Swindon hold the better head-to-head record with 14 wins. Dale have won four and with nine draws.
Despite that, Dale are unbeaten at the Crown Oil Arena against Swindon Town in the last five games; winning three and drawing two.
We’ve taken a look at three of those meetings…
Tuesday 13th April 2021 – Dale 2-1 Swindon Town
Goals from Jimmy Keohane and Conor Grant secured three points against Swindon Town late in the 2020/21 season.
Swindon started on the front foot in this game, with Hallum Hope curling an effort narrowly over the bar early on, before Scott Twine saw his long-range strike deflected past the post.
But it was Dale who opened the scoring on 12 minutes after Keohane superbly finished off a well-worked move.
Ryan McLaughlin got down the right and sent a cross into the area which fell kindly for Keohane, whose shot looked destined for the back of the net as soon as it left his boot. Keohane curled his effort into the top far corner and in off the inside of the post, leaving Lee Camp with no chance of saving it.
Chances kept coming for both sides. Aaron Morley had a shot held by the Robins stopper, and up the other end, Jay Lynch denied the visitors with a brilliant save. The Dale goalkeeper kept out Jack Payne’s shot with an outstretched leg, after coming flying out of his goal to get equal to it. Lynch quickly bounced back up to hold the follow-up shot from the edge of the area.
Ollie Rathbone was in on goal soon after that save when he got through one-on-one with the ‘keeper, only to see his low shot kept out by the legs of Lee Camp.
Both sides again created multiple chances on either side of the half-time whistle, it was Dale who thought that they’d made one of them count.
Four minutes after the restart, Stephen Dooley had a low effort parried away by Camp, which bounced up to Jake Beesley who nodded home from an offside position.
The visitors had a couple of efforts following this but couldn’t make any of them count. Lynch got down to save a powerful shot from Twine before Brett Pitman struck over from the edge of the area.
Dale would soon double their lead. Rathbone broke away before squaring it to Beesley, who in turn laid the ball off to Dooley. He drove goalwards before getting to the byline and pulling it back for Beesley, whose shot was again parried by Camp, but this time straight into the path of Conor Grant. The Irishman turned the ball over the line from close range, netting Dale’s second and his first for the club.
With the minutes ticking away, Dale looked the most likely to get the next goal and get their third. However, it was the Robins who struck to pull a goal back with two minutes remaining through Jordon D’Andre Garrick, who turned home Jack Payne’s cross from the left from close range.
Dale remained focused and strong, denying Swindon of a late comeback, coming away with a much-needed home win and three points.
Saturday 19th November 2016 – Dale 4-0 Swindon Town
In a clinical performance from Dale, we secured a resounding 4-0 win over Swindon Town.
On a bitterly cold afternoon at the Crown Oil Arena, it was the visitors who created the first chance. Dale appealed for an offside flag as John Goddard broke into the area, but the assistant referee’s flag stayed down and when the forward created an opening, Conrad Logan was equal to it and denied the forward with his legs.
Shortly afterwards it took a superb last-ditch tackle to deny Anton Rodgers what would have been a certain goal after a deflection at the near post had deceived Logan.
Chances came for Dale from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Ollie Rathbone and Matty Lund, but all the efforts failed to test the Swindon ‘keeper.
However, Joe Bunney did. In the 29th minute, Callum Camps created a yard of space on the right before crossing to the back post, where Bunney came steaming in to head back across goal and past Lawrence Vigoroux.
Shortly before half-time, Lund came inches away from a second for Dale. Mendez-Laing pulled the ball back to the edge of the area for Lund, who struck the ball first time, curling the ball just wide of the right post.
Logan denied Goddard once again just before the interval when he quickly came out to save the forward’s shot with his body.
After the break, Mendez-Laing almost scored a wonder goal after carrying the ball forward from the halfway line, but as he bore down on goal, he decided to loft the ball over the goalkeeper and cleared the crossbar in the process.
Rafferty’s free-kick wasn’t cleared and fell to Lund ten yards from goal. He kept his composure and struck powerfully into the roof of the net.
Vigoroux later denied Joe Thompson’s header following Bunney’s left-wing cross. The Swindon ‘keeper then leapt into action again a minute later, saving substitute Steve Davies’ header. However, the ball only fell as far as Davies, who calmly slotted home to put Dale three up.
In the 66th minute, Davies chased what looked to be a lost cause into the corner and won the ball off a Swindon defender before driving into the area, where he was upended to win his side a penalty.
Davies stepped up and outwitted the goalkeeper who dived to his right, sending the ball down the middle to double his tally and get Dale’s fourth.
Dale didn’t add to their tally after that goal, despite their continued pressure, but they had already done enough to secure the win with a superb display.
Saturday 7th November 2015 – Dale 3-1 Swindon Town
A hat-trick from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing saw Dale pass comfortably through to the second round of the FA Cup.
Swindon started off the game stronger, keeping the ball and dominating possession. Louis Thompson had a shot from distance go well over the bar with their only effort of the opening stages.
After battling to win the ball back, Dale managed to get a grip of the game after 10 minutes. The home side seemed to be finding a lot of joy down the right side. Callum Camps had a shot blocked after a good interchange with Peter Vincenti, before Andy Cannon was booked for diving when he went down in the area. The Dale players and fans felt Dale should have had a penalty.
It was all Dale, and in the 24th minute, they took the lead. A corner from Michael Rose looped up off a head and back off the bar, perfectly into the path of Mendez-Laing who nodded through bodies to score his first goal for the club.
Joe Bunney was denied on a couple of occasions by Lawrence Vigouroux, the first effort was a header from a Scott Tanser cross that the Swindon stopper got down to well. The second was a right-footed effort from the edge of the area that was tipped around the post.
Dale had a narrow lead going into half-time and knew that they needed a second to allow them some breathing space. 42 seconds after the interval they got just that. Bunney did superb down the right side to find Vincenti, whose shot was blocked.
However, the ball fell perfectly for Mendez-Laing who rifled a volley into the back of the net.
Dale remained comfortable throughout the half. The next real chance fell to Bunney, who had a shot comfortably saved after a neat turn before he was brought down inside the area midway through the half.
After conversing with his assistant, the referee pointed to the spot and Mendez-Laing stepped up and confidently blasted the ball down the middle for his hat-trick.
Swindon replied almost instantly. They got a penalty of their own, Scott Tanser brought down his man in the penalty area, leaving the referee with no option but to award a spot-kick.
Nicky Ajose stepped up and fired the penalty into the back of the net, Dale ‘keeper Josh Lillis dived the right way, but it was just out of his reach.
The remainder of the match passed comfortably for Dale, and they won the match 3-1, Man of the Match Mendez-Laing received a standing ovation as he was substituted late on.
