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The Johnstones Paint Trophy gives many managers from League’s One and Two the opportunity to field a few younger players, with the match, and the competition itself, often seen as a bit of an inconvenience.
But next Tuesday, Oxford United welcome fierce rivals Swindon Town in the second round of the competition, with both sides desperate to win and enhance their bragging rights.
The U’s have won the last four meetings between the sides. In 2002, Swindon lost 1-0 at the Kassam Stadium when the sides met in the FA Cup, sending Oxford to Highbury to face Arsenal in the following round.
And the two sides wouldn’t face each other again until the Robins relegation to League Two in 2011. The sides met at The County Ground in August, and Swindon boss Paulo Di Canio stoked the fire prior to the game by claiming that the U’s star striker James Constable was a Swindon fan. But it was Di Canio that was left red faced as Constable netted twice in a 2-1 Oxford victory; their first win at Swindon in 38 years.
Throughout that season, Swindon were linked with a move for the Oxford striker Constable, with Di Canio continuing to prod and push buttons in the Oxford camp. The meeting at the Kassam Stadium was as fierce as the previous match, and Constable was given a straight red card in the opening ten minutes of the game. Despite the dismissal and the man disadvantage, the U’s went on to record an impressive 2-0 victory infront of a bumper crowd at the Kassam Stadium with first half goals from Asa Hall and Oli Johnson.
Despite losing against their fierce rivals twice in the 2011/12 season, Swindon won promotion back to League One, but the pair were drawn together in the Johnstones Paint Trophy the following season. Like the fixture that is upcoming, an enormous crowd turned up at the Kassam Stadium, witnessing the U’s win the game thanks to an 88th minute strike from midfielder Alfie Potter.
Needless to say, Swindon will be desperate to avoid a fifth straight defeat against their League Two rivals. That said, the U’s are flying high in the league, losing just once from their opening nine games, and sit comfortably in a play-off position, in addition to their recent success over their bitter rivals.
