Swindon Town were once again unable to take any points after taking the lead following their 2-1 defeat against Newport County.

Paul Glatzel’s first Swindon goal straight after halftime put Swindon in the driver’s seat, but goals from Will Evans and Seb Palmer-Houlden continued Town’s Rodney Parade hoodoo.

So, how did the players rate as individuals in South Wales?

GK: Jack Bycroft – 5

Bycroft was not given any real chance with the two goals as once again Swindon were punished for their lax defending. He did make two excellent saves from strikes from the edge of the box in another solid display in which shots on goal were minimal.

RB: Udoka Godwin-Malife – 6

His assist for the goal gets better every time you see it and Godwin-Malife showed himself to be capable of creating as a conventional full-back. Newport afforded him and Williams Kokolo space and he used it to make some good inroads in a strong showing.

CB: Conor McCarthy – 7

McCarthy is the real deal. In the first half he was consistently shutting down any attempts at counterattacks as he pocketed Will Evans. He seems to have everything in his locker and so far is a marvellous signing.

CB: Frazer Blake-Tracy – 5

Whilst playing in the middle of the defence, he performed very well. His partnership with McCarthy is a good one. But then when he had to move out to the left his performance dipped. He had a disappointing day on the ball in that position and seemed incapable of progressing forward.

LB: Williams Kokolo – 4

Kokolo seems like a fine left-back, but despite possessing great pace he is no real threat going forward. Defensively he was largely solid, but his personal duel and likelihood of getting sent off in many ways cost Swindon this game.

CM: Jake Cain – 5

After playing well against Bradford, he looked far more subdued this week. He had a handful of nice touches in the first half but with fewer easy passes in behind he was less creative. After the break, he became a non-factor and was duly subbed.

CDM: Saidou Khan – 4

Khan’s inconsistency is becoming very frustrating. He bossed Bradford last week and then looked way off the pace this week. He was run all over and made, aside from one run, had minimal impact in possession.

CM: Dawson Devoy – 7

I really like Devoy. He is always on the move, keeps the ball really well, and is always involved in what is going on. He could be more aggressive with his passing at times, but he would have been my pick for man of the match.

RW: Paul Glatzel – 6

He took his goal very well and when he could get in this game he demonstrated once again why everyone at Swindon is so excited by him. The problem was that Newport had two people on him almost the whole time and that kept him on the periphery.

ST: Charlie Austin – 5

Newport were determined not to fall into the same trap as Bradford. Austin dropped off nicely a few times and tried to play balls in behind, but the same space did not exist so he ended up giving the ball away quite a few times. It was when he chose to play shorter that this worked better.

LW: Rushian Hepburn-Murphy – 5

Hepburn-Murphy is always a hard player to rate because he did a lot of good stuff. He came to feet and beat players off the dribble and also ran in behind and did it that way. The problem was that he just held onto the ball for too long consistently and couldn’t make more of his good work.

Subs:

Tom Brewitt – 3

His role in the second goal was just infuriating. He just had no idea about his surroundings and those kinds of errors have been costly too many times. If I hear one more person suggest playing him in midfield I will go mad.

Zack Elbouzedi – 6

He was definitely correctly advertised. Elbouzedi is absolutely rapid, but he has an upright running style that doesn’t make it look like he is running that fast and I like that. He had one or two ropey balls, but he certainly made an impression.

Harry McKirdy – 6

I am so happy he is back and he so nearly capped his return off in perfect fashion. His link-up play was very good as well, once with Blake-Tracy and once with Aaron Drinan to create good openings.

Sean McGurk – 5

He simply has to score the chance he had but even in doing that, he showed that he has very quick feet. He can beat players and has a good engine. Promising.

Aaron Drinan – N/A