SWINDON Town lost 5-4 on penalties to Arsenal Under-21s on Tuesday night at the end of an entertaining 2-2 draw in the EFL Trophy.

In Swindon’s opening fixture of the development competition, Michael Flynn’s highly youthful side competed diligently and managed to twice take the lead when capitalising on Gunners mistakes.

A Reuell Walters own goal put Town ahead early on before Lino Sousa equalised for the visitors shortly after.

Tariq Uwakwe helped re-gain Swindon’s lead after pouncing on an error from goalkeeper Karl Hein midway through the opening period, but Arsenal equalised eight minutes before the end to force penalties.

Swindon’s recent record from the spot is poor, and that bad luck continued as Benn Ward’s saved effort ultimately cost Town the chance to gain a bonus point – leaving the Robins with just one to start their EFL Trophy campaign.

Flynn made 10 changes to the side which started the unforgettable 5-5 draw with Wrexham on Saturday - Brooklyn Genesini was the only survivor for Swindon.

New signing Lewis Ward was handed an immediate second debut in goal, while namesake Benn lines up in defence. Fellow teenagers Sonny Hart, Harrison Minturn, Jaxon Brown, and Abu Kanu are handed starts as well. Kinsella captains the young Swindon XI.

For Arsenal, centre-midfielder Ethan Nwaneri was said to be the visitors' dangerman having already made his senior debut for Mikel Arteta's team.

The young Gunners showed their intent from the first whistle and would have been a goal up inside 90 seconds, if not for an ill-timed run. Arsenal kept the ball for the majority of the first two minutes before Charle Sagoe slotted home from an acute angle on the left – only to see his goal chalked off by a raised flag on the far side.

That error proved costly as, in the sixth minute, Swindon took the lead. Jacob Wakeling collected down the right before gliding towards the box unopposed. Once he reached the area, no one closed him down and he pulled across goal. Reuell Walters made a horrible mess of trying to clear - instead, awkwardly poking into his own net off the post.

The young Gunners wasted little time before equalising, however. From an 11th-minute corner that arrived due to a Lewis Ward mis-judgement, Arsenal crossed from the left and Sousa ghosted across his man before flicking a header into the bottom-right corner.

In a 45 minutes of brilliantly-awkward chaos, Minturn cleared a goal-bound effort from behind Ward once Myles Lewis-Skelly had found himself through one-on-one. That was not the only goal-line clearance as Liam Kinsella also provided similar heroics later on in the half.

Excellent defending ultimately allowed Swindon to take a lead into half-time too after a terrible Gunners mistake. Arsenal goalkeeper Karl Hein received the ball inside his six-yard box and tried to take on Uwakwe - who was about five yards away – before being tackled. Uwakwe then had the simple job of touching home from centimetres out.

Once the teams switched ends, Sagoe and Nwaneri were both denied by Ward in separate incidents as Arsenal searched for a deserved equaliser.

Midway through the second half, Arsenal wasted a glorious chance to equalise after breaking on Town from a Swindon corner. Nathan Butler-Oyedeji combined with Cozier-Duberry to set up the two-on-one chance, but the former shot straight at Ward with only the stopper to beat.

Five minutes later, Town cleared off the line for the third time on the night. Sagoe was found in space down the left side of the box, but although his shot beat Ward, it didn't beat Harrison Minturn who ran back to cover.

But in the 82nd minute, Arsenal finally secured a deserved equaliser after Cozier-Duberry reached the by-line before cutting back into the middle for substitute Gower to slot into the top-left corner.

After the visiting Gunners passed up a couple more opportunities to win it in normal time, penalties were required to separate the sides.

While Arsenal scored all five of theirs, culminating with a successful spot-kick from James Sweet, Town were left with a sour taste in their mouth after Ward saw his shot saved by Hein.

Swindon will aim to pick themselves up when Crawley Town arrive at SN1 in League Two on Saturday.

STFC starting XI: Ward, B Ward, Hart, Minturn, Genesini, Cain, Kinsella, Brown, Uwakwe, Wakeling, Kanu.

STFC substitutes: Brann, Dworzak, Shade, Hunt, Obodo, Keyes, Adams.

AU21FC starting XI: Hein, Sweet, Walters, Monlouis (c), Sousa, Ibrahim, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, Cozier-Duberry, Sagoe, Butler-Oyedeji.

AU21FC substitutes: Ejeheri, Foran, Rosiak, Gower, Flores, Kamara, Edwards.

Referee: Lee Swabey

Attendance: 3,352