SWINDON-BORN Joseph Mills broke his hometown club’s hearts with a dramatic 95th-minute stoppage-time equaliser as Forest Green denied the League Two table-toppers their eighth win on the spin.

Earlier, prolific striker Eoin Doyle scored for the 10th consecutive game as his brace put Swindon in pole position. The Bradford City loanee made it 21 goals in twenty games as Swindon looked certain to maintain their winning sequence.

Doyle opened his account in the 16th minute with a hooked finish inside the box from a drilled Rob Hunt cross. And Doyle was at it again on 35 minutes - beating Rovers’ offside trap to apply a simple finish beyond exposed goalkeeper Adam Smith.

Rovers got themselves back into the game on 55 minutes – Mills stabbing over the line from a Liam Shephard cross.

Doyle was denied his third on 70 minutes as he dinked the ball over Smith, but the recovering Liam Kitching scampered back to clear off the line after Keshi Anderson carved Rovers open.

Deep into stoppage-time and with keeper Smith up for the corner, Mills grabbed his second, as the ball dropped to him in the box.

Swindon manager Richie Wellens insisted his side had chances to put the game to bed, he said: “We could have come in three or four up.

“It was an excellent performance, two well-taken goals. But we sensed at halftime if you get a little bit too over-confident, a bit cocky then one goal can change it.

“We started the second-half poorly, taking too many touches and slowing the game far too much. It allowed them to cover distances more.

“First half they couldn’t get near us and we found the gaps quite frequently.

“We didn’t manage the game well and got too over-cocky.

“We have played these games before, where we have dominated. Two halves are never going to be the same.They will change the way we play.

“From about 65 to 85 minutes we were back to being good again. We made chances but at the end we just had to defend one set play. The keeper has come up. We’ve had to mark him. It’s a real blow.

“We have to take that first half performance going forward because at times we were excellent. We need to carry on what we have done in the previous seven or eight games.

“If you have offered me a point before the game I might have took it.

“If you keep playing one or two touches people get disheartened, it was a boggy pitch and you pick them off at the end.

“We just played too slow in the second half. So I am little bit disappointed we dropped two points so late on but all in all to keep a team which is up there at arm’s length has to be a positive.”

Meanwhile, head coach Mark Cooper felt his side gave his former club too much respect in the first-half.

He bemoaned: “We paid Swindon too much respect in the first half, and I thought we deserved a moral victory in the second half as we had a real push and tried to get more control.

“The second goal, was miles offside, their centre forward flicked it on and Eoin Doyle was at least three yards offside, but the referee has already put his hands up for that one and we could be stood here saying ‘we’ve won the game’.

Cooper is set to delve into the transfer market when the window swings open in January.

He added: “The boys showed they’re’ up for the fight, but we are just lacking that killer touch and forward momentum at the front end of the pitch.

“We need some help and some players to come in and supplement the squad we’ve got.

"Our left-back (Joseph Mills) is our top scorer and that was his first goals for over a month and it doesn’t take a genius to see what we’ve got to do.”

And on the influence of second half sub James Morton, Cooper said: “He (James Morton) was very good – I haven’t given him enough game-time, but the two boys in midfield Winnie (Carl Winchester) and Ebou (Adams) have been fantastic, but on that performance I have to find a way to get him in the team.”