Swindon Town put an end to their four-match winless run as they defeated Notts County 2-1 thanks to a pair of laughable goals.
A moment for a comedy goal compilations had Swindon leading at the break after a pass back to the goalkeeper struck the post and allowed Aaron Drinan to notch his third in four games.
Despite the visitors controlling the second half, Paul Glatzel was presented with an absolute gift to get Town back to winning ways, before Jatta pulled one back in stoppage time.
Swindon had their first win on a Saturday since January and moved up a place in the process into 19th in League Two, 11 points clear of Sutton United.
Gavin Gunning made two changes from Town’s defeat to Doncaster Rovers two weeks ago as Williams Kokolo and Zac Elbouzedi came in to replace Tom Brewitt and George McEachran. New signing Nnamdi Ofoborh came straight onto the bench after being announced on the day of the game.
Notts County had a big chance when John Bostock pounced upon a loose pass into Dawson Devoy after three minutes. He drove forward and slotted in David McGoldrick on the left side of the box, but his effort was straight at Jack Bycroft.
The visitors were having trouble playing through Swindon as they pressed from the front, but they were still being afforded openings. Aaron Nemane was able to get away from Frazer Blake-Tracy on the left and drive into a dangerous area. He blasted a ball into the six-yard box, but Bycroft was out quickly to beat it clear.
The Luke Williams imprint was clear on County as they were passing Swindon to death in the first half without making any real inroads. Town had gone one-on-one with the wing-backs and Jodi Jones and Nemane were struggling to have much of an impact. Gunning would have been pleased with much of how his team were defending from the front, but they were not offering much themselves.
It was a huge stroke of luck that gave Swindon the lead as Scott Robertson tried to play the ball back to his goalkeeper, but it struck the post and ricocheted into the middle of the box. Drinan was on hand to tuck the ball into the net beyond the panicking Sam Slocombe.
In the 26th minute, Sean McGurk nicked the ball off a defender and drifted out to the right. Glatzel made a great run off the shoulder of Lewis Macari and was picked out by McGurk and his header rattled the crossbar.
The visitors looked low on confidence but were still having their moments as McGoldrick drove through the middle of Town and got a shot off. Bycroft pushed it out to his left, but Macaulay Langstaff got there, Swindon’s captain on the day got back up quickly to make the save.
A minute later Town were up the other end and Kokolo slipped Glatzel down the side of the box, he got away from Lewis Macari and sent a ball into the near post. Drinan got away from his marker but couldn’t divert his effort on target.
The visitors were monopolising the ball by the end of the first 45 minutes, but Swindon were sticking to their structure. The two weeks of work were paying off as County seemed to have no idea how to get through them and were constantly having to play backwards.
In first-half stoppage time, Ricky Aguiar’s corner found Blake-Tracy at the far post, he nodded it back into the middle where Glatzel got a flick and forced a save out of Slocombe.
Elbouzedi was caught up the pitch as Swindon looked to press high and Jones scampered away behind him. He fizzed a ball into the back post for Dan Crowley, but he couldn’t keep his toed effort down.
The visitors were still knocking on the door and a ball into McGoldrick got him away on the left side of the box. He reversed a pass back in towards Langstaff, but Bycroft rushed out and managed to put him off, so Blake-Tracy could take the ball away.
Swindon’s decision to press Notts County high had been effective but was visibly taking a toll on their energy. All the work they were doing without the ball was leading to them struggling to do anything with it.
More shambolic defending gifted Swindon their second as Slocombe tried to thread a pass into midfield but played it to Glatzel instead. He controlled the ball and duly dinked it over the goalkeeper and into the waiting net.
In stoppage time County pulled one back as a corner from the right fell to substitute Alassana Jatta at the far post and he diverted the ball back across goal and into the back of the net, but after a stressful six minute of stoppage time, Swindon just about held on.
STFC starting XI: Bycroft, Blake-Tracy, Elbouzedi, Glatzel, McGurk, Kokolo, Devoy, Godwin-Malife, Drinan, McCarthy, Aguiar.
STFC substitutes: Brann, McKirdy, Brewitt, Cain, Austin, McGregor, Ofoborh.
NCFC starting XI: Slocombe, Cameron, Crowley, Langstaff, Jones, Nemane, Baldwin, Bostock, McGoldrick, Robertson, Macari.
NCFC substitutes: Ashby-Hammond, Brindley, Rawlinson, Randall, Chicken, Jatta, Warner.
Attendance: 8,339 (780 away).
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