A SPIRITED second-half rally wasn’t enough to prevent Swindon Town ending the year with defeat on the road at MK Dons tonight.

Luke Williams’ side, who began the day locked on 24 points with their Buckinghamshire counterparts, were left floundering after Kieran Agard’s early brace and then saw Luke Norris’ goal cancelled out by Nicky Maynard in the second period.

Raphael Branco’s header kicked off a period where Town threw everything into hauling themselves back into the contest but their efforts, in front of a hearty band of travelling supporters, ultimately proved in vain, with the men from the County Ground heading into 2017 on the back of an unwanted run of eight matches without a win away from home.

The headline team news was the return of Town number nine Jonathan Obika, the frontman making only his second appearance of the month following a spell beset by injury.

However, the striker was deployed in an unfamiliar left wing-back role, with Norris and Jermaine Hylton maintaining their recent partnership up top.

The influential Michael Doughty had to settle for a place on the bench, Conor Thomas returning to the starting line-up after spending his afternoon as an unused substitute as Swindon lost at Millwall on Boxing Day, while youngster Tom Smith earned a second successive start, albeit this time in his preferred central midfield position.

With eight minutes on the clock, Lawrence Vigouroux was forced into a smart stop to keep out Ed Upson’s rasping drive and just moments later, another long-range effort led to the hosts opening their account early on.

This time, Maynard’s powerful effort cracked off the angle of post and bar but fellow ex-Bristol City man Agard was quickest to react, the forward nipping in ahead of the Town defence to nod his team into the lead with ease.

Some last-ditch defending was required to prevent the Dons extending their lead as the opening throes of the first period continued, Branco blocking Maynard’s strike and Vigouroux saving from Agard after he latched on to Joe Walsh’s header across the six-yard box.

After finally exerting some pressure for a brief spell, Town found themselves 2-0 down in the 26th minute, with midfielder Chuks Aneke cutting inside and shooting after the visitors had cleared a free-kick.

His low strike fizzed past a host of bodies but Agard was on-hand in the perfect position once again, the Dons man diverting his team-mate’s effort into the net to grab his second of the night.

In the 33rd minute, Aneke was picked out by Ben Reeves and was inches away from notching his team’s third with a low strike from the edge of the area.

Things seemingly went from bad to worse as Swindon captain Nathan Thompson limped off shortly afterwards but Swindon found themselves back within touching distance with 36 minutes on the clock.

Darnell Furlong whipped a cross into the area from the right flank, which escaped the outstretched glove of goalkeeper David Martin, who couldn’t prevent Luke Norris from turning home at the far post to make it 2-1.

At the other end, Vigouroux had to stay frosty to beat away Maynard’s howitzer soon afterwards and in added time at the end of the first period, MK’s Reeves rattled the crossbar with a dipping right-footed strike.

The Dons continued to look dangerous after the break, with Obika forced to block Reeves’ goal-bound effort after he played a one-two with Samir Carruthers from a short corner.

And in the 54th minute, Swindon switched off and allowed Carruthers to collect a throw-in in acres of space, with the midfielder sliding in Maynard, who angled a shot home from a tight angle and wheeled away to celebrate his long-awaited first goal of the season.

Despite all the pressure they had earlier withstood, that third goal seemingly dealt a hammer blow to Swindon’s chances of fighting back but with 66 minutes on the clock, there was another spark of hope for the visitors, with Branco heading in James Brophy’s inswinging corner to make it 3-2.

From there on, Town played with confidence anew, with the Dons rarely able to adequately clear their lines as the blue and black shirts strode forward, although on the few occasions the hosts did pump the ball up the pitch, Maynard found saw his pot-shots dealt with by Vigouroux.

The golden opportunity for the all-important equaliser arrived in added time as John Goddard, Obika and Jermaine Hylton linked up, with the former seeing a side-footed volley agonisingly turned around the post by Martin.

In the end, Swindon’s efforts proved fruitless and they were left to contemplate a disappointing end to the year.

SWINDON TOWN: Lawrence Vigouroux, Raphael Branco, Nathan Thompson (James Brophy 35), Darnell Jones, Darnell Furlong, Conor Thomas (John Goddard 59), Tom Smith, Sean Murray, Jonathan Obika, Jermaine Hylton, Luke Norris.

Subs not used: Will Henry, Anton Rodgers, Michael Doughty, Nathan Delfouneso, Bradley Barry.