Ben Garner happy to maintain momentum as Swindon beat Carlisle

Posted Sunday, February 20, 2022 by PA

Ben Garner was delighted to see his Swindon side claim another big win as they thumped relegation-threatened Carlisle 3-0.

Harry McKirdy stole the show against his former club as he opened the scoring before getting both assists at Brunton Park.

Josh Davison bagged his third goal in two games before Louie Barry broke his duck for the Robins.

Swindon closed the gap on the automatic promotion spots as they returned to the play-off places with their second straight 3-0 win after beating Scunthorpe last week.

But Carlisle were condemned to the bottom two of the Football League after a fifth defeat in eight winless games.

“We’re really happy with the last two games, back-to-back 3-0s,” said Garner.

“We he a great spell at the start of the second half after going in 1-0 up at half-time.

“We could probably have had a couple more towards the end of the game there.

“We’re really pleased because it’s back-to-back clean sheets and two really good performances.

“The passing, the movement, the timing and the decisions were really good. It’s something we’ve spoken about in the week, when we get into the final third and making good decisions and we executed that well.

“You can talk about formations and shapes but it’s all down to the players. We’ve challenged them to go and perform and they’ve done that in the last two games and we’re looking ahead to Tuesday now.”

Under-pressure Keith Millen said he was “exhausted” after another defeat.

Oldham’s win meant the Cumbrians slipped into the drop zone and Millen said: “I’m exhausted after that. You go through a lot of emotions during a football game.

“The goals we’re conceding are killing us. You won’t win many football matches when you concede three goals.

“We’ve got younger players who have come in and they’re trying to learn. It’s a rude awakening for them.

“We’re making far too many individual errors and we’re getting punished far too easily.

“It’s very difficult to put that anger into somebody’s character. They care, 100 per cent they care. But there’s a lack of that (anger) in the dressing room.

“They are hurting because they are trying. It’s hard, if it’s not in your personality to have that about you it’s very difficult to coach that.”