Town welcomed Plymouth Argyle to the County Ground searching for their first home win since the turn of the year.
Following a mixed bag of results in 2021, the lads were looking for their first three points of the calendar year at home, but goals from Panutche Camara and Ryan Hardie sent the Pilgrims back to Devon with the three points.
First-half:
Town looked to start the brighter of the two sides, getting a chance in the first few seconds. New striker Tyrese Omotoye played a one-two with Hope and darted into the box, but it was cleared by the Argyle defence.
It was then the turn of the visitors to attack, when Ryan Hardie’s cross was stopped by Conor Masterson. The resulting corner saw Jerome Opoku rise highest and his header was defended by Matt Palmer at the back post.
Town saw some nice quick play from Omotoye and Jaiyesimi on the left flank. The striker’s pass into the box was looking for an onrushing Twine, but again Plymouth were back in numbers and able to scramble away from danger.
Argyle skipper Joe Edwards was next to test the Swindon defence when he was found by a cut-back from the byline. The captain turned and hit a left-footed strike which was blocked by Dom Thompson and away.
With nine minutes left of the half, it was the away side that struck first. A cross wasn’t properly dealt with and the ball found its way to Panutche Camara, who turned back towards goal and rolled his shot into the bottom left corner.
Second-Half:
The Gaffer made two changes at the half, bringing off Scott Twine and Hallam Hope, with Taylor Curran and Matt Smith replacing them.
Town had a good chance to level things up just over the fifty-minute mark when Jordan Lyden was chopped down just outside the Argyle box. Thompson stepped up to strike at goal, but he slipped as he shot and his effort hit the roof of the Town End.
Plymouth then searched for a second when Panutche brushed past a few Town defenders and tried to get a shot away from a tight angle. Skipper Dion Conroy threw himself in front of the effort and excellently blocked.
With twenty-five minutes to go, Swindon had another chance to try and get back on level terms when Jaiyesimi let fly from twenty-yards out. Mike Cooper in the Plymouth net sprung across and pushed the ball out for a corner.
The resulting set-piece ended with Plymouth breaking and Ryan Hardie finished past Travers to put the Pilgrims two- ahead with just over twenty minutes to go.
Town made their final substitution with only minutes of normal time left to play, but the lads suffered their third home defeat in a row.
We travel to second-place Hull City on Saturday looking to get three points and see a repeat of the reverse fixture which we were 2-1 victors.
