Joseph Hungbo gives Swindon Town another gamechanger

Things felt down at half-time of the Colchester United game. Kylian Kouassi’s bullying of the Swindon defence had caused some consternation, and the erroneous idea that they needed to drop deeper. An earthquake couldn’t have knocked the man signed from Blackpool this week off the ball. For all their good play, he was the one who simply looked like he had no business playing in League Two.

Then, after escaping an early scare from a corner, a penalty helped to change things. The confidence that had been knocked out of them by Kouassi’s sturdy elbows returned, and the kind of direct attacks that will come to define this team returned. But the game truly changed after 64 minutes.

Louis Millard had started well off the bench, but an unfortunate shoulder injury saw him prematurely removed from the fray, to be replaced by the returning Hungbo. From the first thing he did, you just knew what was going to happen.

Up until that point, this had been a steady afternoon for Ellis Iandolo, but he has never been the best defender, and Hungbo was about to prove too much. Two minutes after his introduction, Joe Snowdon hit a crossfield ball to the right, Hungbo picked it up, sauntered inside Iandolo and curled a shot that went just wide of the top corner. The theme for the remaining half an hour was set.

Every time the ball came his way, he would rinse his marker and do something that got you off your feet. His trivela effort that was so close to lobbing Timothee Lo-Tutala was a particular highlight. It wasn’t all front and no ballroom, either, as it was his pass to Mitch Clark that set up Aaron Drinan’s second, and he found Jack Thomson for the third.

Joseph Hungbo spent the afternoon taunting Ellis Iandolo (Image: Andy Crook)

The extent to which he was cross-cut shredding Colchester completely changed the game. So often, teams will do what they can to mark Drinan out of the game, but that was no longer an option. The U’s couldn’t leave Hungbo one-on-one, or they would be left like the boy on his tricycle in The Incredibles, just waiting for something amazing to happen. His run beyond Thomson for the third goal drew attention, creating the gap to find Drinan.

Ian Holloway loves his forwards, and has once again created a Murderers’ Row of attacking talent. Paul Glatzel has been on fire this summer, Snowdon has been turning heads in training, Millard is hugely exciting, Ollie Palmer has started the season in fine form, and the hope will be that Antwoine Hackford, Jaylan Pearman, and Danny Butterworth can add to that.

Joseph Hungbo celebrates as Aaron Drinan completes his hat-trick (Image: Carlos Green)

But the quirks of the modern game mean that Swindon have been left with two players who simply shouldn’t be at this level. It has been a long time since Town have been able to enjoy a star player for more than a year, but the obsession with resale value means that Drinan has stayed. Then, Hungbo looks to be someone who was the victim of changes at Wigan Athletic.

It is tough to think of a Swindon player since Nathan Byrne who dropped jaws when they ran at people to quite this extent. Most teams at this level will have a star player you have to stop, but the best ones have a few, and it looks like Town are one of those.

The Lernaen Hydra was so daunting because you don’t know where the attack is coming from; with Drinan and Hungbo, League Two defences will not know where to look.