SWINDON Town Under 18s set the record straight against Northampton Town this morning when earning a hard-fought 3-2 Merit League victory on the road.

Toby Holland, Jacob Bancroft and Harry Parsons were on target for David Farrell’s side as they gained revenge on the Cobblers after being dumped out of the FA Youth Cup by the Sixfields outfit earlier this season.

The U18s now have 10 points from their first five Merit League fixtures and are well in touch with division leaders AFC Wimbledon, who they face away from home next Saturday.

Character within the team pleased Farrell most, who applauded his side’s determination and resilience despite falling behind in the first half.

“We fell behind to a great counter attack, but we stuck at it and the most promising element from today’s game was that we showed character despite falling behind,” said Farrell.

“Northampton are a very good team, and it felt like a really hard-earned win.

“They won their league easily in the first part of the year, and knocked us out of the FA Youth Cup too so it’s nice to put the record straight.

“We performed really well.”

A late Northampton goal made Farrell’s youngsters sweat on the full-time result, however the Town boss admitted he felt comfortable in his side’s ability with regards to defending from set-pieces and corners.

A series of late free-kicks granted Northampton the opportunity to poach a late point, but they were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts to do so.

Farrell added: “They scored quite a late goal and had a few corners and free kicks afterwards.

“But we defended really well and never looked like conceding from those situations.

“There was a lot of relief when the final whistle went. There was lots of character in the team today.”