Swindon Town U18s finished their 2023/24 Merit League campaign with a strong showing against Cheltenham Town U18s, with a 6-2 victory over the Robins on Tuesday evening.
Cheltenham took an early lead with a close-range finish in the 18th minute, but Town's U18s responded with three quickfire goals in the first half to give them the two-goal advantage at half-time.
A brace from defender Harley Hunt and a late strike from substitute Miles Obodo cancelled another consolation for the Robins to ensure that Town came out victors in their final league game of the 2023/24 season.
The game started with a chance in the first six minutes for Swindon with a deflected pass falling to George Alston, but his quickfire effort was well saved by the Cheltenham keeper early on.
Town's U18s were made to fight back following the game's opener in the 18th minute, with an effort inside the Swindon penalty area beating Town keeper Redman Evans to find the bottom corner.
Swindon's deficit lasted just four minutes when midfielder Alistair Stewart controlled an excellent pass through to him before slotting the ball past the onrushing Cheltenham keeper to put Town back on level terms midway through the first half.
Town's attacking threat didn't stop there, with George Alston putting Swindon ahead just before the 30-minute mark, as the winger nipped inside to adjust an effort that found the back of the net having cut inside from his left-hand position.
36 minutes in, Swindon had a third, when Dani Gonzalez found himself through on goal, before showing a lot of composure to lift the ball over the Cheltenham keeper for a well-taken third to give Town a two-goal lead, having shown great character to respond to falling a goal behind going into the half-time interval.
Half-time: Swindon Town U18s 3 Cheltenham Town U18s 1
Swindon U18s came out firing in the second half and looked to extend their lead immediately with defender Harley Hunt heading home just two minutes in to make it 4-1 to Town.
Redman Evans was forced into a good save in the 52nd minute, with a sharp tip around his bottom left post to keep Town's three-goal lead.
But Cheltenham were given a chance to get their second from the penalty spot on the hour mark. Despite an initial save from Evans, the referee called for a re-take with the Town keeper deemed to have come off his line, which unfortunately saw the Robins' player convert from the spot at the second attempt.
Several changes were made from Swindon with just under 30 minutes left to play and Town continued on their goal-scoring efforts with Hunt scoring his second in the 72nd minute with another powerful effort from a corner that saw him extend Town's lead to three.
With just under 15 minutes left to play, forward Miles Obodo came on to make his mark on the final Merit League game to get himself on the scoresheet to round off a strong display from Town.
After a Cheltenham defender looked to pass the ball back to his goalkeeper, Obodo reacted quickest to the loose ball and slotted the ball home to see Swindon score six in their final Merit League fixture of 2023/24.
Following this result, Town U18s finish their Merit League season with plenty of optimism, and following a successful FA Youth Cup run that saw them reach the quarter-finals and a well-fought Youth Alliance League campaign too, it sets up an exciting following season for the academy going into the 2024/25 season.
Swindon Town U18s: Evans, Hutt, Foye (Adams 65), Brown (Terry 65), Hunt, McCormick (C), McGregor, Stewart (Larkins 63), Ameen (Owiti 63), Gonzalez, Alston (Obodo 65)
Goals: Stewart 22, Alston 29, Gonzalez 36, Hunt 47, 72, Obodo 76
