SWINDON Town were dumped out of the FA Cup on Saturday following a convincing 4-0 defeat away at League Two rivals Stockport County.

Hoping to repeat the memorable run to the third round last year, Swindon were miles off their usual standards and saw the tie effectively ended by half-time.

A first-period brace from Antoni Sarcevic was added to by centre-back Akil Wright, and Ryan Rydel completed a miserable afternoon for Town via a long-range strike shortly before the hour mark.

Swindon must now turn their attention completely to the League Two campaign, with a home game against Tranmere Rovers to come next Saturday.

Town made two changes to the side that saw off Mansfield Town 5-2 in League Two last weekend. Ben Gladwin was rested and missed out on the squad altogether while Tom Clayton was still nursing an injury. Louis Reed came in for a rare start in Gladwin's place, and Mathieu Baudry started after playing 70 minutes against Mansfield.

Meanwhile, Stockport made seven changes from their 0-0 draw with Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night.

A needlessly-heavy challenge from Saidou Khan in the second minute which saw the Gambian pick up a yellow card set the tone for a wretched first half from Town’s point of view.

It began relatively brightly when Ronan Darcy whipped a powerful effort close to the top right corner, but in the 12th minute Stockport grabbed their first.

Wright advanced out of defence before sliding a pass inside Ellis Iandolo, and Sarcevic latched onto it before driving into the box unchallenged and poking into the bottom left with the outside of his right boot.

Just five minutes later, the hosts doubled their advantage. Ryan Rydel's far-post delivery was headed back across goal by ex-Town defender Chris Hussey, and Wright rose highest to power his header down past Sol Brynn.

Iandolo crashed a left-footed free-kick into the top of the side-netting as Swindon looked for a response, but a third goal was not far away for County. The Hatters took a corner short, and Rydel crossed deep towards the far post. Brynn was caught under the flight of the ball, and it bounced kindly for Sarcevic to volley into the net via a heavy deflection.

County were handed a couple of further chances before half-time to increase their lead. The first came after Town gave it away inside their own half, and Sarcevic pushed his one-on-one chance wide of the right post.

With five minutes to go in the first half, Brynn came to Town's rescue by palming away Connor Evans' left-footed volley from the edge of the box.

As Swindon searched for an unlikely route back into the contest at the start of the second period, County grabbed a fourth out of nothing in the 57th minute. Rydel picked the ball up on the left edge of the box and simply took a touch out of his feet before driving a zipping ball off the surface and into the bottom right corner.

County had the ball in the net for a fifth time with 25 minutes remaining, but the linesman denied Ollie Crankshaw by raising his flag for offside.

The second half consisted of very few chances for either side, with the tie effectively settled. A host of substitutions were made by both sides as attention turned to saving players for upcoming league matches.

With 15 minutes remaining, Swindon recorded their first on-target shot of the afternoon. Darcy dragged the ball onto his left but sent a tame effort from the edge of the box dribbling towards Ben Hinchliffe in the County goal, and he was able to pick up easily.

Up the other end, after Town gave it away on the edge of their own box, substitute Connor Jennings curled off target from 18 yards out. And moments before the end, Sarcevic was denied his hat-trick when Brynn kept out a low free-kick.

Inside three minutes of added time, Jennings slipped fellow sub Kyle Wootton in down the right, but the latter dragged his shot well wide of Brynn's right-hand post. The Middlesbrough loanee was called on one more time before the whistle, tipping away Jennings’ close-range shot to maintain the four-goal deficit.

SCFC starting XI: Hinchliffe, Southam-Hales, Wright, Evans, Camps, Sarcevic, Crankshaw, Rydel, Croasdale ©, Hussey, Lewis.

SCFC substitutes: Jones, Horsfall, Madden, Collar, Johnson, Brown, Wootton, Hippolyte, Jennings.

STFC starting XI: Brynn, Hutton, Baudry, Brennan, Iandolo, Khan, Reed, Darcy, Williams ©, Jephcott, Wakeling.

STFC substitutes: Brann, Lavinier, Harries, Aguiar, Roberts, Shade, Adeloye, Devine, Dabre.

Attendance: 4,534 (502)

Referee: Marc Edwards