A FIRST goal in EFL football should have been a cause for celebration for Luke Woolfenden but the on-loan defender admitted any happiness at such a career landmark had been tempered by overall events at the County Ground on Saturday.

The teenage defender showed admirable composure to steady himself and volley home Town's equaliser early in the second half, one of only three recorded shots the home side mustered during the entire 90-plus minutes of the 2-1 defeat by Bury.

The Ipswich Town man's strike briefly raised spirits among an increasingly-restless home support before Byron Moore snuffed out any promise by crashing home his and the Shakers' second five minutes later to ultimately decide the contest.

Woolfenden arrived just prior to the closure of the loan window at the end of last month and has proved an impressive addition to Town's defence, his blossoming partnership with Sid Nelson being one of the features of Swindon's recent good form.

That improvement hit a bump in the road against a streetwise Bury frontline, although Town's young centre-backs found themselves too frequently exposed to a busy visiting attack by a midfield that went missing in front of them.

Woolfenden said: “They say it’s the best thing in football to score a goal but it is the worse circumstances.

"I would rather keep a clean sheet and win 1-0 than score and lose 2-1.

“It is a good feeling to score a goal, always, but it’s come on a bad day.''

The defender conceded that the tone for a dismal Town display had been sent within seconds of the kick-off, with home goalkeeper Luke McCormick required to push a Chris Dagnall effort around a post.

He added: “We didn’t win enough second balls the whole game. We started slow and they put us on the back foot right from the beginning.

“When a team has nearly scored in the first 20 seconds it sets the tone for the whole match.

“They have grown in confidence and we have nearly conceded a goal.

“We said at half-time, it’s only 1-0, we knew we had enough quality to get back into the game. The way we started the second half it looked like we were going to do it.

“We started really well and scored the goal. After we conceded we were still pushing for another goal.

“We equalised and then straight away conceded again. It is not good enough really.''