F/T: FC ZLIN 2 SWINDON TOWN 1
A goal in each half from FC Zlin ended Town's hopes of an unbeaten Austria tour despite Simon Cox netting his third goal in as many games.
Cox's goal came late on in the second half although Swindon were made to pay for conceding a second goal just sixty seconds into the second half.
Maurice Malpas handed first tour starts to Chris Allen and Ben Joyce against Czech side FC Zlin for the final tour clash in Austria.
From the kick-off Town were soon put under pressure with the Czech side proving to be a combative challenge across the park. Two early warning shots were fired wide from range as The Robins continued to be tested.
FC Zlin hit the bar on 11 minutes after a goalmouth scramble and minutes later Peter Brezovan saw a dipping effort flash over his bar. Town then conceded a number of free-kicks with Zlin piling on the pressure.
Town then settled into the encounter with J-P McGovern and Kevin Amankwaah seeing plenty of the ball down the right-hand side.
On 33 minutes Town were forced into a change with Peter Brezovan being asked to leave the field. After Zlin had robbed Town of possession on the half-way line, Brezovan was adjudged to have saved the resulting shot outside the box and was soon substituted at the request of the referee.
Phil Smith entered the fray and was immediately into the action seeing a cross and shot go narrowly wide.
The opening goal of the game arrived two minutes before the break. A cross in from the left from Malar was fired in at the back post by Kroupa to send FC Zlin into the half-time interval a goal to the good.
Half-Time: FC Zlin 1 Swindon Town 0
Maurice Malpas made no changes for the second half, with the same eleven sent out to try and rectify what had been a frustrating first period against physical opposition.
The Czech side doubled their lead soon after the break with Town failing to deal with a cross in from the right on 46 minutes. The Zlin striker nipped in between Kevin Amankwaah and Patrick Kanyuka and made no mistake to make it 2-0.
Phil Smith was forced into a decent stop from close range on 56 minutes before Town changed their entire backline. Oduro, Aljofree, Kanyuka and Amankwaah were replaced by Vincent, Ifil, Morrison and Smith.
There was a change in the front line on 68 minutes with Ben Joyce replaced by Simon Cox, who had notched two goals in two games going into the final tour clash. Anthony McNamee then saw his low shot gathered by the Zlin keeper with Town doing their best to get back into the game. The winger was then replaced with Michael Pook brought on - and Michael Timlin switching to wide left.
Eleven minutes from time and Town grabbed a goal back. A worked free-kick on the right hand side of the box saw a fine cross from Jon-Paul McGovern turned in by Simon Cox to score his third goal in as many tour games.
Both sides had half chances before the end of the game with Simon Cox seeing a header go wide. Ultimately the Czech side ultimately proved too much of a physical test for The Robins, who return home on Wednesday before facing Portsmouth on Friday night at The County Ground.
Full-Time: FC Zlin 2 Swindon Town 1
Swindon Town: Peter Brezovan; Kevin Amankwaah (Smith '56), Patrick Kanyuka (Ifil '56), Hasney Aljofree (Morrison '56), Kwasi Oduro (Vincent '56); Jon-Paul McGovern, Chris Allen, Michael Timlin, Anthony McNamee (Pook); Billy Paynter, Ben Joyce (Cox '68)
Substitutes: Phil Smith (GK), Jamie Vincent, Jerel Ifil, Simon Cox, Sean Morrison, Michael Pook, Jack Smith
Thursday 10th July 2008
Swindon Town 2 Steaua Bucharest 2
Saturday 12th July 2008
Swindon Town 1 Fenerbahce 1
Tuesday 15th July 2008
Swindon Town 1 FC Zlin (Czech Republic) 2
