Swindon Town earned their first ever win over Cheltenham Town at the third attempt this season with goals in the first half by Simon Cox and Billy Paynter and a late second half goal by substitute Christian Roberts, writes Adrian Smith.
Swindon did well to overcome a fierce opening three minutes during which Steve Brooker was denied by a fine save by Peter Brezovan in a one-on-one situation and shortly afterwards a David Bird shot was deflected onto the post by Lee Peacock who got in the way of the shot.
At the other end Billy Paynter got on the end of a Comminges throw-in to head the ball to the right of Cheltenham keeper Shane Higgs but he caught the ball cleanly.
Jerel Ifil conceded a silly free-kick on the edge of the Swindon area when he tripped an opposing forward even though the ball had been cleared but Brooker's free-kick struck the defensive wall.
The visitors were seeing more of the ball and were showing more creativity and they almost punished Swindon's hesitant defending when Brezovan's fisted clearance under pressure from D'Agostino saw the ball arrive at Bird's feet but his first time effort went wide of the upright.
Swindon's first corner came in the 17th minute when McGovern's cross was headed behind but the resulting cross was poor and easily cleared and two minutes later Lindegaard's cross was hoofed behind for a corner by Aljofree but the cross was cleared.
Swindon took the lead against the run of play when Simon Cox capped his home debut as a fully fledged Swindon player by tapping home after Cheltenham player Caines miskicked a clearance from a cross by McGovern and Cox nipped in just ahead of Higgs to poke the ball into the net for his 10th goal of the season in Swindon colours.
Anthony McNamee did well to earn a corner for Swindon with some neat footwork before unleashing a shot which struck a defender and the ball was shepherded out by Paynter but the resulting cross was again easily cleared.
Cheltenham continued to look dangerous with good efforts by Brooker and Gillespie as Swindon backpedalled however Billy Paynter doubled Swindon's lead in the 40th minute with a flicked header from the edge of the 6 yard box from a cross by McNamee. Paynter looked understandably delighted to cap his return from suspension with Town's second goal of the game.
The second goal clearly lifted Swindon and they continued probing for a third before the half time whistle was blown but there was little action to report before the Wiltshire Robins left the field to good applause.
Half Time: Swindon Town 2 Cheltenham Town 0
The second half started with Swindon on the attack with some good moves down both wings without being able to seriously trouble Higgs before Cheltenham had three corners in quick succession as the visitors looked to try and get back in the game but the defence held firm under the pressure.
Anthony McNamee was causing problems for the Cheltenham defence with his pace and he delivered a superb cross from the left which just needed a touch from Cox or Paynter but neither could get close and the ball was cleared. Alex Russell popped up in attack in the 60th minute before firing in a powerful shot from the edge of the area which Brezovan stooped to gather cleanly.
Simon Cox was also putting the visiting defence under pressure with some determined running without being able to get a clear shot on goal.
Cheltenham made the first substitution in the 66th minute replacing Andy Lindegaard with Scott Brown as Keith Downing looked to try and retain Cheltenham's record of never having lost to Swindon in any first team match!
Cheltenham did get the ball in the net in the 70th minute but the referee had already awarded a free-kick for shirt pulling by Gillespie on Comminges which had knocked the Swindon defender out of his stride.
Jerry Gill left the field in the 72nd minute to be replaced by Paul Connor with Swindon continuing to look good value for their two-goal lead.
Substitute Christian Roberts wrapped up the points in the 80th minute with a pinpoint finish after Aljofree's quickly taken free-kick saw him pass the ball to Roberts who caught the Cheltenham defence flat footed before firing an angled shot into the far corner to secure three valuable points.
Billy Paynter left the field to good applause after a fine match capped by his first half goal to be replaced by Barry Corr on his return from injury and Corr was soon in the action getting in amongst the attacking play.
Simon Cox was also replaced with three minutes of normal time remaining and the County Ground also gave him a rousing reception after he capped his full County Ground debut as a Swindon player with the opening goal.
Cheltenham did not give up and continued to try and get at least one goal out of the match with Gillespie firing narrowly wide just before the match entered three minutes of added time.
The win lifts the home side into tenth position ahead of Saturday's trip to Nottingham Forest, who drew 1-1 at Leeds United.
Full-Time: Swindon Town 3 Cheltenham Town 0
Attendance: 6,483
