We need to be more clinical, admits Garner

HEAD coach Ben Garner stressed that Swindon must take their chances on the final day of the Sky Bet League Two campaign in order to secure their play-off spot, writes Neil Goulding.

Garner’s Robins left it late to beat battling Barrow at the County Ground on Saturday.

Josh Davison opened the scoring midway through the first half before Matt Platt levelled late on for Phil Brown’s Bluebirds.

Town would have been left to lament their catalogue of missed chances, but Louis Reed popped up with a timely winner to keep up the pace.

Swindon thereafter head to Walsall on the final day knowing a victory will be enough to finish in the top seven. It is mathematically possible, although unlikely, that they could yet finish in the places for automatic promotion. That scenario could be ruled out today, though, depending on the results in League Two.

“It’s fantastic it’s in our own hands,” beamed Garner. “I thought the response from the players and the crowd was amazing.

“There are times when some crowds would start jeering and getting on your back, but they were fantastic. We got what we deserved, we deserved to win the game. The players were fantastic.

“We should have comfortably

SWINDON TOWN ............. 2 BARROW ............................ 1

been 3-0 up and it’s always in the back of your mind.

“You just want one of those chances to go in – it’s as simple as that. We were creating, we were getting there. I was trying to keep the players positive and tell them to keep getting there – we did that.

“We kept creating opportunities, and the goalkeeper made a couple of really good saves.

“There was a little bit of poor decision-making or execution from us sometimes, but we’ve won and that’s all that matters.

“If it had been one where those chances had cost us then, yeah, I probably wouldn’t have slept much tonight. But now that we’ve won the game it’s a different matter.

“We still want to look at our performance and improve it – we certainly need to be more clinical moving forwards.”

Swindon: Ward, Egbo, Baudry, Conroy, Odimayo (O’Brien 90), Payne (Gladwin 88), Reed, Williams (Aguiar 90), McKirdy, Davison, Barry. Not Used: Wollacott, Mitchell-Lawson, Parsons, Minturn. Booked: Odimayo.

Goals: Davison 22, Reed 85.

Barrow: Farman, Brown (Grayson 50), Platt, Canavan, Brough, Gotts (Williams 79), Rooney, Beadling (Banks 50), Hutton, Gordon, Kay.

Subs Not Used: White, Lillis, Stevens.

Booked: Gotts, Brough, Gordon.

Goals: Platt 83.

Attendance: 13,355.

Referee: Robert Lewis (Shropshire).