SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner felt his side was beaten fair and square by Port Vale after a 2-1 reverse at the County Ground on Saturday.

Two well-struck volleys from Ben Garrity was enough to secure all three points and cancel out Tyreece Simpson’s 49th-minute leveller.

The hosts were under par for the majority of the contest and certainly did not deserve to win, according to Garner, with the Town boss keen to stress his side must learn some quick lessons from their first poor performance of the season.

He said: “We’ve got to learn some very quick lessons because it was a fair scoreline, if I’m being honest – that’s my initial reaction from the game.

“I thought they did what they do very well. We knew what was coming, but we didn’t compete enough in certain situations.

“The second goal being one, we had three opportunities to win tackles, clear the ball, to win headers. We don’t and it costs us the game.

“So there are quick lessons to be learned, and we need to be a lot better than that moving forward.”

Town came out at half-time and appeared to be a changed side – the result of some sharp, decisive passing was Simpson’s tap-in four minutes after the restart.

But the home side did not dominate the ball for long periods, as they usually do, and were ultimately punished late on.

Garner said: “We only passed the ball well in spells. We were a little bit flat, which is the first time to be honest.

“That’s the first time I’ve been disappointed with a performance overall, so I can’t be too critical because of how we’ve done in difficult circumstances.

“We didn’t have our usual zip, and we weren’t as bright as we have been. There were moments and good spells, but we didn’t sustain them for long enough.”