I DID not see that coming. Not just the three points Swindon Town deservedly won against league leaders Bristol City, despite our two best players being away on international duty, but the man-of-the-match performance from centre back Rafa Rossi Branco, writes Danny Hall.

All this fan wanted was for Town to stand up and be counted after the abject capitulation against Cheltenham in the FA Cup the previous week when the less said about Branco’s brief cameo appearance from the bench the better.

The Brazilian defender often gives the impression he is an accident waiting to happen but on Saturday he was magnificent and, dare I say it, disciplined. I’m convinced that Jack Stephens, the player Branco replaced as our right-sided centre back, would not have kept Aaron Wilbraham as quiet.

Of course, the game lost a lot as a spectacle after the third-minute sending off of City captain Wade Elliott.

I have yet to see an adequate replay of the incident but the linesman who was closer than me thought it a straight red. City rather went into their shell afterwards and Town keeper Wes Foderingham could not have contemplated such an easy afternoon.

But if City seemed to play for a point so, bizarrely, did Swindon. We started with two deep-lying midfielders, Stephens (in a new role) and Louis Thompson, expecting a City onslaught and stuck with that game plan even after the opposition went down to 10 men.

It resulted in not one meaningful shot on target from the home side in the opening 45 minutes with the best chance being created by a clever piece of play from Jon Obika and a slip from Ben Gladwin when he was about to pull the trigger.

From the opening seconds of the game, it again became clear that Nathan Thompson was going to be the most man-marked centre back in football as City immediately stopped him being the default outlet when Wes had the ball.

That all changed when City went down to 10 and Thompson became our sole driving force. The usually excellent Nathan Byrne lost his first few skirmishes with left back Joe Bryan and suddenly stopped trying to go past his man, while the languid Gladwin, our midfield link with the two starved strikers, continually wanted too long on the ball.

Something had to change at half-time and it did. Within the first five minutes after the interval there was threat on the City goal than there had been in the entire first half. And soon manager Mark Cooper swapped Byrne for Gladwin which added to City’s problems.

It would not be fair to say we battered City but we had them pinned in their own half for long periods, even if the crosses coming in were relatively easy for Aden Flint or keeper Frank Fielding to deal with.

Many of the shots went straight at Fielding but he did make one terrific stop, while Byrne, who had regained his confidence by having more space to run at the defence, was unluckily denied a great goal when his pile-driver hit the underside of the bar.

The winner was coming and Michael Smith grabbed it albeit taking what seemed like an age as he shimmied across the box before eventually planting it into the back of the net.

There was still time for one hairy moment when a disorganised Swindon did not pick up the runners as City broke forward. Fortunately the cross did not come over to any of the three unmarked players in blue on the back post.

At the final whistle, delirious celebrations broke out on three sides of the ground but on the pitch controversy brewed again.

Nathan Thompson’s inflammatory celebrations in front of the City fans tainted his otherwise excellent personal display and may well earn some official censure.

For a player already walking a disciplinary tightrope it was a daft thing to do and behaviour that has no place from a Swindon captain.