Swindon Town ended 2023 with a dramatic 2-1 home victory over Forest Green Rovers on Friday evening.
After a goalless first half, Dan Kemp scored twice, either side of an initial Matty Taylor goal for the away side, as Town keeper Lewis Ward ensured the three points stayed in Wiltshire with a last-minute penalty stop.
Town made two changes to the side which was narrowly defeated by Wrexham three days ago, with defenders Udoka Godwin-Malife and Tom Brewitt coming in for George McEachran and Williams Kokolo.
It was a cagey opening from both sides, with both teams looking to create early opportunities to break the deadlock.
Town's best chance in the early proceedings came in the fifth minute when Dan Kemp looked to find Charlie Austin at the back post after a spell of threatening possession, but the skipper was unfortunate not to be able to connect with the cross just a few minutes in.
Swindon continued to look to carve open a chance and after an impressive piece of skill from Saidou Khan that allowed the midfielder to release Tyrese Shade, but from the resulting corner, Forest Green was unfortunately able to deal with the danger.
Dan Kemp was next up to have a chance to open the scoring in the 16th minute, but his direct free-kick was frustratingly blocked by the away side's defensive wall.
Tyrese Shade tried his luck in the 25th minute with a 25-yard effort that initially troubled Luke Daniels in the Forest Green goal, but the away side's keeper was able to grab the rebound before Swindon players could look to pounce.
Forest Green looked to cause a threat seven minutes later, with midfielder Charlie McCann shooting from inside the Town penalty area, but thankfully the effort was tame and Lewis Ward was able to gather.
The remaining 13 minutes saw the game settle down for the final period of the first half, with Swindon looking to continue their pressure and open the scoring in the second 45.
Half-time: Swindon 0 Forest Green 0
The second half started at a quicker tempo with Swindon's first chance coming four minutes in, with Saidou Khan's long-range effort testing Daniels who was also on hand to deal with Town's resulting corner.
Five minutes later Town came close again with Tyrese Shade's effort inside the penalty area blocked, but, two minutes later, Dan Kemp struck for the first time this game.
After a Jake Young cross-field pass is cleared, the ball falls to Kemp and he showed great composure to drive forward and whip the ball into the bottom corner with a fantastic finish in the 56th minute.
13 minutes later, Swindon almost had a second, with Dan Kemp finding Tyrese Shade who took his time and saw his deflected effort clip off the crossbar, as the resulting corner was inches away from being poked home by a Swindon player too.
With just over 15 minutes left to play, recent substitute Matty Taylor equalised for the away side as Swindon looked to find a late burst of energy to help give them all three points.
In a dramatic ending, Dan Kemp found that second goal with a powerful close-range strike with just under 10 minutes of normal time to play, but there was to be one more late twist with Forest Green awarded a penalty in the final moments of the game.
Matty Stevens stepped up for Rovers, but Town keeper Lewis Ward stood tall and denied the Rovers talisman and was greeted by a roar across The County Ground that saw jubilant celebrations when the full-time whistle shortly followed.
With this victory secured, Swindon now look ahead to their first fixture of 2024, with an away trip to Crawley coming up next on Monday afternoon.
Swindon Town: L.Ward, Hutton, Young, Khan (McEachran 88), Kemp, Brewitt, Godwin-Malife, Kinsella, Shade, Minturn, Austin (C) (Cain 75)
Goals: Kemp 56, 82
Subs not used: Evans, Genesini, Dworzak, Hart, Obodo
Forest Green: Daniels, Bernard, Inniss (C), Jenks (Bendle 45), McAllister, McCann (Robertson 70), Stevens, Robson, Dabo (Lavinier 45), Bunker, Morton (Taylor 70)
Goal: Taylor 74
Subs not used: Searle, Johnson, Welch
Referee: Scott Simpson
Attendance: 9,075 (485 away fans)
