IF Swindon Town are to go on and achieve anything this season, then it will be down to days like the one at Bradford City on Saturday.

Backs against the wall for the opening 15 and final 10 minutes, conceding a dubious penalty and finding themselves 1-0 down due to an own goal – if this had happened last season, Mark Cooper’s youthful squad would have crumbled, gone into their shells and disappeared out of sight.

And given the fact that the County Ground men have not won at Valley Parade since January 3, 2005, the success in west Yorkshire tastes even sweeter as they moved back in to the top six.

On Saturday, once they had got their poor opening spell out of the way, Swindon showed their fluidity with the ball for which they are becoming renowned.

But what they also showed for the goals was a killer instinct in front of goal in new signing Jon Obika.

When Cooper signed the striker from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee believed to be in the region £200,000, many of the Town faithful questioned the move.

Obika is no stranger to the club as he spent just over two months on loan at the County Ground at the start of 2011, he made five appearances and failed to score.

However, by half-time at Bradford not only had he started to repay the money chairman Lee Power had shelled out, but the 310 supporters who had made the trip north were already chanting ‘super Jon Obika’ after his brace had given Swindon a 2-1 lead at the break.

Having come up through the ranks at Spurs, Obika also showed some slick skills with the ball that will undoubtedly endear himself to the Swindon faithful.

This win however, was not just about the superb debut of Obika, it was about how much this young Town squad have matured and grown.

That opening 15 minutes, Bradford overran Town. They began with three up front to go head-to-head with Swindon’s back three and had them under all sorts of pressure.

There were also hearts in Swindon mouths in the third minute when referee Richard Clark wrongly adjudged that Wes Foderingham had hauled down Billy Clarke to win the hosts a penalty.

The Robins keeper, who was not booked for the incident, had to compose himself to palm Alan Sheehan’s spot kick away.

Town boss Cooper regards his 23-year-old stopper as the best in League One and given his display against the Bantams it is easy to see why.

Bradford laid siege to Swindon’s goal in the final minutes, Foderingham pulled off several dazzling saves as Sheehan and then Stephen Darby tested the former Fulham and Crystal Palace youngster.

But Swindon will have felt that they should have been out of sight before the Alamo. They created a number of chances, had spells of consecutive corners and had 11 shots at goal.

The game at Bradford started with the hosts on the attack, pushing Swindon as they literally struggled to gain a footing in the contest as the players were slipping all over the place.

Phil Parkinson’s men, having already seen Sheehan’s penalty saved, took the lead in the 10th minute as the ball was played into the Swindon box.

Louis Thompson, now on-loan at Town following a deadline day switch to Championship side Norwich City, under immense pressure from Jason Kennedy slid in and could only watch in horror as he got the final touch to send the ball into the Swindon net.

But that goal sparked Town into life, they began to gain control of their footing, showed some lovely link up play and were back on level terms on 23 minutes.

A Brad Smith corner found the industrious Michael Smith lurking at the Bradford back post and his cushioned header found Obika to head home his first goal in Swindon colours.

The Robins continued to pile forward and put some pressure of their own on to the hosts and that paid off two minutes before the interval.

Nathan Byrne’s corner was only half cleared and the former Spurs striker pounced to send the ball crashing into the back of the net.

Although both sides created a number of chances after the break, the second period will be remembered for the melee deep into the six minutes of stoppage time.

Swindon had won a free-kick in their own half and with how Bradford had been laying siege their goal it was no wonder they were taking their time in getting the ball back in play.

As Sheehan looked to hurry things up Raphael Branco, who had gone down easily earlier in the half after being touched by James Hanson, got involved and the Bradford man threw a punch.

Branco went crashing to floor like he’d been on the end of a Mike Tyson hook, and while the Brazilian defender needs to look at himself for how easily he hits the deck, there can be no excuse from the Bradford centre-back for throwing the punch in the first place.

Although that incident soured what was an entertaining second half, Town will look back with pride as they ended a nine-year wait for a win at Valley Parade and for showing how far this young squad has come in the last 12 months.