IN a game that only came to life in short periods Swindon Town mustered a 2-2 draw with Oldham where the moments of note were quality strikes shared by both sides.

Oldham’s James Dayton then Andy Williams scored goals for the scrapbook but it was the efforts from set-pieces that told as they ultimately earned both teams a point.

Jack Stephens was again absent from Swindon’s starting XI as Mark Cooper started with the same team that came from a goal down to beat Bradford in Yorkshire on Saturday. This meant Jonathan Obika started his first game at the County Ground since 2011.

Michael Smith had an early chance for Town, created by Nathan Byrne, but the big striker spurned it when well placed on the edge of the six yard box.

In a first half devoid of much in the way of standout action it was the visitors who provided it. James Dayton surprised everyone in the stadium with a shot beautiful quality from a full 30 yards to beat Wes Foderingham.

However Town were not behind for long. For third time in two games Obika was in the right place to turn home from a set-piece. Nathan Byrne whipped in a corner from the right which Jordan Turnbull flicked on to the former Tottenham man, and he made no mistake.

After that the game returned to its static state, neither side creating anything of note until the break and beyond. A Dominic Poleon snap shot the only effort to trouble either ‘keeper until dying stages.

Williams' strike brought life back into a turgid second half and for a short moment Swindon looked like they could again come from behind to win. However Amari Morgan-Smith’s equaliser gave Oldham the point they probably deserved.

It was not a great game but to get a point and play so poorly was not a terrible outcome for the hosts.