OWEN HOULIHAN sees Swindon Town have the edge over Cambridge United in a dour encounter at the Energy Check County Ground

Energy was not the issue for David Flitcroft’s men against Cambridge at the now-grandiosely titled Energy Check County Ground.

There was more than enough of that expended, notwithstanding the raison d’etre of the club’s new backers being the reduction in consumption of said resource.

Goalscorer Harry Smith takes the congratulations of teammate Matt Taylor

Instead, the commodity there was rather less of on offer was quality.

Plenty of perspiration, not enough inspiration.

Not that there was anything wrong with the result of course.

A 2-0 win over an in-form opponent, especially on home turf on which they had garnered just four points from the previous 15 available, is hardly a fact that should be overlooked or easily brushed aside.

Nor indeed should a clean sheet - Town having shipped 12 goals in their first five league matches in Wiltshire this season - be sniffed at in the grand scheme of things.

Yet it was not a contest to live long in the memory of the 5,847 spectators present nor, one dares to suggest, even the participants themselves.

For too many long stretches of the 90-plus minutes this was a tale of dour battles, honest but limited endeavour and a succession of passes frequently missing their target or worse, heading aimlessly over the sidelines.

Should that bother the hosts? Well, Flitcroft had spoken in the week about results trumping performances, even if he probably did not expect his side to rather emphatically make the point for him.

Opening goalscorer Keshi Anderson celebrates with Luke Norris

And they did deliver the one moment of true quality as Keshi Anderson’s deft pass sent substitute Harry Smith through to triumphantly slam home the second goal high into the net at the Town End and seal the points with only a few minutes left.

Add to that a fine debut from Matt Preston at the back, a quietly effective performance from Amine Linganzi in the middle and Anderson proving a tricky customer to handle at the top end and there were still positives to be drawn from the largely uninspiring fare on offer.

Flitcroft made three changes to the XI beaten by Coventry in midweek, with new signing Preston earning a first start in place of Chris Robertson.

Linganzi came in for Timi Elsnik, who then lost his place on the bench after tweaking a groin in the warm up, while Kaiyne Woolery started in place of Paul Mullin.

Midfielder James Dunne, red-carded during the Sky Blues defeat, started against his former club after Town were successful in their appeal against that sending-off, while John Goddard’s return from injury earned him a place on the bench.

Cambridge though immediately got themselves on the front foot as Jabo Ibehre made progress down the right and his cross was blocked out by Preston, referee Andy Woolmer unmoved by United’s claims that it had been with the use of the Town new boy’s hand.

The visitors continued to enjoy success down Town’s left flank, Piero Mingola crossing for Uche Ikpeazu to climb but misdirect a header over from 10 yards, yet, against the early pattern of the game, Town took the lead on 13 minutes.

An injured Luke Norris makes his way from the field

Kellan Gordon outsmarted Harrison Dunk on the right flank and advanced before the ball inside found Linganzi. He let fly from 25 yards with a swerving effort that keeper David Forde messily shovelled away.

Anderson picked up the bits and pieces and found Woolery, who crossed and, after a Luke Norris effort was blocked, the on-loan Crystal Palace man swept home the loose ball from eight yards.

United were still enjoying the bulk of possession and went close on the half-hour when Ikpeazu’s turn and shot was deflected just wide of Lawrence Vigouroux’s left post.

From the corner, the goalkeeper got down to smother a strong header from visiting captain Leon Legge.

At the other end, Anderson won a flag kick that Linganzi headed tamely wide at the back post before Woolery carelessly gave away the ball in the centre of the park and Cambridge advanced but Ikpeazu fired a weak shot at Vigouroux.

The best chance of a second goal arrived as Linganzi intelligently played Woolery in down the left channel and Anderson met the low cross with a decent drive that Legge threw himself in front of.

The pace picked up and as Cambridge launched another sortie down the left, a strong header clear by Lancashire was met fiercely by George Maris, but Vigouroux was there to gather.

Anderson enjoyed a third decent chance of the half immediately at the other end as an attempted volley from Norris fell at his feet, but the effort deflected wide.

In terms of quality, the early second-half offering hardly outshone the first, Town being the first to show as Norris worked the right channel and found the advancing Ben Purkiss, whose shot veered off in the vague direction of Old Town.

If Town were largely off-key, then Cambridge were arguably worse, to the evident frustration of boss Shaun Derry, whose frantic arm-waving failed to inspire anything more worthwhile from his troops than another misguided header over the top from Ikpeazu just prior to the hour mark.

Harry Smith starts the celebrations after scoring the second

Shortly after it, Norris departed, apparently having aggravated the shoulder he had dislocated at Carlisle on the opening day of the season, with Smith sent on.

But there was still little in the way of excitement, Cambridge starting a potentially dangerous breakout that resulted in sub Jevani Brown firing wastefully over from 25 yards.

Town introduced Goddard from the bench for his first appearance since the opening day of the campaign but then came perilously close to conceding as Brad Halliday broke well down the right and his cross caused consternation in the box, before Ikpeazu’s header from close range came back off the bar to be clutched gratefully by Vigouroux.

Dunk then fired wide after a header clear from a free kick had landed at his feet on the edge of the box as one or two home nerves started to fray.

Gordon could have eased concerns as he ran through on to Anderson’s pass from halfway, but with Forde exposed, he found only the keeper’s legs and was replaced by Mullin shortly afterwards.

Goddard then found space on the left-side of the box, but saw a goalbound effort blocked before Anderson was similarly denied after Forde was left stranded in no-man’s land in his area.

With the match seemingly petering out, Town settled it as Anderson threaded a pass through to substitute Smith, who finished emphatically high into the net from 15 yards.

There was still time for a heart-stopping moment at the back as Ikpeazu and Ibehre were somehow denied on the line by a lunging Lancashire.

But all in all it was job done. All move on to Cheltenham next weekend.

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