Rain was our gain, says Willams (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

SWINDON TOWN: Rain was our gain, says Willams

6:00am Monday 14th January 2013 in Sport By Sam Morshead

WET WET WET: Matt Ritchie tries to get to grips with conditions at Bournemouth

STRIKER Andy Williams admitted the atrocious conditions played a part in his dramatic late equaliser which earned Swindon a 1-1 draw at promotion rivals Bournemouth.

Town looked to be slipping to defeat in a game ruined by a saturated pitch following persistent rain, but after Chris Martin chased Williams’ header through and challenged keeper David James, the striker was able to latch onto his scrambled clearance and curl the ball into the net from 25-yards.

Williams didn’t notice defender Steve Cook on the line when he struck his shot, but was grateful to see the sodden conditions force the full-back to miss the ball before it hit the back of the net.

“In the big scheme of things the point was great for us, because the conditions were terrible and it meant the game was a pretty poor game because you couldn’t dribble you couldn’t pass and everyone’s kit was saturated,” he said.

“Thankfully we came out of it with a good point in the end.

“Chris went through and the keeper smothered a clearance in between two players and I managed to get on the ball, and I my thought as always is to hit the target.

“I didn’t see the player on the line to start with, and when he came into my picture I thought ‘ah no’ but thankfully conditions came in my favour and he missed the ball.

“I think we deserved it overall because we had some good chances and didn’t take them, and although the second half wasn’t quite so good we are delighted to come away with a point.”

Referee Phil Gibbs asked for five extra minutes at half-time to decide whether or not to re-start the game, but Williams revealed the Town squad pushed the conditions to the back of their minds to ensure they focused on the game.

“We didn’t talk about (the conditions) which I think was important, even though everyone knew in the back of their minds it was horrendous,” he said.

“We talked as if it was a normal half-time break and as if the game was going to go ahead, we thought we were on top but needed to make a few changes here and there and do a few things a bit better.

“We didn’t do that at first, but after we scored we were the only team which looked like winning it.”

Both sides went into the game on impressive unbeaten runs, and Williams believes a draw in such difficult circumstances suits both clubs.

“It is a good point, but we are on a good run so they might be thinking it is good for them too, and it keeps them away from us and stops them going above us too which is important,” he said.

“It keeps our run going still so if we go and get a win against Shrewsbury next weekend we can push up the table.”