Swindon Town secured all three points against high flying Oldham Athletic thanks to a second brace from Simon Cox after Lee Peacock had opened the scoring in the 49th minute, writes Adrian Smith.

Swindon Town kicked off playing towards the Town End on a slippery pitch and the first attack saw Simon Cox waste a glorious opportunity after finding himself behind the Latics defence but fired wide with only keeper Mark Crossley to beat in the 5^th minute.  Cox looked surprised to have been given so much space and may have thought he was offside but there was no flag.

Lee Peacock returned to the Town attack after having spent much of the season in a more central role and Fulham loanee Michael Timlin returned to the midfield alongside Craig Easton, with J-P McGovern and Anthony McNamee on the right and left of midfield.

Craig Easton had an appeal for a penalty turned down in the 20th minute when he appeared to be tugged back by a defender but the referee K Hill was not interested nor was the nearby assistant official. Easton was again fouled shortly afterwards on the right hand side of midfield but Timlin's poor kick lacked any height and was easily cleared by the defence. 

Simon Cox earned a corner for Town with some tenacious play in the penalty area to try and fire in a shot but his effort was deflected wide but the corner was wasted.  Jack Smith was the first player to be cautioned midway through the half for the softest of fouls on Chris Taylor but Mr Hill decided his yellow card needed an appearance!

The teams were cancelling eachother out in midfield with few clear cut opportunities as the half wore on although Jack Smith did well to get a last ditch tackle in on Jason Jarratt who was racing in on goal   

Jerel Ifil was guilty of overplaying the ball in defence and Swindon were nearly punished when he lost possession and that led to an amazing miss by Chris Taylor who managed to sidefoot the ball wide at the far post with the goal at his mercy in the 30th minute.

The Town End were doing their best to rouse the players with the 'Red Army' chant ringing out but it was the visitors who were now having the majority of possession in the Swindon half and here was a hint of panic in the Robins defence when a poor backpass from Vincent was sliced by Peter Brezovan with 10 minutes of the half left but luckliy the ball went out for a throw-in

Finally Swindon managed to cause some concern for the Latics defence when a long cross by McNamee was headed out for a corner with McGovern lurking at  the far post and although that corner was wasted,  McNamee repeated the trick a minute later and Lee Peacock was denied a goal when his header struck the base of the post.   Swindon were now getting on top with McNamee causing problems down the left wing.    Craig Easton did get the ball into the net in the 43rd minute following a goalmouth scramble after a shot by Peacock but the offside flag had already been raised before Easton tapped the ball into the net.

The visitors had a good attack as the match entered the one minute of added time but Chris Taylor was denied a clear shot on goal by Aljofree and Brezovan was able to gather the ball with ease. Jason Jarratt also left the field limping and he was replaced by the veteran Latics player Andy Liddell and there was little other action to report before the half time whistle was blown.

Half-Time:  Swindon Town 0 Oldham Athletic 0

The visitors started brightly and won a corner in the first minute of the second half but some determined play by Ifil led to the ball being cleared long downfield where it reached McNamee who set up a good chance for Cox but his effort was deflected out for a throw-in.

However Swindon took the lead in the 49th minute through Lee Peacock who sidefooted home from close range after a shot by Cox was deflected across the area and the Town number 4 gleefully sidefooted home for his 6th goal of the season to raise the spirits of the Robins faithful. The match was now being played in bright sunshine and three minutes later the County Grond roof was raised when leading scorer Simon Cox latched onto a through ball from McNamee before sidestepping two defenders before firing home to double Swindon's lead and he looked understandably relieved to have notched his 12th goal of the season.

There was a break in play in the 60th minute when Jack Smith took a knock during a Latics attack although he was able to rejoin play after Dick Mackey had given him some treatment.

The visitors had a half-hearted shout for a penalty when Taylor went down after a challenge from Ifil but the referee waved play on and at the other end Cox was flattened on near the corner flag wnen challenging for a long ball and when the ball was crossed, Aljofree headed narrowly wide of the post.

Swindon were now dominating the game thanks to the confidence of the two goal lead with Anthony McNamee causing all sorts of problems for the Oldham defence who were strugling to cope with his pace.  The constant Robins pressure led to a deserved second goal for Simon Cox who received the ball twenty five yards from goal before rifling a powerful shot past veteran keeper Mark Crossley to stretch Swindon's lead even further and hopefully remove any fears of relegation.

Oldham forward Chris Taylor was involved in a petulant disagreement at a Latics throw-in and he continued to annoy the referee in disputing some decisions before seeing the yellow card in the 81st minute and he was roundly booed for the rest of the match. 

Shortly afterwards two goal hero Simon Cox left the field to a rousing applause in appreciation of a good afternoon's work to be replaced by Billy Paynter who would have been keen to add to his goal tally for the season. Sofiene Zaaboub replaced Man of the Match Anthony McNamee who received a standing ovation after featuring in much of Swindon's attacking play in the match 

 The visitors threatened momentarily shortly before the 90th minute but Leon Constantine could only shoot tamely at Brezovan who caught the ball cleanly and the big keeper who would have been pleased to keep a clean sheet after some of Swindon's recent defeats. 

Swindon managed to play out added time without any real chances at either end before the whistle was blown to end a good match for Maurice Malpas's team who looked very well pleased to have secured all three points against high flying Oldham who have been chasing a play off spot.

Full-Time Swindon Town 3 Oldham Athletic 0