The first half was open but offered few chances for either side, and the teams went into the break goalless. 

Early in the second half, Jack W Smith pressed high up the pitch to create the Swans' real opening of the game, but as he charged in on goal, his shot was well saved. 

Five minutes later, it was the hosts who took the lead. Stephen Sarkodie appeared to have kept the ball in play, but the linesman judged it to have already gone out. From the resulting corner, Joah Hall headed the home side ahead at the back post.

Just ten minutes later, however, the game turned on it's head. Henry Birkett, already on a yellow card, caught the ball and threw it out of play to draw the referee's attention to an injured Fairford player, resulting in a second yellow card. 

With the home side down to ten men, the Swans' pressure paid off four minutes from time. A recycled free-kick found Collins in the box who, with very little space, volleyed it into the roof of the net to equalise. 

Originally flagged offside by the linesman, the goal was awarded after the referee judged Collins to have been in an onside position. 

Somehow the Swans didn't take the lead just moments later, with two efforts striking the crossbar. The second, an audacious bicycle kick from Ryan Ponting, who almost capped his imperious defensive performance with an acrobatic goal. 

Slimbridge continued to push, but after eight minutes of added time, the referee blew full time on what was another dramatic Hellenic League clash. 

Up next, the Swans host Hallen at Thornhill Park on Saturday, August 9. A 3pm kick off.  

As for the Slimbridge 18s, they continued their impressive pre-season form with a 3-1 win over Fairford Town U18s at Berkeley.