Exeter City 2

Swindon Town 0

It’s difficult to see where Swindon go from here after their latest defeat, this time away to Exeter, writes Peter Mitchell.

Phil Brown had dispensed with the fruitless partnership of Marc Richards and Elijah Adebayo, and instead given a start to young Scott Twine, who replaced the latter. Also recalled was defender Dion Conroy and Martin Smith in midfield, but it was somewhat surprising to see creative midfielder Steve Alzate warming the bench. I can only imagine the omission of Sid Nelson at the back was a case of being precautionary.

Town had the majority of possession, moved the ball around pretty well, but once again showed no teeth in attack. Just one shot on target in the whole game. Keshi Anderson was lively, making some good runs, but with the inevitable disappointment at the end.

Swindon achieved little infiltration once they reached the edge of the area, although Richards did have two good chances in the first half, and came close with neither.

Playing with three central defenders this week, Town were caught out 15 minutes in, by a long ball down the middle that finished with Exeter’s Jonathan Forte hitting a pretty innocuous shot in off the upright.

In the second half Town were still well in the game but were just missing that vital spark in the final third. Exeter were satisfied to cram their defence and sit on their lead. Former Swindon loanee Lee Holmes proved a handful on the wing with most of the danger emanating from his pacey runs. The points were finally sealed when the impressive Jayden Stockley got on the end of a super cross from the left.

In the end Town can have few complaints about returning home empty handed – they just didn’t do enough.

Although Adebayo did come on for the last half hour he seems to be lacking something. He is obviously talented as an individual, but his inconsistency is symptomatic of what the whole team seems to be suffering from.

Kailyn Woolery made a welcome return as substitute for the final 20 minutes and Swindon’s hopes of better performances up front must hinge on him coming good.

Although we are only 13 league games into the season, Swindon are already 14 points behind the leaders and languishing in 13th place. Unless something dramatic and unexpected occurs, there is little evidence to point to them improving much on their current situation. It may be true that the squad, on paper, is probably generally stronger than last season but the emphasis must now shift to achieving better penetration and a much better return from the front men.

Next Saturday a feisty fixture beckons when Mansfield Town are the visitors. Former manager David Flitcroft and former defender Matt Preston will be assured of a rousing reception on their return to County Ground!