DEFENDER Kyle Knoyle accepted that Swindon Town’s inability to score from key chances against Grimsby Town on Saturday cost them valuable League Two points.

Right-back Knoyle delivered another mature performance for manager Richie Wellens, however, that could not stop the Mariners striking once in both halves as Michael Jolly’s outfit recorded their third successive win on home turf.

Kaiyne Woolery was largely denied by the resolute efforts of the home side’s gutsy defensive resolve as the 23-year-old saw several powerful strikes blocked or deflected wide.

Elijah Adebayo, meanwhile, fluffed his lines twice in the second half – a flick from six yards out was acrobatically tipped wide before his weak one-on-one effort was struck straight into the body of Grimsby stopper James McKeown.

Those missed chances were pinpointed as Town’s downfall, but 22-year-old Knoyle remained encouraged by their performance, insisting results will come if Swindon continue to play as they did.

He said: “We’re feeling quite hard done by given the chances we created.

“We came out strong in the second half and had a lot of chances to put the game away. Unfortunately, we didn’t take them.

“The amount of times that Lawrence (Vigouroux) was kicking the ball and it was just holding up – there is not much you can do when conditions are like that.

“We still managed to create chances, which is positive. On another day, we could’ve taken those chances and won the game.”

Strong 50mph gusts greeted Swindon in the second half, and playing into the wind proved a troublesome aspect to deal with.

Goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux regularly watched his kicks fall short of the halfway line, while punts from the defenders up field had to – generally – be played as low as possible to avoid the impact of the strong gusts.

Adjusting to such conditions proved difficult for Knoyle, who admitted the weather has had its fair say in Town’s last two fixtures.

He added: “The wind has played a major factor in both of the last two games, unfortunately it just didn’t turn out for us on Saturday.

“It’s very difficult because when you’re playing balls with the wind, you can’t put too much on it because the ball will go out of play.

“When you’re playing against it, getting the ball up the pitch is hard enough itself.

“You’ve got to adjust to conditions, which is quite difficult.”