and again.

Dylan Mitchell – 4

I was excited to see Mitchell get some time in this one but he didn’t make much of an impression in his 19 minutes on the field.

Aaron Drinan – 5

In his cameo at the end of this one, we saw one particularly good run down the side. His work rate is a plus for this new system but you still want to see him get in the middle more often.

Owen Foye – N/A

He was not on the pitch long enough for a rating but I get more excited by him every time I see him play.

Swindon went into the game knowing that a draw would do to see them into the knockout rounds but were behind at the break when Tyrese Hall turned home from a cross.

But Town were able to turn up the tempo in the second half and quickly levelled when Danny Butterworth got in behind before Sean McGurk's delightful curler made it two wins in two for the new manager.

Holloway said that although his new-look team came under pressure in the first half and fell behind, they never lost heart and made sure they came back.

He said: "I learned that we keep letting the first goal in, which is not what I want, really, but in fairness, it was a new team and we had to do some things as players could only play a certain number of minutes.

"Considering that our team hadn't played together before and we were playing a team that plays together an awful lot and they are playing a certain way with how they are moving and playing the ball it was tough.

"We struggled a bit in the first half, we still played well and we still had the ball but we didn't take the ball off of them and then in the second half we marked someone a laid a trap and then we won it back.

"When you can win the ball back quickly like we did and put pressure on them like we did then the confidence changes and our skillful players started to believe in themselves.

"I would like to start by not letting one in but it didn't phase us today, we never lost belief, and that is what I am asking of them, so that is what made me proud."

The new manager also said that he felt the crowd getting behind the team was really paying off and helping the team to grow in confidence.

He said: "When we started to believe and started to create things then the crowd joined in and then everything was great and we managed to win the game.

"It is about being humble and brave, being adventurous, and passing and moving and we are starting to get that.

"Whoever came on was getting that too and they seemed to grow and they seem to want it.

"The crowd is helping with that, it is really helping, I am telling you that.

"As long as you like what you see, please let the lads know that and it will do them the world of good.

"When they are feeling confident then some of their skills are coming out and I want them to feel 20-foot tall every time they walk in the place and realise what a privilege it is to wear that badge.

"We have got an awful long way to go but it has been a fantastic start."

Town trailed at the break after a defensive lapse left Tyrese Hall unmarked at the back post to turn home from a cross and leave Swindon with work to do in the second half.

But after the break, Danny Butterworth and Sean McGurk both scored fabulous goals to see the game turn on its head.

Three days after progressing in the FA Cup, Swindon make it beyond the group stages in the BSM Trophy for the first time since 2021.

Ian Holloway made 11 changes from his first line-up in charge as he looked to give all of his players a chance to impress. Academy defender Antony McCormick was handed his first senior appearance alongside Ryan Delaney, who played at The Nigel Eady County Ground as a Swindon player for the first time.

As Holloway predicted before the game, Spurs came out of the gate playing the Ange Postecoglu way, keeping possession nicely and looking to work it quickly into advanced areas. Town were having to sit in a bit more and try and take the sting out of the game when they could.

But they were creating openings of their own in transition and had a very good one as Jake Cain clipped a cross from the left corner of the box right onto the boot of Botan Ameen. The Iraq youth international lashed a volley back across goal and narrowly over the top.

The skill of the Spurs youngsters was evident when Leo Black picked up the ball on the left touchline after 17 minutes. The midfielder took the ball and briefly became Diego Maradona as he weaved through defenders like an ambulance in traffic but when it came to the shot it was soft and too close to Dan Barden.

The academy side had more of the ball but it was blow-for-blow with chances. Cain made a great turn in midfield to get behind Tottenham before spraying the ball out to McGurk. He was able to set Rosaire Longelo away to clip the ball over Sam Archer but the defenders got back to clear.

After 25 minutes that quality showed again as Yusuf Akhamrich rolled away from a tackle and played an inch-perfect cross to the far post for Hall to turn home from the edge of the six-yard box. Questions would be asked about how Swindon left him so free.

The goal appeared to spook Swindon and they got away from what was giving them success. McGurk and Butterworth had been picking up positions in between the lines to get away from Tottenham but instead, they were trying to get Paul Glatzel and Ameen in behind from deep too quickly and giving the ball away.

This led to a long period without chances until the 41st minute when Longelo’s cross was headed to the top of the box. Cain came onto it, beat a man, and let fly with an effort that skimmed off the turf and went just wide of the post.

Holloway came into the game saying he wanted to see how his team would interpret his instructions, and they would need to be re-established at the break if Swindon were going to get the result they needed to progress.

The task almost got bigger straight away in the second half as Tyrese Hall got in behind substitute Grant Hall down the left and played a ball across the face of goal. Damola Ajayi got on the end of it but Barden got down with lightning reactions to keep the deficit to one.

Seconds later the Spurs goalkeeper pulled off an even better save when McGurk got the ball on the edge of the box. He unleashed a laser towards the top corner, but the young stopper flicked it with the very top of his fingertips against the crossbar.

From the resulting corner, Town put one under the posts and had two players unmarked at the back post but again Archer was there to flick it over them.

But the chances kept coming as Butterworth played a quick one-two with Glatzel to get in down the side of the box and he slotted his effort calmly into the back of the net.

They had to wait a bit longer for it but when the winner came it was an absolute delight. In the 74th minute, Glatzel took down a cross in the middle and spread the play to McGurk. He took a touch and with no back lift curled one over the goalkeeper and into the top corner.

Two wins from two in the cup competitions for Ian Holloway gives him a good base to go into the Milton Keynes Dons games and a few selection headaches to boot.

STFC starting XI: Barden, Delaney, Cotterill, Glatzel, McGurk, Longelo, Cain, King, Butterworth, Ameen, McCormick.

STFC substitutes: Evans, Sobowale, Drinan, Hall, McGregor, Mitchell, Foye.

TH starting XI: Archer, Ashcroft, Robson, King, Cassanova, Kyerematen, Akhamrich, Black, Hall, Ajayi, Williams.

TH substitutes: Linton, Andyapen, McKnight, Irow, Maguire, Arganese-McDermott, Baptiste.

Attendance: 1,816.

Swindon Town 2 Tottenham Hotspur U21s 1: as it happened  Swindon Advertiser

Matchday live: Swindon Town v Tottenham Hotspur U21s  Swindon Advertiser

Swindon will play their final Bristol Street Motors Trophy group match on Tuesday, knowing that a draw regardless of the outcome of the penalty shoot-out or a win will see them into the knock-out rounds for the first time in three years.

Spurs Under-21s are in their way, having won a bonus point in a draw against Bristol Rovers and lost to Exeter in their previous matches, meaning they must beat Swindon to progress.

Having just taken over the reins at The Nigel Eady County Ground, Holloway believes this is a useful experience for his players to make a case to be in his starting 11.

He said: “This is the perfect opportunity for me to look at it and see these players’ take on what I have said in the last week.

“It gives them the chance to have a run out there and show our fans what they can do, which is brilliant.

“Hopefully I get the biggest headache I have ever had and am not sure who to pick on Saturday – that is what I want.

“This is a great opportunity and then we have another friendly next week against Bristol Rovers where I can play everyone else who hasn’t played, so they all get the chance to prove to me they should be playing and that is absolutely vital.

“This is a whole new start for everybody and I am really excited to see their take on what I have said so far.”

Holloway said that although he will be fielding a new-look side for the game, he believes that his squad will be able to deliver a performance that will excite the supporters.

He said: “This is why I have come back in, I can’t wait to pit what I have learned against what they [Spurs] are doing tomorrow, watch my team, and help them at half time.

“My team that I have picked to play hasn’t even played together before but I believe that the footballers that we have got in that will be able to do what we want them to do.

“But they have got to solve the problem that is in front of them, when the ball moves, we move and we move in this way.

“I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow but we have just videoed our training, so I can show them what we were doing – I have never had this before but I think I can speed up what I am teaching because of the wonderful set-up we have got at this football club.

“I am excited about what is going to happen and I want to win and hopefully I will see some exciting football and be smiling at the end of the game.

“Hopefully the people who come, who have to buy another ticket feel it is worth it and they enjoy it as well.”

Holloway on Spurs U21s, rotation, and Uwakwe: as it happened  Swindon Advertiser

Press conference live: Swindon Town v Tottenham Hotspur U21s  Swindon Advertiser

Swindon Town under-18s will take on Tottenham Hotspur or Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup if they make it to that stage.