Swindon boss Phil Brown disappointed not to open home account with victory

Posted Saturday, March 31, 2018 by PA

Phil Brown was disappointed his side could not claim victory on his home debut as Swindon manager after drawing 1-1 with Morecambe.

Callum Lang had put Morecombe ahead with his eighth goal of the season, before Luke Norris won and scored a controversial penalty to give the hosts a share of the spoils.

“Today we had to roll our sleeves up and get something from the match,” Brown said.

“Morecambe are probably arguing about the penalty but I didn’t see the incident.

“At 1-1 you are thinking: ‘Here we go, my first home game, so hopefully a first home win’.

“If truth be known, it should have been, but Morecambe are a stubborn bunch.

“Crawley will be more technical and tactical, but we know we need to do to win on Monday.”

Morecambe were forced into an early change when goalkeeper Barry Roche injured himself and was replaced by Danijel Nizic.

Swindon controlled much of the game but could not test the substitute keeper. Luke Norris scuffed a shot wide in the first half, before Rollin Menayese lashed an effort over the crossbar.

Jim Bentley’s side took the lead two minutes before half-time when Vadaine Oliver won possession, before playing Lang through on goal, and the striker coolly slotted the ball past Stuart Moore into the bottom corner.

Swindon almost equalised when Ben Purkiss met Matt Taylor’s corner but Nizic superbly pushed the goalbound header onto the post.

Referee Kevin Johnson awarded Swindon a penalty early in the second half when Alex Kenyon was deemed to have pulled back Luke Norris, and the Robins striker smashed the ball down the middle to level for his 14th goal of the campaign.

Richards then missed a glorious chance to give the hosts the lead when he could not connect with Taylor’s low cross from two yards out, as the game fizzled out in the final twenty minutes with little action at either end.

Morecambe boss Bentley said there were plenty of positives to take from the game after his side extended their unbeaten run to five matches in League Two, and his side can now look forward to their home match against Cambridge.

“Hopefully we can get back to winning ways and keep this unbeaten run going on Monday,” he said.

“We had to dig in at times today but we were strong defensively and we fully deserved the point.

“The turning point is the penalty and I need to see it again. No one in the stadium claimed for it – neither the fans nor the Swindon technical area. It was a strange one.”