MORE misfortune was the bane of Town boss Mark Cooper’s afternoon as his side fell 2-1 to Peterborough United, their third home defeat in a row and sixth in seven games.

Town were certainly improved from the side who have succumbed to more dispiriting defeats in recent weeks. They took the game to a Peterborough side in good form and scoring goals.

Two goals in 14 minutes either side of half-time cost Town. Jon Taylor put the away side ahead as they enjoyed a rare bit of pressure seven minutes before the turnaround. Then seven minutes into the second period, a calamitous error from keeper Lawrence Vigouroux, saw Lee Angol double the lead.

Town got on the scoresheet even though one of their players did not. Michael Bostwick headed past his own keeper from Anton Rodgers’ free-kick to give Swindon a bit of hope with 20 minutes to go.

Swindon applied plenty of pressure and the excellent returning Ben Gladwin got off a lot of shots, although very few on target, but Town could not do as the Posh did and make their pressure tell.

Cooper has been dispirited by recent defeats, but he saw some encouraging signs from his patched up team in their latest loss.

“I thought we did well with a team that we cobbled together. I didn’t think we deserved to lose,” he told the local media.

"We can’t legislate for the second goal that gives them the cushion to hang on to. I felt we were always going to score, but we can’t legislate for that.

“We go on about young players, but when you get them that like with inexperience (Vigouroux’s mistake) is going to happen.

“It comes down to decision making and not anything the goalkeeping coach (Steve Hale) would have worked on. That is part of (Vigouroux’s) learning. He needs to clear the ball.

“When you are on a run like we are, every little mistake gets punished. We just have to be so disciplined that you’re not going to make that mistake.

“The first 20 minutes we had loads of bits of possession and got Ben (Gladwin) on the ball in and around the box. A little bit more quality on the shots and we could have easily scored.

“We got done with a sucker punch goal, then second half we had a right go. We were the only team in it really, we were pressing hard and deserved something out of the game.

“The boys got a round of applause at the end. If you lose and you put the effort in that they did and the performance, I think the fans appreciated the effort today.”