Sean proves his worth (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

SWINDON TOWN: Sean proves his worth

7:00am Monday 23rd August 2010 in STFC By Anthony Marshall

THE timing was impeccable. No sooner had Sean Morrison been announced as the sponsors’ man of the match than the youngster missed an attempted header which almost let Brentford striker Charlie MacDonald through on goal.

But in truth that wasn’t even a blot on the defender’s immaculate copy book – more a point which allowed the tense County Ground crowd a momentary laugh – because prior to that the 19-year-old had been faultless.

Danny Wilson has voiced his desire to find an experienced rock for the heart of his defence, but Morrison’s mature display on Saturday defied his tender years and may encourage the boss to look closer to home.

Yes, he may not have hundreds of games under his belt, but we all know he has the ability. That has already been displayed countless times during his fledgling career to date.

What has worried managers though is a lack of concentration in the big defender, meaning long spells on the substitutes’ bench, but that was never an issue as Morrison dominated the back line, was immense in the air, and tried to get Town playing with the ball at his feet.

“It was hard. In the last 20 minutes I was running on empty, but I’m ecstatic to get back in and really enjoyed it,” he said.

“It was great being back out there playing at the County Ground and getting a full 90 minutes under my belt.

“When you play the games and you get your opportunity you want to prove that you should be playing. That was what I had to do today – prove to the manager that I should be playing at centre-half.

“I’ve got my chance and hopefully taken it.”

Were it not for Michael Rose’s rush of blood to the head in the eighth minute, then we could have been talking about a first clean sheet of the season.

For once, Town got out of the traps quickly and had their opponents on the back foot from the off. That was until an innocuous ball got sent down the right channel though, which should have been simple for Rose to deal with.

Instead the full-back attempted a diving header back to keeper David Lucas, failed to get a true connection on the ball and Brentford striker Charlie MacDonald couldn’t believe his luck as he nipped in to slot between Lucas’ legs from a tight angle.

Any momentum Swindon had gathered during those opening exchanges suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye, and a sense of nervousness appeared to spread throughout the team.

The Bees were on top and could have extended their advantage but wingers Myles Weston and Robbie Simpson both sent efforts agonisingly close.

Slowly but surely though Town started to grab hold of the game and Thomas Dossevi and Jon-Paul McGovern threatened before David Prutton finally pulled them level on 41 minutes.

Rose launched a long throw into the area where Morrison rose highest to flick on, and Prutton had timed his run to perfection, nodding in at the far post.

It was the perfect time to level things up and the hosts looked a much more confident outfit after the break.

A neat flowing move involving Dossevi, McGovern and Alan O’Brien ended with the latter teeing up Jonathan Douglas to strike from 20 yards, but the captain’s effort was easily saved by Brentford keeper Alex McCarthy.

Substitute David Ball tried his luck with a near post header from a short corner routine, while Charlie Austin’s perseverance inside the box almost paid dividends until his close range finish lacked any real substance.

With Swindon piling the pressure on in search of the winner it was inevitable that gaps would appear at the back and former County Ground man Gary Alexander headed into the side netting.

Then deep into stoppage time Vincent Pericard, on for O’Brien, chased a long ball over the top, forced a mistake out of Karleigh Osborne and bore down on goal.

He cut inside and had the chance to break his duck and become a Town hero by sealing all three points, only to fire narrowly off target with Prutton screaming for a squared pass. A point though, an improvement, a performance with plenty of promise, and possibly the missing link at the heart of Swindon’s defence finally found.