Swindon Town ended a 13-match cup losing drought with an overwhelming 4-0 victory over Bristol Rovers in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
Swindon jumped into the lead and maintained it thanks to a great first-half performance from Paul Glatzel, who scored a quick double. Joel McGregor and Botan Ameen, both from the academy, scored their first senior goals before the opening 45 minutes were ended.
Swindon had not won a cup game in any tournament since beating Walsall in the FA Cup Second Round in 2021, but they eventually broke their drought to put themselves in contention for the final group game against Tottenham Hotspur under-21s.
Mark Kennedy made seven changes from the weekend, with Dan Barden keeping his place in goal being the most notable piece of team news. Iraq Under-19 international Ameen was handed his first senior appearance, with Dani Gonzalez possibly able to make his as one of three academy players on the bench.
Ameen made a pretty instant impact on his professional debut, not with his attacking skills but his defensive work. Inside two minutes he won the ball back high up the pitch and found Sean McGurk. He drove with the ball and slid a ball through to find the run of Glatzel, and after holding off a defender saw his deflected shot loop into the corner.
The energy difference from the weekend was evident right from the off. There could be no excuse of a dry pitch after all the rain and the energy of McGurk, Joel McGregor, and Ameen was there for all to see as they made the defenders very uncomfortable.
The second goal didn’t take much longer to arrive as in the 12th minute Cain was afforded too much space on the left to whip in a low ball. The link-up from the former Liverpool academy teammates was telepathic as sliding in at the far post was Glatzel to meet the ball with a thunderous volley back across Matthew Hall and into the net.
The second goal was the slap to awaken the League One side and they pushed on to take more control of the play. First Gatlin O’Donkor took down a cross in the area and found space before having a shot saved before Isaac Hutchinson then saw a header blocked by Tunmise Sobowale.
But having weathered the storm (both literally and figuratively) having won an attacking free kick, the ball was headed away from the initial cross to McGregor to volley into the corner of the net for a pretty special first professional goal.
There was even a chance for a misery compiler moments later as McGurk won the ball in space in front of the Rovers’ defence. He charged forward as they retreated and took his shot but fired over the top.
For the second time this season, Town netted four goals in the first half as not long after that a corner into the near post was met by the head of Ameen and powered into the back of the net as he got his first goal in professional football.
The free-flowing front three were at it again before the break as McGurk’s beautiful trivela pass set Glatzel away. Ameen was there for a pass but with a hat-trick on his mind he went for goal, but the ball came back to McGurk. He tried his luck with a first-time finish but Hall got down well to save it.
As had been the case against Newport County with Town in the same position, the foot eased off the gas after the break. Dylan Mitchell replaced Gavin Kilkenny at the break to give another starter a rest and Swindon were happy to let Rovers try and play through the rain to make something of the game.
With the rain hammering down on their sodden shirts, Rovers didn’t have the heart to try and fight back after the break. They had a few token chances with Kofi Shaw getting the best of them with a shot from inside the area but he couldn’t hit the target. The fans they had brought were long past caring and this night was about the Swindon youngsters.
Ahead of a crunch game in the league on Saturday at Cheltenham Town which Kennedy had already earmarked as his priority, there were many making their case.
The tireless work of Ameen against a pair of physical centre-backs showed the step was just the right size for him, McGurk in a freer role had the spark which so often has been missing this season, McGregor continues to thrive on the right, and Glatzel is still the leading man we thought he was going into the season.
Whether those would be the answers was for another day but for one night the worries faded away as the win was back in Swindon.
STFC starting XI: Barden, Sobowale, Ofoborh, Glatzel, McGurk, Cain, Kilkenny, Freckleton, Minturn, McGregor, Ameen.
STFC substitutes: Bycroft, Longelo, Hall, Mitchell, Gonzalez, Obodo, Alston.
BRFC starting XI: Hall, Sousa, Moore, Thomas, Garrett, Taylor, Hutchinson, McCormick, O’Donkor, Bilongo, Shaw.
BRFC substitutes: Griffiths, Anthony, Wilson, Omochere, Savage, Hill, Edwards.
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