Harry Warwick continued his impressive start to the season by netting a hat-trick, taking his overall tally to eight goals in eight games so far this campaign.
Lewis Clutton was also on the scoresheet, as the U18’s recorded their fourth win of the season.
Speaking after the victory, Lead Professional Development Phase Coach, Tom Parrinello signalled that the attitude shown by the squad on Saturday added to a complete performance from the U18’s.
“After successive defeats to Portsmouth & Oxford United over the last couple of weeks, we travelled up the road to face an in-form Swindon side,” explains Parrinello.
“We had spoken a lot in the build up to the game about mentality and mental toughness when dealing with mistakes and managing bad periods in the game where the opposition have their “spell” and being able to deal with it better than what we have done previously.
“Swindon have some good attacking options and they pose threats across the pitch, especially from wide areas where they are dangerous.
“The players produced a good all round performance and nullified the threats Swindon posed really well which is a testament to our fullbacks on the day but still managed to carry a massive attacking threat in possession and on the counter-attack.
“In a chaotic first twenty mins, we missed two excellent chances to take the lead and were looking the more likely to score first which again is something we identified we needed to do.
“The game was goalless at half time and the message at break was to continue the good work and add a more ruthless streak when the next chance came.
“We took the lead when Harry Warwick closed the keeper down and scored a tap in. We then conceded direct from kick-off which was frustrating, to say the least, after working extremely hard to take the lead we then gave the impetus straight back.
“In a way, it was good for us as staff to see the reaction from the players and how they would now handle adversity. In a perfect response, we re-took the lead direct from our kick-off, in what was a crazy three-minute spell of the game. Neat play down the left freed up Lewis Clutton who broke from midfield, he cut inside and drove his finish across the keeper into the far post.
“Harry Warwick then scored his second goal of the game after latching on to a softly hit back pass and calmly dispatching past the keeper. Harry then completed his hat-trick, his second in 4 games, after a fantastic through ball from Tom Mehew.
“The game finished 4-1 but the score line could have been much more comfortable with the quality of chances we created.
“Nevertheless, it was a good performance collectively, and some excellent performances from individuals, and in particular Harry Warwick who has now scored eight goals in eight games.
“There were also good performances from skipper Tom Mehew, and U16 player Sam Heal who was excellent playing left wing.
“The most pleasing aspect of the performance was the fact that we saw things during the game that we had worked on in training during the week, especially that change in mentality and not being as fragile when dealing with mistakes or adversity, which the boys implemented in probably our most all round consistent performances of the season so far.
“The biggest challenge for the boys now will be to consistently produce the levels shown in this game on a week to week basis and maintain the standards set.
“The boys have to recognise that in order to progress to the next level they need to display that mental toughness and resilience daily, and the ability to deal with pressure is a massive part of sustaining a professional career in the game.”
Rovers Starting XI: Graeme Anderson, Scott Isherwood, Levi Paul, Tom Mehew (c), Toby Lawrence, Jamie Bremner, Sam Heal, Lewis Clutton, Harry Warwick, Ollie Hulbert, George Fowler
Substitutes: Dan Morris, Harry Thomas-Barker, Luca Hoole, Zain Walker, Joe Budd.