NEW Swindon Town Women manager Mike Cook made a losing start to his tenure after Exeter City thumped the Robins 4-0 at Cinder Lane in National League South West Division One.

The table-topping Grecians made light work of their mid-table opponents – who also saw Jen Gray sent off midway through the second half for two yellow cards – with four different scorers helping Exeter to a sixth consecutive win with half a dozen clean sheets to boot.

Lucy Durham and Tori Taylor missed out through injury for Swindon, and they were replaced by recent signing Mia Mugford and full-back Gipsy Viveash.

The first action of note saw Gray booked inside the first minute for a foul near the half-way line.

But with a scrappy start preventing either side from creating a serious chance, Exeter fired a warning shot at Swindon from a corner before opening the scoring after half an hour via the same method. Jess Sandland’s corner was floated to the back post where Mollie Taylor slammed home from close range at the second attempt.

Much like the men’s team in recent weeks, corners were proving to be a thorn in Town Women’s side. Two minutes after a golden chance was scooped over from close range at a set-piece, Exeter made no mistake from another Sandland corner as City forward Jenna Markham powered a header past Emily McGrogan.

Long-range shots from Meg Attenborough and Viveash encouraged Cook’s side, but the hosts trailed by two goals at the break.

The deficit almost grew in the embryonic stages of the second half as the Grecians struck the bar. Jaydee Seaman’s side-splitting pass through to Markham allowed the striker to find Stacey in space, but the effort from outside the box flew past McGrogan and onto the bar before bouncing away to safety.

Annie Colston was presented with a decent chance to pull one back midway through the second half after beating the offside trap and latching onto a ball over the top, but her near-post volley was well saved by Abbi Bond in the Exeter goal.

But hope quickly turned into despair after Gray was shown her second yellow card with 15 minutes to play and the Grecians netted a third shortly after. Sandland’s dangerous free-kick dropped to Zoe Watkins, and she rolled her effort into the bottom corner to seal the points.

The final goal of the game arrived with four minutes remaining – Sarah Stacey nodding a near-post cross past McGrogan on a miserable day for new boss Cook.