lost that loving feeling - Just Swindon in the rain

The Game
Awful. Forest were very poor, especially in the last fifteen minutes when, despite needing a goal to rescue a point, they merely got worse and never offered a serious threat. A succession of corners in the first half was the high point of the performance, but, as ever, we didn't make these count. We struggled to put more than two passes together all game and suffered as a result. Swindon didn't play that well but always looked the more dangerous side and Rory Fallon was a potent force up front. A double substitution towards the end of the game gave them the impetus that enabled them to find a winner.

Trickiest Tree
No-one really excelled in this match. Ross Gardner's excellent run and shot was worth noting and his overall work rate was good. Kris Commons once again came up with the goods in front of goal but was otherwise quiet.

The Ground
Many people were moaning at the state of the County Ground but to be fair I've seen much worse. The Arkell's Stand and Nationwide Stand were relatively impressive and, although a little dated, the ground as a whole will be one of the better ones that we visit this season. Unfortunately the stand I was in was the uncovered Stratton Bank, which meant I got absolutely soaked to the skin. (So much for my mate's comments when buying the tickets - "It won't rain, it's August!")

Bog Standard
The toilets were the only place for the rain-soaked Trickies behind the goal to actually get any shelter! Unfortunately there were a number of holes in the roof! The facilities weren't exactly the most up-to-date but were at least relatively big! The ladies were left with a basic port-a-cabin, but it was at least water-tight!

Programme
Despite many of pages of mine getting stuck together in the rain, the programme proved a decent read! The Forest section was reasonably sized and the rest was well-written and informative.

Home Fans
The home fans were rather quiet, although perhaps this was borne out of their teams disappointing first two games of the season. The volume did increase however, but only towards the end of the game when victory was assured. The "Easy!" chants are growing a little old now in my opinion, but both sets of fans were guilty of that. The upside-down "ultras" sign in the Town End did provide some amusement however!

Best Chant
It has to be "Cloughie, Cloughie, stop the rain" that one man in front of me started midway through the first half. Thankfully, by the second half, our request had been granted! "Stand up if you're nice and dry" didn't go down too well with us wet folk! My attempt to carry on the Brazil theme of the new away kit with a rendition of "We all agree, Dobie is better than Pele" was met with disdain, and so was a bit of a non-starter!

Overall
Swindon was a disappointing day out in terms of the dire weather and the performance to match. Goodness knows what the 'Magic Roundabout' outside the ground was meant to be about... our bus driver was certainly baffled by it! Forest will need to perform much better than this throughout the season if they are to make an impression on the upper reaches of the division, and a pacey striker would be a more than welcome addition before the close of the transfer window.