SWINDON Town fans spoke of their delight and excitement as the club’s bid to reach the play-off final at Wembley got off to a winning start.

A flurry of football fanatics descended on the County Ground to pick up tickets for the eagerly anticipated League One semi-final play-off, after the Robins dispatched old rivals, Sheffield United, 2-1 on Thursday.

Supporter of 65 years Ashley Eley, 75, of Whitworth Road, praised the Robins united spirit and labelled their performance a “satisfying retort” following a shaky start and five winless matches.

“It was brilliant but it does not mean anything unless they get the result they want.

“I think they take the difficult way round things sometimes but they gave a good attacking game,” he said.

“They were playing good football and picking up the ball. I think it’s 50/50 whether they will get through on Monday and it will be different at home.

“It was less pressure for them being away from home so maybe that relaxed them.

“I’ll be at Wembley and I’m excited to see what they do next.”

In the city of steel, The Robins secured a last minute victory against the Sheffield superstars, keeping their dreams of promotion alive.

The first leg of the campaign did not get off to a dream start, with home side Sheffield scoring first and Swindon midfielder Ben Gladwin missing a penalty eight minutes later leaving the town’s campaign in question.

Defender Sam Ricketts powered home an equaliser before man of the match, winger Nathan Byrne struck an injury time goal to ease Swindon’s transition into Monday’s match and win the match 2-1.

Karl Hall who lives in Gablecross, Abbeymeads, picked up two tickets for Monday’s match.

He said: “I went to the match last night and I certainly enjoyed the second half more than the first half.

I’ll be back on Monday and it would be nice to go back to Wembley, fingers crossed.”

And Nathan Byrne emerged as the fan favourite, with midfielder Yaser Kasim also receiving plenty of praise.

George Humble and wife Susan, from North Haydon End, were previously Spurs fans but switched their allegiance to Swindon after their move eight years ago.

“Byrne played superbly and so did Kasim. The way they kept possession was excellent,” said George.

“The possibilities are endless. When that penalty was missed I was very nervous.

“It’s a young up and coming and fresh team who chose to just go for it.

“I feel their manager made the right decision to rest the players as they knew they would be in this situation.”

Andrew Lacey, 17, of Covingham, travelled up to South Yorkshire to watch the side in action.

He said: “I don’t know what Mark Cooper (STFC manager) said to them in the changing room at half-time but it certainly worked.

“It completely galvanised them. Twenty minutes in victory felt a long way off.

“It was an amazing performance and I can’t wait to see what they bring next.”

The Robins will next play the Blades in the semi final at the County Ground on Monday, kicking off at 7.45pm.