11am 29 January 2022
EFL Youth Alliance, South West
Swindon Town U18 1 Oxford United U18 1 (att 26)
The last time I watched Swindon's youth team at home they played at a sports centre in Chippenham. They've now moved to another sports centre, slightly closer to Swindon but still some miles away.
The Beversbrook Sports and Community Facility is on the edge of Calne, and is such a hive of activity on a Saturday morning that parking spaces are at a premium.
Beversbrook's Facebook page helpfully posts the weekend's pitch allocations, so I knew that Swindon and Oxford's under 18 teams would be on 'pitch one', closest to the pavilion and car park. Some Swindon youth team games have been on the adjacent 3G pitch.
Part of the car park side of the pitch was roped off, and there are a pair of dugouts on the opposite touchline.
Trying to play decent football on such a windy morning was always going to be a challenge, even for young professional players who are generally able to control a ball well.
Oxford had slightly the better of the first half and took a lead towards the end of it. Their advantage didn't last long though, as a goalkeeping error presented Swindon with the simplest of equalisers.
The second half was something of a stalemate. The teams were evenly matched, and it was certainly competitive, but neither could make any headway with such a strong wind blowing across the pitch.
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