Elijah Adebayo’s early goal turned out to be the difference at Vale Park as Town overcame Port Vale.
Swindon dominated play in the first half with Keshi Anderson and Scott Twine both coming close to extending the visitors’ lead in the first half.
As the game went on, the hosts began to bombard the Town box but the centre-half duo of Sid Nelson and Luke Woolfenden ensured a clean sheet on the road for the third time this season.
It was a quick start that put Town into the lead – they were bright from the off and Adebayo’s goal was deserved, despite it being the game’s opening chance.
Ellis Iandolo found Scott Twine with a cross, the youngster put a backheeled volley towards goal, Scott Brown saved and the Fulham loanee was in exactly the right place to side-foot home.
And from then on in the half, Town were the dominant force. Iandolo was involved again with a whipped delivery that Keshi Anderson turned goalwards, only for Brown to get his body behind the ball and save.
The Valiants’ only attempt of note came in the 22nd minute – Tom Conlon put a free-kick up and over a Swindon wall but Vigouroux anticipated the placement of the set-piece and stopped well.
Keshi was in the thick of the action, causing the Vale defence all sorts of problems, he won the ball high up on the home side’s 18-yard box and earnt himself half a yard, but flashed a shot wide of the near post.
Next up was Twine to try his luck – the young striker rose highest in the box but, again, Brown was equal to it.
Anderson was back again being busy behind Adebayo – he beat his man on the edge of the box, and struck well but missed the goal by a fraction.
Second Half
After the interval, the ball spent more time in the air than on the ground as Port Vale pumped the ball forward to Tom Pope in search of an equaliser.
It was Town that still had the clearest look at goal, and even that wasn’t much. Jak McCourt drilled a shot across goal but Scott Twine couldn’t react quick enough to turn it goalwards.
Matt Taylor nearly added another free-kick to his Vale Park collection after last season’s special effort but this time around, it hit the side of the net rather than the back of it.
Leon Legge came closest for the Valiants on 74 minutes – his header from a corner, was cleared off the line by Steven Alzate, doing his defensive duties as all hands were at the pump.
Town’s final chance to double their lead came with ten minutes of normal time to play – Twine worked a pass to Keshi after some quick footwork but his shot on the spin was comfortable for Brown.
Despite ten minutes of added time, Town’s backline stood firm under an aerial barrage and secured a valuable three points.
