Swindon manager Richie Wellens was baffled by the decision to disallow his side’s stoppage-time equaliser in their 2-1 defeat to Northampton

Christopher Missilou and Danny Rose both scored their first goals for the Cobblers as they took a 2-0 lead into half-time.

But Swindon dominated the second half and Joel Grant looked to have snatched a last-gasp point after Tyler Smith’s penalty, only for the referee to whistle for a foul on goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell.

Wellens said: “In the first 15 minutes, we were slow, we were lethargic, we didn’t compete, we gave away too many free-kicks.

“But after that I thought we were by far the better team. They defended their box really well but we missed chances and then every time they booted it forward, we let it bounce in our box.

“It’s not great defending. But in the second half there was only one team in it and we should have come away with a point.

“I said I won’t speak about referees but Jonny Smith had a shot, the goalkeeper fumbles it, we score from the rebound and the referee gives a free-kick.

“But to be honest we should have scored seven or eight tonight. We didn’t hit the target with one-on-ones and when we did it was straight at the goalkeeper.

“We looked in a rush to get our shots off. It’s frustrating because we should have had seven.”

The win ended Northampton’s four-game losing run.

“I’m really pleased to get the win,” said Cobblers manager Keith Curle. “I thought there were a lot of positives to take out of the game, especially in the first half.

“We showed our dominance and we looked a real threat. In the second half I thought we were a bit nervy and we struggled to do the simple things well.

“I had a feeling that our first home win would end up being a scruffy affair but we showed good resolve and we defended our six-yard box very well.

“I made a few changes to freshen it up after the weekend and I think it shows the hunger we’ve got in the squad because people who were left out on Saturday came back in and got an opportunity tonight.

“I think it was the right thing to do to freshen it up because it gave us good impetus in the first half and we were able to play on the front foot.

“We probably could have put the game to bed – we know at this club that 2-0 is a difficult lead to defend!”