Three goals from defenders managed to end Swindon Town’s curse at Cheltenham Town as they ran out 3-2 winners in League Two.

A pair of defenders had Swindon in a commanding position at the break as George Cox scored his first goal in English football and Will Wright notched his third of the campaign.

Joel McGregor fired Town further ahead two minutes after the break before goals from George Miller and Ethon Archer made for an uncomfortable ending.

They were made to work for it, but Swindon have finally ended The Curse of the Cotswolds as they win at Cheltenham for the first time and also pick up their first away win of the campaign for good measure.

Mark Kennedy made three enforced changes to his side from Harrogate Town with Joel Cotterill on international duty with Wales Under-21s and Kabongo Tshimanga and Aaron Drinan nowhere to be seen. Captain Ollie Clarke returned from injury to start along with Nnamdi Ofoborh, starting for the first time since Walsall. Danny Butterworth pushed up to make up the front two with Paul Glatzel.

The small pitch was a talking point before the match and Cheltenham were looking to put that to good use early on and not allow Swindon to play through as they had on Tuesday. The hosts had plenty of bodies close together in the centre of the pitch to block off any playing out from the back and also make the most of their own long balls.

They were then nearly gifted the lead after a mix-up from a long throw-in. The ball dropped in the box and as Owen Evans came out to grab it, Ryan Bennett smacked the ball against his teammate’s back, deflecting beyond the out-of-position goalkeeper but he just got back to stop it crossing the line.

Following a period where Cheltenham seemed to be the more menacing side, the breakthrough came.

Finally able to build slowly through the third, starting in the left-back area, and ending with Clarke setting the ball back for Tunmise Sobowale to hang up a hopeful cross. Cox nipped ahead of Liam Kinsella and rifled the ball into the top corner of the net.

Cheltenham had the chance for a swift reply as Norkett seemed to walk through multiple defenders and into the area from the left but his curling effort was high, wide, and not very handsome.

Instead came the misery compiler as scorer turned provider as a free kick on the corner of the box from Cox was delivered to the far post for Wright and he slid in to send an effort under Evans and into the net for a quickfire second.

That second goal seemed to deflate Cheltenham. They had played with the typical Michael Flynn tenacity to open the game but began to drop off and allow Swindon to keep the ball and coast into the halftime break.

Flynn made three changes at the break but he needn’t have bothered. Within two minutes of the restart, Butterworth slipped Cox away for a cutback. Clarke and Glatzel both had a go before the ball fell for McGregor to slam home his first league goal having got his first senior one on Tuesday.

It was a complete flip from a week ago. The more than 1,000-strong away crowd were loving their afternoon in the Cotswold sun and giving the famous Cheltenham Roar that normally rings around these hills a run for its money.

Whilst that happened, the home fans were going spare, having booed their team off at the break, there were more after the third goal as they all sat feeling many of the same feelings that had been going around in SN1 last weekend.

Cheltenham did get a goal back after 63 minutes when halftime substitute Miller got free in the area and turned home a cross.

That goal did create the jeopardy that Swindon would have hoped to avoid as the hosts busted out their physicality once more to try and fire them back into it. Harrison Minturn came on and made a big near-post block to keep the advantage.

Swindon could have had four for the second time in a week as Evans came well out of his goal to close down Botan Ameen, he found Butterworth to have a go at the empty net but could only find the roof from range.

But all of a sudden that giddy excitement from earlier was put back in the box as Cheltenham had a second when Archer turned through the legs of Barden, setting up a grandstand finish.

It really is never finished with Swindon and the hosts poured on the pressure with Swindon’s shape becoming more and more contrived. What was left in the kitchen was chucked their way but mercifully they just about clung on.

CTFC starting XI: Evans, Kinsella, Bradbury, Young, Norkett, Bowman, Bennett, Archer, Shipley, Stubbs, Pett.

CTFC substitutes: Day, Laing, Miller, Dulson, Thomas, Sohna, Payne.

STFC starting XI: Barden, Sobowale, Wright, Ofoborh, Clarke, Glatzel, Kilkenny, Freckleton, Butterworth, Cox, McGregor.

STFC substitutes: Evans, Delaney, McGurk, Longelo, Cain, Minturn, Ameen.