SWINDON strengthened their grip on first place in League Two last night as they emphatically swept aside struggling Dagenham & Redbridge 4-0 at the County Ground.

Billy Bodin opened the scoring midway through the first half before the visitors had striker Josh Scott sent off for a two-footed challenge on Oliver Risser.

From then on it was comfortable for Town as second-half goals from Joe Devera, Luke Rooney and Paul Benson sealed victory.

With second-place Cheltenham losing 3-1 at Morecambe, Town’s lead at the top has increased to six points while they are eight points clear of fourth place.

Paolo Di Canio made just two changes to the side that lost to local rivals Oxford United at the weekend, bringing in Raffa De Vita and Billy Bodin for Luke Rooney and Ronan Murray respectively.

Dagenham & Redbridge, while struggling at the wrong end of the table, arrived at the County Ground on the back of two successive victories and clearly fancied their chances of a third against a side they have a good record against.

It was a scrappy start to the encounter, but Town were the quicker of the two sides to settle into things as De Vita flicked a header wide from a Matt Ritchie free kick before Benson saw his powerful volley blocked.

But the home side were dealt a blow with barely a quarter of an hour gone as skipper Paul Caddis had to come off with an injury and the fullback was replaced by Jon Smith. The subsequent reshuffle saw Oliver Risser drop into defence and Alan McCormack moved to rightback.

Daggers winger Jon Nurse caused Alessandro Cibocchi a couple of problems in the minutes after that but Town still looked the more dangerous of the two sides and were only denied taking the lead after 21 minutes when Billy Bodin’s low effort struck the bottom of the upright.

But the Wales Under 21 international opened the scoring a minute later, poking home from Benson’s low cross.

As if going behind was not bad enough, things were to get worse for the visitors 11 minutes before the break when striker Scott was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Risser.

Dagenham & Redbridge could perhaps have counted themselves fortunate to go into the break trailing by just the one goal as Benson twice had chances to add a second, while De Vita saw a close-range effort smothered by keeper Jonathan Bond.

Very little happened during the early stages of the second half before the game suddenly exploded into life when two goals in less than five minutes for Town effectively ended the game as a contest.

First, Rooney – on as 51st minute substitute for De Vita – swung a corner towards the far post where Devera rose to head beyond Bond before Rooney smashed the ball into the roof of the net after racing onto Ritchie’s low ball into the area.

The Daggers looked every bit a side fighting for survival and from then on it was a matter of when Town would score next, rather than whether.

And another goal did come 15 minutes before the end when Rooney’s direct running forced the visitor’s nervy defence to back off and allowed the former Gillingham man the chance to slide a pass across goal where Benson was on hand to tap home.

“My demand is always very high but when you win 4-0 at this stage of the season is fantastic,” said Di Canio.

“They responded to Saturday’s defeat very well and I am very happy because the gap between us and second place is greater.

“We started a little shy but we the fact we scored four goals without playing our best means a lot. The result was crucial and I told my players this.

“We need another four wins and if we get them I am sure we will go up. I don’t mean in first place just yet but that will be enough I am sure for automatic promotion, then we can look to win the title.”