Goals either side of half-time consigned us to a Good Friday defeat at the County Ground, with Alassana Jatta's late goal a mere consolation.
Aaron Drinan scored the first after capitalising on a Scott Robertson’s misjdudged backpass before Paul Glatzel made sure of the points following a mistake from Sam Slocombe.
Substitute Jatta nodded home inside second-half stoppage time, but there was to be no comeback as the home side claimed the win.
Stuart Maynard was able to welcome Aden Baldwin back from suspension and Aaron Nemane following illness – but with Jim O’Brien and Sam Austin unwell, and Charlie Colkett injured, he had to shuffle his pack once again.
Slocombe continued in goal, with Kyle Cameron and Lewis Macari flanking Baldwin in a back three.
Jodi Jones played down the left, on the opposite flank to Nemane, with John Bostock slotting in alongside Robertson.
Up top, David McGoldrick got the nod to partner Dan Crowley in supporting lone front man Macaulay Langstaff.
And those three players were all involved as a big chance passed us by on three minutes.
It came courtesy of good anticipation from Bostock, who nicked a pass away from a Swindon man in midfield to set Crowley away on the break. He had both Langstaff and McGoldrick to his left and laid the ball of to the former, who took a heavy touch as he tried to take it in his stride. That took the momentum away from the move but Langstaff was still able to play in McGoldrick but his effort from a relatively narrow angle was weak and comfortably saved by Jack Bycroft.
Crowley and Langstaff linked up again on 16 minutes as the former did well to steal possession before crossing into the middle. It was a tough one for Langstaff to meet, though, and he couldn’t get his header on target.
But, despite having near-complete control of the opening exchanges, we found ourselves behind on 19 minutes when Robertson’s miscued backpass hit the post, leaving Slocombe helpless to prevent Drinan’s simple follow-up effort.
The goal appeared to give the hosts confidence and they could – and perhaps should – have been two-up shortly afterwards as the unmarked Glatzel crashed a header off the bar from six yards.
Cameron sought to put us back on the front foot, striding into the Swindon half and playing the ball to McGoldrick, whose 20-yard effort was pushed towards Langstaff by Bycroft. With the ball bouncing up and the angle tight, it was a half-chance at best and the keeper made the save.
Two minutes later, Drinan managed to get the ball out of his feet in the area before sending a shot straight at Slocombe.
That proved to be the final chance of the opening 45 and, after re-emerging for the second period unchanged, we made a bright start with Crowley sending a Jones cross wide on the stretch at the back post.
A controversial moment followed shortly afterwards as a Swindon defender made a mess of his clearance from Crowley’s cross, with the ball appearing to hit him on the hand. There were big penalty appeals but the referee was unmoved.
Cameron was the next man asking for a penalty as he appeared to be held by a defender as a cross came in from the right. The ball came through to Jones, whose shot was straight at Bycroft.
We continued to dominate and came close to levelling the game just before the hour as Cameron did brilliantly to supply McGoldrick, who in turn played a dangerous ball into the middle of the area. Langstaff looked set to score but, under pressure from his defender, couldn’t get a clean shot away and saw the ball roll to safety.
But another mistake at the other end proved costly as, on 74 minutes, Slocombe’s attempted pass into midfield was intercepted by Glatzel, who sent the ball over the stranded keeper’s head and into the empty net from 25 yards.
A double change followed as Jones and McGoldrick made way for Will Randall and Jatta, with Langstaff seeing a scuffed volley easily saved shortly afterwards.
There was then another sighter for Langstaff as he benefitted from an excellent Robertson run, but he could only fire a low shot across goal and wide of the far post.
We were given six minutes of additional time in which to mount a comeback and gave ourselves a chance as Jatta headed a right-wing cross into the far corner.
But that was to be our final opportunity on what proved to be another disappointing afternoon.
STARTING XI: Slocombe; Cameron, Baldwin, Macari; Jones (Randall 77'), Nemane; Bostock, Robertson; Crowley, McGoldrick (Jatta 77'); Langstaff
SUBS: Ashby-Hammond, Rawlinson, Warner, Brindley, Chicksen
ATTENDANCE: 8,339 (780)
