Swindon Town started 2024 with a frustrating 3-1 away defeat to Crawley Town on Monday afternoon.
Danilo Orsi scored twice on either side of the half, coupled with a Jack Roles first-half volley gave the home side a comfortable lead.
Dan Kemp scored a late consolation in the game for Town as Swindon were left defeated down in West Sussex.
Town initially named an unchanged starting XI to the side which defeated Forest Green last time out, but a late enforced change meant Williams Kokolo was reintroduced to the side, replacing Tom Brewitt.
It was an open first 10 minutes and after a series of pressure and corners for Swindon, it would be the home side who scored the game's opening goal.
After initially working the ball down their right-hand side, it was pulled across to Danilo Orsi who poked home from close range.
Swindon looked for an immediate response. Two chances came Town's way in the space of seven minutes, with Remeao Hutton looking for skipper Charlie Austin twice but Crawley keeper Corey Addai unfortunately held his goal-bound efforts.
Despite these chances, the home side doubled their scoring midway through the first half with midfielder Jack Roles' volley finding the far corner of the Swindon Town goal.
The game quietened for the next 10 minutes, but Town did look to create a few late chances in the first half as they looked to shorten the deficit before the break.
A dangerous Kokolo cross, Dan Kemp's wide free-kick and Jake Young looked to open Swindon's goalscoring account for 2024, but
The best chances came late on for Town with Kemp seeing his one-on-one effort drag frustratingly wide before a Charlie Austin header was tipped onto the Crawley crossbar by Addai in the final opportunity for Swindon in the first half.
Half-time: Crawley Town 2 Swindon Town 0
Jake Young had an early long-range effort for Swindon at the start of the second half, but Crawley soon made it three with Danilo Orsi scoring his second of the game with another close-range strike, following the deflection from Will Wright's effort from distance causing confusion.
Swindon made a double change after this goal as Town looked to respond, with George McEachran and Jake Cain stepping onto the field of play with just over 30 minutes left to play.
It would be the two changes who are involved in Swindon's best chance of the second half so far, with George McEachran's clearance reaching Dan Kemp, who released Remeao Hutton and the wing-back found Jake Cain but his powerful close-range effort was somehow tipped away by Corey Addai in the 69th minute.
Charlie Austin saw a volley go wide of the Crawley goal three minutes later after linking up with Remeao Hutton before Jake Young was also unable to find the target two minutes later from just a few yards out, as Town continued to push for a response in the final 15 minutes.
There was still time in the game for a late consolation as Dan Kemp whipped an effort into the bottom left corner to give Swindon fans something to cheer about before the end of today's game.
Unfortunately, this was the final chance for either side in the game as Swindon looked to bounce back back at home on Saturday against Colchester United.
Crawley Town: Addai, Conroy (C), Ransom, Orsi, Darcy (Gordon 75), Roles (Lolos 69), Mukena, Williams (Forster 87), Tsaroulla, Campbell, Wright
Goals: Orsi 10, 53, Roles 26
Subs not used: Ashby-Hammond, Swyer, Henry, Adeyemo
Swindon Town: L.Ward, Hutton, Young, Khan, Kemp, Kokolo, Godwin-Malife, Kinsella (Cain 59), Shade (McEachran 59), Minturn, Austin (C)
Goal: Kemp 90+1
Subs not used: Evans, Dworzak, Hart, Obodo
Referee: Paul Howard
Attendance: 3,646 (548 away fans)
