MATCH REPORT: Swindon Town 0-3 Peterborough United

SWINDON TOWN slipped back into the League One relegation zone after suffering a three-nil home defeat against an impressive Peterborough United. Read below as Total Sport Swindon’s Ryan Walker gives his match report from the County Ground.

A first-half brace from Siriki Dembele was topped off by a stoppage-time goal from Jonson Clarke-Harris as the striker grabbed his 27th goal of the season to secure all three points on the road for Darren Ferguson’s side.

Making three changes to the side that lost against Burton, with Taylor Curran making a rare start in central defence, Swindon enjoyed lots of possession in the opening ten minutes but failed to create any clear-cut chances.

Having dominated the early exchanges, Peterborough soon found their feet, scoring with their first chance of the game as Siriki Dembele bagged his 9th goal of the season.

Swindon had chances to clear their lines after the winger went down in the box, but he was allowed time to get back to his feet before latching onto Eisa’s through ball and firing into an open net having rounded the onrushing Lee Camp.

Five minutes later Dembele had his brace after skipping past Curran, sending Grant the wrong way and shooting past Camp into the bottom corner.

In similar fashion to the majority of performances this season, Swindon had collapsed after conceding, now requiring a miracle against a Peterborough side currently on-track for automatic promotion.

Jordon Garrick looked to create a worthwhile attack after getting the better of full-back Dan Butler, but could only look on as his cross went behind for a corner. The following corner presented Garrick with a shooting effort from inside the box only for him to fluff his attempt from close range.

The league's top scorer, Jonson Clarke-Harris finally got in on the action with a lobbed header in the 32nd minute that saw Camp tip the ball over his bar.

Moments later Scott Twine looked through on goal after rounding Kent but dived in the box seeking a penalty, referee Joshua Smith instead showed a yellow card.

Dembele was presented with a hat-trick chance just before half-time after doing well to work his way into the box but opted to pass to Eisa with his resulting shot easily saved.

Two minutes of added time failed to produce chances for either side as Peterborough left for the interval firmly in control.

Positive attacking play from John Sheridan’s side saw Garrick create space on the wing, but poor decision-making in the final third saw him look for Missilou on the edge of the box when a shot would’ve been the better option.

Brett Pitman was brought on to operate as a target man up front in place of Jack Payne early in the second-half, with Swindon earning their first attempt on target as Twine’s first-time shot from the edge of the box forced a brilliant diving save form Bursik.

Eisa looked set to give his side a three-goal lead in the 60th minute after being put through on goal, but a brilliant save from Camp saw the experienced keeper deny the attacker from close-range.

A minute later Camp was involved in drama again as he brought down Clarke-Harris when the striker was through on goal. With a golden chance to score his 27th goal of the season, Clarke-Harris took a short run up and scuffed his effort wide to give Swindon a lifeline.

Having been off the pace since the opening goal, Swindon looked liked a team short of ideas and accepted defeat with Bursik having very little to do between the sticks.

A series of brilliant saves from Camp in the closing stages of the game stopped Swindon from being embarrassed as the 36-year old rolled back the years to deny Hamilton, Burrows, and Dembele from close-range.

Five minutes of added time presented Swindon with a chance to reduce the deficit but it was the away side who made the most of their chances as Clarke-Harris made up for his penalty miss with a thunderous effort past Camp to score his 27th goal of the season and wrap up all three points.