SWINDON Town claimed a morale-boosting second win in a row on Saturday courtesy of a thumping 5-1 success away at AFC Wimbledon.

Johnnie Jackson’s men took the lead at Plough Lane through Aaron Pierre’s early header, but Swindon roared back to pile more misery on a severely under pressure Dons’ manager.

The first of Luke Jephcott’s double arrived from the penalty spot, while the second arrived just before half-time in comical circumstances following a Nik Tzanev error.

Jacob Wakeling had headed Swindon in front two minutes after Jephcott’s opener, and Tom Clayton scored his first Town goal around the hour mark.

A horrible day from Wimbledon’s point of view became, remarkably, even worse in added time when Pierre was sent off for a handball on the line and substitute Ronan Darcy stuck the penalty away.

The win took Swindon up to 10th, while – due to Crawley Town’s win over Hartlepool United – Wimbledon secured their League Two status regardless.

Morris made three changes to the side which started Tuesday night's win over Bradford City, with Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, Frazer Blake-Tracy, and Dylan Kadji all making way. Kadji was the only one to land on the bench as the other two picked up injuries.

Marcel Lavinier returned at left-back, while Jake Cain and George McEachran slotted into midfield.

Wimbledon named former Town winger Diallang Jaiyesimi in their starting XI, but there was no place in the squad for Josh Davison as he has torn his groin.

Wimbledon’s unwanted knack of throwing away a lead was once again put to the test when Jackson’s men went in front in the eighth minute.

A short corner from Lee Brown picked out Ethan Chislett on the right corner of the box. He carefully delivered to the far post where the sizeable Pierre was waiting. There seemed to be a hint of offside as the cross arrived, but the linesman kept his flag down and the centre-back powered a header back across Sol Brynn and into the bottom corner.

But Town wasted little time in turning the game around as Wimbledon let a 27th point slip in their past 14 matches. First, Jephcott rolled home a 16th-minute penalty after Lavinier was fouled following a charge into the box.

Just two minutes later, Swindon were in front after Remeao Hutton crossed to the far post and Wakeling powered home a really good header in the direction from which it came.

Midway through the half, Hutton saw an outrageous volleyed attempt turn just wide of goal after his initial shot on the floor was blocked.

Swindon’s third goal arrived after around half an hour in strange circumstances. Town cleared a corner and found themselves three on one with Cain in possession. The midfielder's searching ball over to the left was really poor, and Hus Biler played back to Tzanev on the edge of his own box. Instead of clearing downfield, the stopper only succeeded in picking out Jephcott in front of him, and the striker did really well to stay composed and find the net when instantly one-on-one.

Sam Pearson wasted a superb chance to pull one back for the Dons just before half-time, and Ali Al-Hamadi failed to convert a one-on-one opportunity early in the second half too. Those misses would prove costly around the hour mark as Town added a fourth goal.

After a corner was initially cleared, Hutton claimed his second assist of the day via a deep cross towards the back post. With the centre-back having stayed up, Clayton rose early and guided the ball in off the right post for his first Swindon goal.

Understandably, given the scoreline, almost half an hour passed at Plough Lane with only substitutions and pot-shots to keep journalists busy and fans entertained.

But with added time looming, an action-packed couple of minutes capped off a highly-entertaining afternoon. Pierre was sent off for denying Darcy with his arm on the line, and the Town man slotted the penalty away to make it five and secure a first four-goal margin of victory for the club since an Eoin-Doyle inspired Robins thumped Crawley in Sussex in 2019.

AFCW starting XI: Tzanev, Brown, Woodyard, Nightingale, Jaiyesimi, Chislett, Al-Hamadi, Pierre, McAteer, Biler, Pearson.

AFCW substitutes: Broome, Gunter, Marsh, Janneh, Pell, Currie, Jenkins.

STFC starting XI: Brynn, Hutton, Brewitt, Clayton, Lavinier, Khan, Cain, McEachran, Wakeling, Williams, Jephcott.

STFC substitutes: Brann, Shade, Austin, Kadji, Darcy, Minturn, Brown.

Referee: Scott Simpson

Attendance: 8,421 (1,191)