Friday, 28th April, 1911

FOOTBALL NOTES.
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SWINDON CHAMPIONS.
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   The realisation of a long-deferred hope, and the crowing of a keen ambition marked the Town's brilliant win over Brighton on Saturday, as the result of which we are able, with pride, to acclaim the "Robins" the champions of the Southern League. It stands out as one of the most memorable events of the Club's career and marks an epoch in Southern League history which is as interesting as it is unique. Few clubs have had the aggravating experience of finishing runners-up in two successive seasons, but that has been Swindon's lot, and it would have been very disappointing had the Town failed again this year. But Swindonians had great faith in the ability of the "Robins" to pull through this time, and that they have done so by virtue of such a magnificent record is a triumph upon which Bannister and his colleagues deserve the heartiest congratulations.

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   Most people who are acquainted with the abilities of the team were inclined to believe that the Town would win either the English Cup or the Southern League championship this season. Their career in the Cup competition was, of course, cut short in the fourth round, but in the League tournament they have been favourites from the first. For practically seven months out of the eight they have kept at the top of the League, and up to February last their position inferred that they would finish with a record complement of points. And but for the strain entailed by the Cup-ties there can be very little doubt that they would have done so. There was, however, a perceptible falling off in the form which had characterised their play in the previous five months, and points came less freely in February and March, but the fine recovery of the past few weeks dispelled what misgivings the club's supporters were beginning to entertain, and if the "Robins" do not complete the season with a "record", they will, at any rate, finish well ahead of the runners-up.

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The game at the County Ground on Saturday was much of the order one had expected it to be - fast, keen and exciting. Brighton came as last season's champions and as the only rivals who had any possible chance at all of reducing the Town's prospects of lifting the shield. True, the chance was a very small one, and with the Town only requiring a solitary point to accomplish the feat, it was barely worth consideration, but strange things happen even in football, and however easy the task appeared, the "Robins" could not afford to take their opponents too lightly. The seasiders are usually a big quantity to tackle, and they doubtless came with the intention of atoning for the defeat which they sustained from the Town earlier in the season. And a win, of course, would have given them another lease of life in the championship struggle, and opened up fresh possibilities.

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Thus the issue was a very momentous one to Swindon. The players fully realised the essentiality of winning, and their seriousness was apparent before the game had been in progress many minutes. They opened strongly, and almost before Brighton had settled down to their game the score-sheet had been opened through the medium of a penalty. The foul, which was directed on Fleming, was not a bad one, but it was nevertheless a palpable trip and intended for the purpose for which it was applied. Tripping at any time is much to be deprecated, but it is difficult to understand why players should resort to such a practice in the penalty area when they know that the consequence means an almost inevitable score. A good many goals would be prevented, and games possibly won if players on the defence used greater discretion instead of regarding tripping as absolutely the "last hope" of preventing a score.

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The goal undoubtedly proved Brighton's undoing. Whiting made a most creditable save from Tout, who, for a wonder, drove straight at the goalkeeper, but he was easily beaten when the kick, through encroachments by the forwards, was ordered to be taken again. The game was finely contested, but Swindon did most of the attacking, and showed much cleverer footwork. Wheatcroft marshalled his wings admirably, and his passes out to both Fleming and Bown were models of subtlety. Most of the pressure on the Brighton goal came from the right, where Fleming and Jefferson showed some delightful combination play, but Lamb on the left was a long way off his usual game, and during the first twenty minutes was very slow, failing several times to get in his centres.

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Lamb's chief fault in this direction was in allowing the ball to get too near the line before attempting to "middle," while two or three fine openings were frittered away through the ball being permitted to roll out of play when it might easily have been saved and put across to the centre. However, the ex-Argyle man afterwards showed great improvement, and his finely-placed corner-kick from which Wheatcroft headed the second goal was a splendid effort. Bown got through a tremendous amount of work, and although he did not shine to the extent that he sometimes does, he had a big share in the Town's success. His footwork was at times very artistic, but occasionally it was spoilt through trying to accomplish a little too much.

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Brighton played far below the form they displayed on the occasion of their last visit here. Their forwards were not nearly so dangerous, and their defence was not always reliable. Leeming, their left back, was a tower of strength, and was a great barrier to the manoeuvres of Jefferson, but he was of little use after injuring his knee, and with Blackman a poor partner, the defence was afterwards very shaky. On the other hand, the Town's rearguard was in great form, and both Kay and Walker defended finely, giving Skiller comparatively little work to do behind. The halves, too, were splendid, and permitted the Brighton quintet to very little scope. Bannister, however, was not at his best, but the few mistakes he made in letting the visitor's pivot through were well covered by the resourcefulness of Kay and Walker.

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Jones, whose customary position is centre forward, was not a success at inside left. He is clever, and very fast, but he seemed to be entirely out of place on Saturday, and did nothing of note. Longstaff was about the best of the forwards, and initiated most of the attacks on the right. Swindon's third goal twelve minutes after the restart practically settled the issue, but the visitors had one or two good chances before the game finished, and spolit them by erratic shooting. Whiting kept a brilliant goal, for them, and excercised remarkable judgment in saving shots from Fleming and Lamb in the second half. Swindon were far the better team, and the score of 3-0 does not unfairly represent their all-round superiority.

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The "Robins" success in the Southern Charity Cup final is a matter of the utmost gratification to Swindonians, and the boisterous reception which was extended to them on their home-coming last evening was genuine evidence of the pride which the townspeople evince in the team. Two out of the three great events which are associated with football in the South have come to Swindon this season. The "Robins" reached the fourth round of the English Cup and took their exit, but their failure to gratify the wishes of their followers, who had hoped to see them figuring again in the semi-final, has been more than redeemed by their ascendancy to the position of Southern League Champions and Charity Cup holders, and upon this double success we offer the Club our warmest congratulations. Yesterday's victory at Fulham capped the most successful season in the history of the Club.

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The Town's 3-0 victory over Coventry City on Wednesday was another fine performance, and it formed a most gratifying wind-up to the series of home fixtures which this season  have yielded only one solitary defeat. The "Robins" were not keen to the fullest advantage in the first half but this was largely due to the fact that they were faced by a strong wind and a watery sun during this period, and the ball was consequently not always easy to control. They were, however, quite a different side in the second half, and throwing off the somewhat free and easy "going" which characterised their exhibition before the interval, they warmed to the fray in a manner which quite surprised the visitors. The three goals scored matured from excellent efforts, in which the forwards especially showed up brilliantly.