Swindon Town player ratings after 1-0 defeat to Gillingham

Connor Mahoney scored the only goal of the game when he was allowed to cut inside before having his shot deflected beyond Murphy Mahoney.

So, how did the players fare as individuals during Town’s first home defeat?

GK: Murphy Mahoney – 6

Having rewatched the goal at 0.25 speed I believe it takes two deflections before reaching Mahoney and that is why it wrong-foots him. Aside from that, he pulled off a couple of great saves, particularly bailing Swindon out when Macaulay Bonne went through on goal.

RCB: Udoka Godwin-Malife – 5

There were a few moments where he broke forward and created space for Remeao Hutton. However, the defensive performance was just too shaky from Town as a whole.

CB: Harrison Minturn – 4

The most impressive part about Minturn’s performances to date has been how confident he is. The difference last night was that he did look slightly nervous for the first time. That led to him being too rushed on the ball and making mistakes against a very experienced striker in Macauley Bonne. He has enough credit in the bank for me to see this as merely a blip.

Blake-Tracy challenging for the ball (Image: Andy Crook)

LCB: Frazer Blake-Tracy – 7

In a game where several Swindon players seemed to lack intensity, Blake-Tracy definitely brought his. He was aggressive off the ball and gave nothing away for free. His will to get things going was clear, even if it did not come from elsewhere.

RWB: Remeao Hutton – 6

Despite having heavy attention on him in the first half, he still played a big part in Swindon’s best chance for Jake Young. After the break, he had the beating of Scott Malone and despite not having much to hit, he still created multiple chances. In a game in which Town were a little bit blunt, Hutton was their main threat.

CM: Saidou Khan – 5

With Gillingham sitting in and hoping to hit Swindon on the counter, Khan had to be key to preventing that from happening, but he was not putting in the big challenges he has been. Dom Jeffries and Jonny Williams were allowed the space to get out and stop any momentum Town had built.

CM: George McEachran - 6

112 touches and 83 completed passes say a lot about both McEachran’s performance and the team’s as a whole. McEachran was shifting play well and getting the ball to the right player, it was what came next that was the problem.

McEachran hits an early cross (Image: Andy Crook)

LWB: Tyrese Shade – 5

Shade started this game really well, burning beyond Cheye Alexander at will and creating plenty of openings. After Gillingham scored, they dropped deep and doubled up on Shade and from that point, he struggled to have an impact. It is the first time he has been prevented from cutting inside and he ran out of ideas quickly afterwards.

CAM: Dan Kemp – 5

Even in one of Kemp’s less effective performances, he was still at the centre of some of Town’s best chances. The problem he now has in these player ratings is that my expectations for him are so high that he needs to do a lot to score highly.

ST: Charlie Austin – 5

Austin was just not as involved as he has been in recent weeks. In a match with lots of play in midfield, his link-up play could have been very useful, but Gillingham were able to mark him out of the game.

ST: Jake Young – 4

When things are not going your way, they are not going your way. It took a great Turner save to deny him in the first half, but he has to be scoring some of the chances he had in the second. Michael Flynn was right when he said he was “snatching” at chances, someway somehow, he needs to find that confidence again.

Kemp takes a free-kick (Image: Andy Crook)

Subs:

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy – 5

Usually, Hepburn-Murphy is a bundle of energy when he comes on, but Gillingham did a very good job of reducing the space Swindon had. A big chance did fall for him, but even then Jayden Clarke made a spectacular recovery tackle.

Tom Clayton – N/A

Miles Obodo – N/A