Sheffield Wednesday 1 Swindon Town 1

Last updated : 10 January 2004 By Footymad Previewer

Veteran Tommy Mooney grabbed his 11th of the season to keep Swindon on course for a play off spot after a hard fought 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

Mooney grabbed a spectacular goal from 25 yards before Wednesday hit back in the 72nd minute, Mark Robins equalising with a fierce close range header.

Wednesday carved out the earlier chances, Republic of Ireland international Alan Quinn almost found a way through in the 15th minute as he ran onto a pass from Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu to finish with a low strike from just inside the area but keeper Rhys Evans charged off his line to block the ball.

Nsungu, on loan from French side Amiens, burst through minutes later weaving past two tackles only to scoop the ball high over the target. Swindon escaped again when a Brian Barry-Murphy effort hit defender Jerel Ifil, the ball spinning across the face of the goal.

Quinn, back from a three-month loan spell with Sunderland, curled a free kick from 20 yards agonisingly wide before a Barry-Murphy blunder let in Mooney, the bald striker hitting a tame shot safely into the arms of keeper David Lucas.

Swindon skipper Andy Gurney was the culprit minutes later slicing the ball wide of Lucas's left hand post from six yards before Mooney broke the deadlock on 53 minutes., drilling in a left foot shot from long range, the ball curling into the top left hand corner.

Robins almost snatched an equaliser minutes later running onto a Robbie Mustoe pass before chipping the ball over Evans, the Swindon keeper scrambling back in time to punch the ball away from under the bar.

Goal scorer Mooney was back with his defenders in the 60th minute to hack a Barry-Murphy shot away before Robins grabbed the equaliser 12 minutes later, running onto a Derek Geary cross to finish with a fierce header from eight yards Steve Haslam saved Wednesday in the dying minutes hacking a Gurney effort off the line.