Home   Medway   Sport   Article

On loan Millwall keeper Stephen Bywater conceded a last minute own goal but before that impressed Gillingham boss Peter Taylor

Stephen Bywater reflects on his last-minute own goal against Swindon Picture: Barry Goodwin
Stephen Bywater reflects on his last-minute own goal against Swindon Picture: Barry Goodwin

Peter Taylor wasn’t happy with conceding a last-minute own goal but had nothing but praise for his on-loan keeper.

Goalkeeper Stephen Bywater fumbled a cross into his own net to allow Swindon Town to grab a share of the spoils in the League 1 match at Priestfield.

But Gills boss Taylor appreciated the efforts of Bywater in a game where Swindon dominated for long spells.

“He has had a fantastic evening but made the one mistake at the end,” said Taylor, following the 2-2 draw.

Read the match report here.

“It was frustrating but I still think we did some good things. He (Bywater) was outstanding, absolutely outstanding.

“He pulled off some fantastic saves and I feel sorry for him. He was really down in the changing room and I said to him, ‘I am not worried about the mistake, I am more worried about how people respond to mistakes’.

“He was first class and he would have learned from that. He might have done something wrong that caused the goal, he was maybe thinking about catching the ball and throwing it out, rather than just catching the ball, which would have done me at the time.

“But he was first class and I feel for him.”

Taylor’s men were under pressure for much of the match but had twice taken the lead.

“They couldn’t have worked any harder,” said Taylor.

“They had to work hard because Swindon had the majority of the ball, let’s be honest about that. I thought Swindon played some absolutely fantastic football.

“We had them looked at on Saturday and they played exactly the same at Crawley and got beat.

“It was a good performance by them. We had to be patient and at times we over-worked to get the ball off them and then when we won the ball back we had no targets and then we lost it again. That was frustrating.

“Swindon had more chances than us and looked a very good football team.

“I am disappointed in the end that the goal they scored was a mistake but overall they deserved at least a draw.

“I think our players had a frustrating night but stayed together as a team and as a unit. They worked very hard to fight for everything that they got. I am pleased for them that they got at least a draw.”

Taylor made a number of changes to his team, revealing afterwards that Doug Loft missed out with an Achilles problem and Aaron Morris with a glute injury.

Joe Martin (knee) and Josh Hare (concussion) also dropped out of the squad.

“It’s driving me mad at the moment but it happens,” said Taylor on his continuing injury problems.

Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More