SWINDON Town were beaten 4-2 by Cardiff City at the County Ground on Saturday in the League Two side’s final pre-season fixture.

Scott Lindsey’s men, featuring new signings Tomi Adeloye and Angus MacDonald for the first time, were 3-0 down at half-time with two goals coming as a result of defensive errors.

A further mistake allowed Shemi Ojo to add a fourth late on, but a slick move from Town gave the 2,700 Town fans something to cling on to via Tyrese Shade.

Jacob Wakeling further heartened those from Wiltshire with a gritty run and finish moments before the full-time whistle.

Next up for Swindon is a trip to Harrogate Town next Saturday as the 2022-23 League Two campaign gets underway.

Cardiff’s Shemi Ojo produced the first effort of the game. The lively forward collected it on the half-turn and pushed the ball out of his feet before hammering a long-range effort towards goal. Town goalkeeper Sol Brynn dealt with it comfortably though, pushing the ball away from danger.

But with their second real chance of the game, the Championship side opened the scoring. A clipped diagonal ball over the top was latched onto by Callum O'Dowda down the right. Despite pressure from Remeao Hutton, O'Dowda managed to cut the ball back and Watters ghosted in to slam home first time with his left.

Three minutes later, it was two but this time a lack of concentration in defence was the catalyst rather than a moment of quality.

Town were passing it around the back, and Harries gave Brynn an under-hit pass to try and clear. Brynn opted to try and shift the ball around Andy Rinomhota, but the striker tackled him and tapped into an empty net.

Following an unconverted one-on-one chance from Rinomhota and unsuccessful attempts from Louis Reed and Ben Gladwin, Cardiff made it three just before the break.

The Championship club slipped a couple of one-twos through the Town midfield which ended with Bluebirds captain Ryan Wintle rounding MacDonald inside the box.

As he was about to shoot, it looked as though Ciaran Brennan poked past Brynn into the bottom corner while trying to recover the situation.

Town attempted to push forward with more purpose in the second half, and Gladwin produced the first real moment of danger for Lindsey’s men.

Remeao Hutton's clipped cross to the back post from the left saw Gladwin absolutely hammer a volley at goal from the right side of the box which Allsop turned behind from in front of his near post.

A 20-minute period passed without any meaningful chance for either side until a goal for each late on pushed the score to 4-1.

Town netted the goal they richly deserved following good work from substitute Saidou Khan and a neat pass from Reed. Shade was found inside the box on the right, and he simply shifted the ball onto his right before drilling across Allsop and into the far corner.

However, two minutes later, a mistake from Brennan allowed Ojo to squeeze an effort past Ward and re-establish the Welsh side’s three-goal lead.

But another substitute, Wakeling, rounded off the afternoon’s scoring with a determined run and finish late on.

Cardiff turned the ball over and Wakeling ran at a wall of grey shirts with nothing in his mind except the goal. He was almost dispossessed on the edge of the box but latched onto the loose ball before sending a deflected strike past Allsop into the bottom corner.

STFC starting XI: Brynn, Hutton, Reed, Gladwin, Williams, Adeloye, McKirdy, MacDonald, Harries, Shade, Brennan.

SUBS: Clayton, Baudry, Darcy, Ward, Khan, Wakeling, Kanu.

CCFC starting XI: Allsop, Romeo, Ng, Kipre, Collins, Wintle, Rinomhota, Sawyers, O'Dowda, Ojo, Watters.

SUBS: Alnwick, Campbell, Bagan, Nelson, Denham, King, Sang, Tanner, Whyte, Harris.

ATTENDANCE: 3,590 (837)