THE FULL REPORT: King Henry comes of age

There must be something in the water bottle that sits nestled in the corner of the Swindon Town goal as Henry made an entrance onto the professional stage that few who were at Spotland will forget.

With Jonathan Obika having already netted less than 90 seconds into the encounter, Henry was called upon to deny Ian Henderson from the penalty spot.

Will Henry saves Ian Henderson's penalty

Nathan Thompson headed home Michael Doughty’s free-kick in first-half injury time but a wonder strike from Dale skipper Jamie Allen before the break and a header from substitute Matt Lund saw the hosts rescue a point as Louis Thompson and Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill both saw red in the second period.

As the team sheets were announced on social media and passed down the press bench in the Co-Operative Stand, the 17-year-old’s name at the top of the Town list of names was an immediate stand out.

It is safe to say Swindon have not had the greatest of luck when it comes to their goalkeepers in the final stretch of the season.

Vigouroux saw his season come to an abrupt end after picking up a dead leg in the home game with Millwall, an injury that lead to a blood clot and a tear of the muscle.

Tyrell Belford was handed his opportunity to stake a claim for the number one spot, but his season was curtailed when he attempted to self-diagnose a groin injury.

That meant Lee Power had to delve into his contacts book and Jake Kean was brought in on an emergency loan from Norwich City to plug the hole for the remaining five games.

Will Henry held aloft by Tyrell Belford after the game

However, a knock picked up in training last week saw him return to his parent club early and while manager Luke Williams looked at other options, he trusted the word of goalkeeping coach Steve Hale and handed first-year scholar Henry his first start for Town.

That was one of three changes to the side that beat Chesterfield 1-0 a week previous, with Yaser Kasim missing the trip through injury, replaced by Anton Rodgers, and Ormonde-Ottewill handed his first start since being suspended by the club, with Bradley Barry missing out.

As a result of the goalkeeper crisis Williams was unable to name a recognised stopper on the bench, but there was a place for another first-year scholar in Scott Twine.

Many had failed to take to their seats at Spotland before Obika was wheeling away to celebrate his 12th goal of the season.

Ormonde-Ottewill, playing at right back, drove at the heart of the Rochdale defence before playing in Obika who took his first-time shot well to guide the ball under the body of on-rushing Josh Lillis.

Henry makes an early save at Spotland

As to be expected, Henry showed some early nerves and Rochdale almost capitalised in the sixth minute when Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, the man who scored a hat-trick to knock Swindon out of the FA Cup earlier this season, rounded the on-rushing goalkeeper but his angle was made tight and he was unable to find a route to goal with Henry twice diving at his feet before Swindon eventually got the men back to smother the danger.

At the other end, some nice link-up play between Doughty and James Brophy saw the latter with the ball at his feet in his box, but his cutback to Obika was fired high over the bar by the big forward.

Henry was then handed his moment to shine with quarter of an hour gone when Nathan Thompson took a loose touch in the box and Henderson got in front of the Town defender before taking a tumble.

The Rochdale forward picked himself up to take responsibility of the spot kick, but Henry got down low to his left and was able to touch the ball around the post before he was surrounded by a hoard of red shirts eager to offer their congratulations to the young stopper.

The 17-year-old grew in stature with that stop, as the travelling Town fans started chants of ‘Henry for England’.

The hosts continued to impose themselves on the game and it was Henry again who was on hand to deny Joe Bunney at the back post in the 27th minute when it looked like a certain goal.

The ball was played dangerously across the edge of the six-yard box by Mendez-Laing and the Dale forward was unmarked at the far post but Henry was able to scramble across the face of the goal to get his body between the ball and the goal.

It was Lillis at the other end who was then forced to pull off some acrobatics as he denied Anton Rodgers’ free-kick that looked destined for the top corner.

Henry denies Rochdale's Joe Bunney

But Henry was forced to pull off another fine stop five minutes before the break when a Donal McDermott free-kick looped over everyone in the box, the Town youngster keeping his eye on the ball all the way to deny Dale.

Swindon doubled their advantage in stoppage time when Nathan Thompson was able to get in front of Bunney to get his head to a free-kick from Doughty on the left and find the top corner.

However, Rochdale struck back immediately as Allen created space for himself on the edge of the box before letting rip with his left foot from 30 yards out to find the top corner – a shot Henry could only get finger tips to.

The second period started at a slower pace but Rochdale needed Jimmy McNulty to pull off a fine double tackle, first on Obika and then on Nicky Ajose to keep them in the match five minutes into the half.

The game turned when Louis Thompson saw his second yellow card of the game in the 58th minute for an overzealous challenge on Andy Cannon down the right flank.

Having already been booked in the first half for throwing the ball away to the corner, the Norwich loanee was given his marching orders and will now miss the last game of the season against Shrewsbury Town.

Town were able to clear their lines from the resulting free-kick but Nathan Thompson, who had seen the red mist descend after seeing his brother dismissed, gave away a needless foul in the D of the penalty area.

Former Town player, Michael Rose, stepped up for the set-piece, having been introduced to the game at half time, and saw his effort deflected just wide of Henry’s post.

It took nine minutes for Rochdale to make the man advantage tell as substitute Lund stole a march on Ormonde-Ottewill at the back post and he was able to dive low to meet a cross from Allen and find the net off the post.

Rochdale now had their tails up and Henry was forced into several fine stops to ensure that Swindon were able to hold onto a point.

The first came when Donal McDermott made a nice step-over in the box before driving his shot at the near post where Henry was on hand to palm it over the bar.

Town manager Luke Williams congratulates Henry after the game

With 10 minutes left to play substitute Grant Holt was able to nod the ball down in the box into the path of Lund whose half-volley was well saved low to the left by Henry, who looked determined not to be on the end of a defeat.

At the other end Ajose saw a free-kick from 30 yards out skim the post of Lillis’ goal but when Ormonde-Ottewill saw a straight red with two minutes of the game remaining, Swindon were left clinging on.

The full-back was felled by the former Wigan striker before Holt tried to drag Ormonde-Ottewill back to his feet.

However, it was the Town man who was adjudged to have been in the wrong for lashing out and was given a straight red card.

Despite six minutes of added time at the end of the game, Rochdale were unable to carve out any meaningful chances against the nine men and were forced to settle for the point and see their faint hopes of making the play-offs disappear with it.

However, it was jubilation for Henry as he was paraded in front of the Town fans who waited behind to give him a standing ovation and cap off a debut to savour for the young stopper.