An Aaron Drinan hat-trick and a second-half goal from Ollie Palmer confirmed the comfortable win for Ian Holloway’s men in a game delayed by over an hour and subsequently shortened to two halves of 30 minutes due to a horror injury sustained by home goalkeeper Luke Purnell.
In what has become a yearly tradition, the two sides, four tiers apart, opened their seasons at a sunny Imagine Cruising Stadium watched on by a crowd of almost 2000.
Town wasted no time in showing their superior quality as, after a long ball forward from a Trialist, Drinan muscled off a Supermarine defender before coolly rounding the ‘keeper and slotting the ball into an empty net six minutes in.
The moment was quickly overshadowed, however, as it quickly became apparent that Purnell had suffered a serious head injury after clashing with his own defender during the goal.
After a delay of over an hour due to the nature of the injury, the game resumed under the new format of two 30-minute halves to compensate for the lost time.
Despite the break in play, Town picked up where they left off and four minutes later had the chance to double their lead from the spot as a Trialist was brought down in the box.
Drinan, wearing the captain’s armband, made no mistake from the spot to extend both his and The Robins’ tally for the afternoon.
Town’s top goalscorer last year wouldn’t have to wait too long to complete his hat-trick as, 18 minutes in, a lofted pass down the right channel found Drinan, who lashed the ball into the far corner of the Supermarine net.
Three goals to the good, The Robins remained on top for the rest of the first period with both the lively Louis Millard and Joe Snowdon drawing good saves from the substitute Supermarine goalkeeper.
Half-time saw wholesale changes from both teams with a new set of 22 players taking to the field with Supermarine even changing shirt colour, emerging in their bright yellow away strip.
With both teams settling into their new shapes, the opening exchanges in the second half were scrappy.
Despite a sustained period of pressure from Supermarine, Town would make it 4-0 with 44 minutes on the clock as Joel McGregor’s effort from range was parried into the path of Palmer, who headed home from close range.
Clearly not content with four, The Robins searched for a fifth and came close through McGregor, who had a shot cleared off the line after a mazy dribble into the area.
McGregor came close again moments before the full-time whistle after his header from a Trialists’ deep cross bounced just wide of the far post.
Next up for Ian Holloway and his team is a trip to Spain and a chance to face European competition in the form of Costa City.
Swindon Town first half line-up: Ripley, Clark, Trialist A, Negru, Nichols, Snowdon, Trialist B, Drinan ©, Virtue, Millard, Kirkman
Swindon Town second half line-up: Ward, Mabete, Ball, Clarke ©, Trialist C, Holman, Trialist D, Debayo, Middlemas, Palmer, McGregor
Entertainment Swindon 
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