SWINDON Town got back on the winning trail after a 1-0 victory over Newport County at the County Ground on Tuesday night.

Luke Jephcott scored the only goal of the game early in the second half, but Swindon also had Remeao Hutton to thank for another stunning goal-line clearance in second-half stoppage time.

Three more points for Scott Lindsey’s men allows the Robins to quickly move on from the 2-1 defeat to Northampton Town a few days previously and pushes the club back up to eighth, having played a game more than many of the other teams in the division.

Swindon go to second-place Stevenage next. Steve Evans’ side beat Sutton United 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Swindon made one change to the side which slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Northampton on Saturday. Angus MacDonald will be out for the foreseeable future with a dislocated collarbone, therefore he was replaced by the equally experienced Mathieu Baudry. Morgan Roberts was replaced by Saidou Khan on the bench.

Newport made two changes to the team which picked up a superb 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient at the weekend. Priestley Farquharson and Hayden Lindley made way for Robbie Wilmot and Cameron Norman in a 3-5-2 formation.

In an entertaining start to the contest, Town produced the first shot on target of the evening courtesy of Ronan Darcy in the seventh minute. The young midfielder lasered a shot towards the bottom left corner from 25 yards out, but a really strong stop down to his right by Nick Townsend prevented the opener.

Jacob Wakeling tested Townsend down low moments later, and Gladwin scuffed a tame shot wide as Swindon aimed to make the most of an encouraging first 15 minutes.

But it was Newport who came closest to finding the first goal after a mistake by Baudry. The Frenchman did really well to clear up a dangerous situation before handing the ball straight back to Omar Bogle for a one-on-one chance from a tight angle. Fortunately for Town, Sol Brynn came to the rescue, saving with his knees.

Bogle had a half-chance later on in the half which he flicked wide with his head, and up the other end Gladwin was denied shortly before the half-time whistle by a brave Mickey Demetriou block with his head.

In the early moments of the second half, Town took the lead thanks to the final instalment of a trilogy of Darcy long-range efforts. Following two previous effort that Townsend had been equal to, the third time he was not so lucky.

Town worked a short corner from the right out to Darcy on the left-hand side. He cut in and hammered a right-footed shot from the edge of the box which dipped in front of Townsend. The 'keeper could only push it out into the path of Jephcott who had the simplest of tasks to tap into the unguarded net.

Remeao Hutton blasted into the side-netting via a deflection as Swindon aimed to double their lead moments later, but Newport felt they should have had a chance to equalise after an alleged handball against Ben Gladwin inside the area as the clock hit 60.

In a breathless period, Jephcott was denied his second thanks to a brilliant block on the line, and Brynn was on hand to deny Bogle up the other end following a corner which the stopper was guilty of needlessly giving away. He leapt up and away to his right to flick the striker’s header over the bar.

After being brought on as a make-shift left-winger in place of Williams, Ellis Iandolo almost grabbed the goal which would have sealed the result late on. A long ball up to him was headed on, and he collected the rebound before cutting in on his right and placing an effort narrowly wide of Townsend's left-hand post.

Fellow substitute Tyrese Shade hammered a powerful effort at goal which Townsend kept out prior to added time, but the most important denial was made up the other end by Hutton.

After substitute James Waite had pulled a chance back to Lewis Collins, the County midfielder hit the target and thought he’d scored, only for Hutton to stick out an instinctive left foot and clear away.

STFC starting XI: Brynn, Hutton, Clayton, Baudry, Blake-Tracy, Reed, Gladwin, Darcy, Williams, Jephcott, Wakeling.

STFC substitutes: Brann, Iandolo, Aguiar, Lavinier, Khan, Shade, Brennan.

NCFC starting XI: Townsend, Norman, Clarke, Wilmott, Bogle, Lewis, Moriah-Welsh, Wildig, Lewis, Demetriou, Evans.

SUBS: Day, Drysdale, Waite, Bennett, Zimba, Lindley, Collins.

Referee: Peter Wright

Attendance: 9,325 (648)