Town's visit to Roots Hall ended in defeat after two quickfire goals from Luke Guttridge and Mark Gower seal all three points for top of the table Southend United.
Swindon Town Boss Iffy Onuora made three changes for the trip to Roots Hall with Lee Peacock and Albert Jarrett starting their first games for the club. Charlie Comyn-Platt also made way and was named on the bench, with Sean O'Hanlon Captaining the side on his return from a knee injury.
There was also a change of formation with Onuora opting for a 4-5-1 in place of the 4-4-2 system employed for the 4-2 home win over AFC Bournemouth at the weekend. For the home side Freddy Eastwood lined up against the side he trialled with, and Efe Sodje, sent off against Town in August, taking his place in central defence for The Blues.
Swindon kicked off heading for The Frank Walton end but it was the home side who quickly got into their stride, with Wayne Gray having the first effort of the game. On three minutes Gray latched onto a ball into the area and on the edge of the area and turned Gurney, before firing a shot at Evans. In response the first effort from Town came three minutes later with Peacock seeing a tame effort easily saved by Flahavan.
Southend came close on nine minutes after Jerel Ifil was penalised for a foul on Wayne Gray. Mark Gower stepped up and saw his free-kick deflected over for a corner after hitting the wall. The resulting corner saw a header from Efe Sodje cleared off the line by Andy Gurney to spare Town's early blushes.
At the other end Lee Peacock was pulled up for challenging Flahavan to the ball, after Miglioranzi had put a teasing cross into the box on 11 minutes, Albert Jarrett was then played into space by Brown on the left and after hitting a low cross into Peacock, Town earned a their first corner with 15 minutes on the clock, However, Gurney's corner was cleared after failing to clear the first man. Jarrett then hit a dipping right foot effort from 25-yards after latching onto a neat square ball.
The home side took the lead on the half hour through Luke Guttridge. Rhys Evans had initially saved from a low cross but the ball fell out to Bentley who lifted the ball back into Guttridge who headed the ball in past Evans,
Just two minutes later disaster struck. After a great surge forward from Wayne Gray, the former Town loanee laid the ball off on the edge of the box to Guttridge, who passed the ball on into the path of Mark Gower who drove the ball from 12-yards on the left into the bottom left hand corner of Evans' goal to stun Town.
In the remaining ten minutes of the half Town attempted to get back into the game but only had a speculative effort from Andy Gurney to show for their efforts.
As expected Manager Iffy Onuora made one change during the interval with Jamie Cureton came on to replace Aaron Brown, with Town reverting to a 4-4-2 formation.
The home side could have accelerated into a 3-0 a lead just moments after the restart, with Che Wilson volleying narrowly wide from six yards out following a corner. On 48 minutes it should have been three with Gray guilty of missing a guilt-edged chance. Kevin Maher swung in a free-kick from the left with Wayne Gray rising high and first to the ball, but heading several yards over failing to trouble Evans.
The first Town shot of the new half came with 57 minutes on the clock. Luke Guttridge gave the ball away in defence with Jamie Cureton on hand to pounce, The striker took the ball on into the area but dragged a shot wide from 12-yards.
Freddy Eastwood then provided a second half spark for the home side, who had elevated themselves to top of the league after taking the lead. Eastwood picked up the ball 25-yards out and after evading a sliding challenge from O'Hanlon, hit a shot just wide of Evans' left hand post. On the hour Mark Bentley saw a low drive saved by Evans with the game becoming more open with time progressing.
Manager Iffy Onuora made his second changes of the evening just after the hour when he introduced Paul Smith and Charlie Comyn-Platt to the action in place of Stefani Miglioranzi and Albert Jarrett. Southend United also made two changes with Mitchell Cole and Shaun Goater replacing Luke Guttridge and Wayne Gray respectively on 69 minutes. Charlie Comyn-Platt resumed from where he had left off as a late substitute against Swansea City, coming on up front alongside Peacock and Cureton.
Ricky Shakes was the first player to be cautioned in a game which had been well officiated by Mr. J Singh, for a foul on Mark Gower.
Jamie Cureton was the next Town player to attempt a shot but his curling effort from outside the box was deflected out for a corner with 77 minutes on the clock. The resulting corner from Cureton was cleared with Jenkins' follow-up cross narrowly avoiding Comyn-Platt and O'Hanlon as it flashed across goal.
In the end it was a disappointing performance from a Swindon side who were undone by two goals in as many minutes, with Southend United finishing the game top of League One - and looking comfortable for it. For Town, Walsall are the next opponents at The County Ground on Tuesday with the game now taking even higher importance.
Two minutes before time Town could have registered their opening goal of the night but were denied by Darryl Flahavan. After Comyn-Platt had won a corner on the right, Cureton swung the ball in for O'Hanlon, but the skipper's header evaded Gurney and Peacock on the line with Flahavan claiming with ease.
Swindon Town: Rhys Evans, Steve Jenkins, Sean O'Hanlon, Jerel Ifil, Andy Nicholas, Ricky Shakes, Stefani Miglioranzi (Paul Smith 67), Andy Gurney, Aaron Brown (Jamie Cureton h/t), Albert Jarrett (Comyn-Platt 67), Lee Peacock
Substitutes: Matty Bulman, Jamie Cureton, Paul Smith, Jack Smith, Charlie Comyn-Platt
Attendance: 7,945 (346 from Swindon)
All photographs: Chris Adams
