Swindon Handed Local Derby In Carling Cup Draw

Thursday's Carling Cup Draw may not have been as highly anticipated as the annual fixture release, scheduled for tomorrow, but it offers football fans a genuine chance to get excited for the approaching football season. The draw itself has the added attraction of being regionalised for the first round through the North-South divide, with the potential of being drawn against a local team or rival an additional excitement factor for fans country-wide. 

The draw indeed proved to be exciting for Swindon fans as it pitted Town against local rivals Bristol City, a derby game that hasn't featured on the fixture lists of respective supporters of the teams for six years.The game, to be played at City's Ashton Gate ground, becomes the first meeting between the two sides nicknamed the Robins since 2006.

That match ended in a 1-1 draw between the two sides in front of a packed 15,621 crowd at Ashton Gate, a game which ultimately saw Town relegated to League Two. Relegaton for any set of fans is a devastating experience, but to see their team demoted by local rivals proved to be a bitter pill for Swindon fans to swallow.

Rory Fallon celebrates after his
sensational overhead strike

Just months previously, Swindon themselves had gained local bragging rights, beating City 2-1 in the reverse fixutre with Rory Fallon hitting the winner. Fallon became a key player in Town's derby outings against their Bristol rivals, scoring an incredible late equaliser in the fixture two years earlier, striking a sweet overhead kick beyond the reaches of 'keeper Steve Phillips and in off the underside of the bar.

Perhaps Swindon's most successful appearance at Ashton Gate came in the 2004/05 season and saw loan striker Darius Henderson score with a header in each half, sandwiching Tommy Doherty's strike seconds before half time. David Duke saw red for two yellow cards in quick succession before Town hung on well to earn a hard fought victory.

With the tie set to take place on Tuesday August, each and every Swindon fan can look forward to a derby game against a local rival, with the chance to avenge the last meeting which saw Town relegated.