RIPLEY THE ACE BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
SWINDON manager Luke Williams was left rueing missed opportunities as the Robins were held to a goalless draw by Oldham.
In truth, much of the reason for the home side failing to score was down to Oldham goalkeeper Connor Ripley.
He made a string of saves throughout to ensure that Oldham left the County Ground with a point for their trip back up north, leaving Williams frustrated in the process.
He said: “As a team we need to get the ball over the line.
“We created more chances than we have done recently but again we blanked and didn’t score.
“At half-time we should be ahead, and if you are not the opposition are hanging on and feel it’s their day not to concede.
“For us you fear you’ve missed the boat. But we came strong again.
“Oldham were very clever and tried to slow the game down but we got some flow and created more chances.
“When you are in this situation people hesitate, overthink or try too hard. We need to relax even though there is pressure and tension around the place.”
The home side dominated from the outset and had two chances in the first six minutes which both fell to on-loan striker Nicky Ajose, but he found an in-form Ripley in goal.
Swindon’s Jon Obika then tried his luck from range in the 11th minute but Oldham’s goalkeeper was again alert to the danger and managed to safely hold onto the ball.
Oldham had arguably the chance of the game on the stroke of halftime when Rob Hunt was picked out in the box by Ryan McLaughlin but the midfielder’s volley went just wide.
Ben Gladwin came within a whisker of giving Swindon the victory in the 90th minute but after turning calmly in the area he fired his shot over the bar.
The away side extended their unbeaten run to three games and manager John Sheridan was left satisfied with the point.
He said: “It was a battle. I don’t think we played well in the first-half and I was really disappointed.
“Connor Ripley has made some great saves but we stood off Swindon too much and Connor has kept us in the game. Even though we had the best chance with Rob Hunt which he should have scored. “We were a lot better in the second-half. We got into the game and I felt they had to be braver and get on the ball more which they did do. “The main thing was to get something from the game. Obviously, we would have liked to have won it but Swindon haven’t gained anything on us. “We’ve defended really well as a team, so we will take the point and move on.” SWINDON: (4-4-2): Vigouroux 6, Barry 6, Thompson 6, Jones 6, Ormonde-Ottewill 6, Colkett 6, Ince 7 (Conroy 77 5), Gladwin 7, Brophy 6 (Goddard 68 5), Obika 6 (Norris 76 6), Ajose 6. Subs not used: Henry, Thomas, Rodgers, Kasim OLDHAM: (4-4-2): Ripley 8, Law 6, Wilson 6, Clarke 6, Hunt 5, Banks 6, Fane 6, O’Neill 6, Taylor 6, McLaughlin 6 (Croft 81 5), Holloway 7 (Ngoo 82 5). Subs not used: Kettings, Flynn, Erwin, Green, Obadeyi