Swindon Town

The hosts took all three points from the encounter thanks to a header from Mathias Kouo-Doumbe early in the second half and a late effort from substitute Ryan Lowe.

Manager Kevin MacDonald made two changes to the line-up that lost on Bank Holiday Monday at Doncaster Rovers, with James Collins and Adam Rooney dropped to the bench in place of Andy Williams and Gary Roberts.

The game started very open with early openings for both sides. Andy Williams went close from Massimo Luongo’s early cut-back whilst Dean Bowditch fired narrowly wide with just seven minutes on the clock.

There was a moment of concern for ‘keeper Wes Foderingham in the opening ten minutes as he was pulled up for handling the ball outside the box. Referee Mark Haywood issued only a yellow card, much to the relief of the Foderingham and the 1,196 Town fans behind his goal.

Town continued to enjoy plenty of possession with Spurs duo Nathan Byrne and Massimo Luongo linking up well on the right hand side. The home side forced a series of corners without really threatening Foderingham’s goal as the half-hour mark ticked by.

The Robins saw a goal ruled out soon after with Andy Williams adjudged to have fouled ‘keeper Ian McLoughlin. The striker rose high to head the ball home from a few yards out – an effort which was initially given by the referee. However, the linesman flagged for a foul and the goal was ruled out. 

There were no further real openings as the half came to a close with both sides going into the break all-square ahead of the all-important second period.

Foderingham had home fans on their feet again early on with an audacious piece of skill inside the box to bring the ball under control despite being under pressure.

The opening goal arrived before the hour with pressure from the home side forcing the opener. A set-piece into the box on 57 minutes was met by defender Mathias Kouo-Doumbe saw his looping header nestle into the back of the net.

Kevin MacDonald responded with a double change after the hour which saw James Collins and Raffaele De Vita replace Alan Navarro and Gary Roberts. The final change followed on 64 minutes with Adam Rooney on in place of Spurs loanee Dean Parrett.

Town tried to force the game and again had plenty of possession but without really forcing McLoughlin into action. 

The hosts doubled their advantage with a minute of normal time remaining with substitute Ryan Lowe capitalising on a mistake at the back post from Nathan Byrne to fire low past Foderingham.

Despite five minutes of added time, the Robins were unable to make a dent on the scoreline as the play-off countdown continues.