Nigel Adkins mixed and matched his side as expected.

Nigel Adkins made five changes to the side that started at Leicester, although he stopped well short of the wholesale changes made in the last round at Torquay, surprisingly though the bench was a mix of seasoned veterans and youngsters and with the exception of lambert there was little firepower available should the tie need to be rescued late on.

But it turned out there was no worry of that as Saints dominated the game from the start, on 16 minutes Saints took the lead and it was Lee holmes who again showed that he might well play a part in this season who was the architect, despite playing on the right, he cut back and hit a left foot cross for Guly to head home from six yards.

On the half hour Guly turned provider and Forte showed why perhaps he like Holmes does not want to become the forgotten man, at half time it was a satisfying half's work.

In the second half Saints let the tempo slip a little but otherwise it was pretty much a comfortable time for them and they controlled the game without adding to the score, however on 84 minutes they got a shock when Swindon pulled one back, from a free kick .

But all it was , was a consolation and it was Saints still creating the chances and in injury time they got a third Lambert getting through one on one to make sure there would be no slip ups.

A satisfying win for Saints and of course it broke their near half century hoodoo at the County Ground, however it was against a side who lay near the bottom of League 2 , so the result went pretty much to form, Swindon's turn in fortunes could perhaps serve as a word of caution to Saints not to get too carried away with our present position, 16 months ago Swindon were in the play offs in League 1 and well ahead of Saints, indeed beating them twice in the league, exactly a year ago today (Weds 31st Sept) they came to St Mary's in the JPT and whopped us 3-0 following that up just under a fortnight later with a league win at the County Ground, football is a funny game sometimes and it could be that in eight months time Saints could be in the Premier and Swindon in the Conference, a situation that would mirroe that of Norwich and Stockport who were both in League 1 two seasons ago.

But words of caution ar ejust that and its what happens on the pitch thhat counts, it was another good win for Saints and one that with a home tie in the next round looming could see them in the last eight of the competition. 

Photo: Action Images

st_bangkok added 11:14 - Aug 31 Last 16, sir. last 16.
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Verwoodsaint added 11:18 - Aug 31 Penalty Spot?? Think you'll find it was a free kick, and one that Bart should never have let in considering he lined up his wall to protect the left hand side of the goal and it went in on the right side! Good job it wasn't Kelvin huh or we'd have 5 articles from you saying how much of a liability he is and will cost us games!
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legod7 added 11:19 - Aug 31 Bloody hell Nick. Did you actually write this article. This is the first one I have ever read that had no negative traits at all. All I can say is , keep taking the tablets because they are doing you the world of good. Keep it up and let's have more positive reporting please
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legod7 added 11:19 - Aug 31 Bloody hell Nick. Did you actually write this article. This is the first one I have ever read that had no negative traits at all. All I can say is , keep taking the tablets because they are doing you the world of good. Keep it up and let's have more positive reporting please
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Saintpaul120 added 11:35 - Aug 31 Just one small correction to this article Nick. The Swindon goal was a free kick an not a penalty. We strolled it in truth with first half being the best. As usual, they brought problems on themselves by easing off the gas and allwoing Swindon to come onto them. Lamberts goal was class.
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eusebio added 12:05 - Aug 31 Not even a sunday league goalie would have let that free kick in.......BRING BACK KELVIN
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BlackRod added 15:02 - Aug 31 Give Bart his due. He made a world class save otherwise it would have gone to 2-2. This against a side that is two divisions below us. I too am amazed that Nick finds no negatives here. There were the usual moments of panic in the defence. Harding and Seabourne made unforced errors. These incidents are usually trumpeted in this column. This is not what we have come to expect when we read match reports here.

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SaintNick added 15:37 - Aug 31 Perhaps thats because it was the first match i have missed for a while and therefore I wrote an overview based on the official website report. I find blackrods comments a trifle contradictory, on one hand he accuses me of being negative, yet on the other he admits that there were the "usual" moments of panic and that Harding and Seaborne made unforced errors. Quick question shouldnt moments of panic and unforced errors be highlighted then ?

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SaintNick50 added 13:51 - Sep 1 Blackrod tongue in cheek. If you can't get to a match then perhaps someone else who was there could be a guest reporter. I think your comments are generally fair, go to the club site if you want to read reports without critisism.
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