Swindon Town boss Ian Holloway 'delighted' to have 'nicked' win against Chesterfield
Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway was full of praise for Chesterfield and ‘class’ Paul Cook.
The two sides played out an entertaining and competitive game at the SMH Group Stadium on Saturday, which the Robins edged 2-1, a result which takes them to second in the League Two table.
As for Chesterfield, they played some of their best football of the season in the first-half, but they lost for the first time in 10 in all competitions as they suffered their first home defeat in the league this campaign.
The Spireites trailed but hit back instantly before dominating the rest of the first 45 and they should have been in front at half-time. But Swindon retook the lead after the hour and defended resiliently to take the three points.
Holloway said: “I have to say congratulations to their manager, what a fantastic game of football. I know it is great when you win but they have not been beaten here and I could see why. It was a fantastic game of football and it could have gone either way. I am delighted that we have just about nicked it.
"If you look at their record over the last three years under this wonderful bloke, Cooky, he deserves a medal. Absolutely outstanding. Got to one play-offs, lost it on penalties, won the league by 20 points, and got to the play-offs last season. Unreal. Fantastic work that he has done. He shook every one of our hands – what a class fella.”
Finley Munroe - who was later sent off - got the better of Devan Tanton to head in after eight minutes but that was soon cancelled out by John Fleck’s first goal for Chesterfield. But Joe Snowdon drilled the Robins back in front and they managed to keep the Spireites at bay for the remainder of the game.
Holloway continued: "We went one up, they equalised straight away and then after that, the way they played, we had to change our shape three times to try to stay with them and deal with it. We were put under a lot of pressure by their structure and passing, which has been built over the last three years, and it is not easy to deal with. Luckily we managed to get a fantastic win on the road. We needed everything in the squad today. I am delighted for everybody.
"We had to earn it. In spells we were getting played round and that is what we have got to try to work out. What pleased me most is, the more they attacked us, the more we wanted to score. And that is my team.
He added: "It needed to be good goals to score against this lot. We could have had more but some of their defending was excellent.”