SWINDON Town had their bubble burst by Notts County as the Magpies pinched a narrow 1-0 win at Meadow Lane.

Following two defeats at the County Ground, Town had a renewed sense of confidence after picking up a good 3-0 win at Luton Town over the weekend.

With three wins from three away from home, Swindon were looking to continue their sequence on the road, but Jon Stead’s first-half penalty was enough to separate the two teams, consigning Town to their first away reverse of the campaign.

Manager David Flitcroft made one change to his side who were so effective at Kenilworth Road at the weekend, with Matthew Taylor coming in for the unwell James Dunne at the heart of midfield.

As the heavens opened at Meadow Lane, chances were few and far between as both sides were struggling to get a foothold on the game.

The first sighting of goal came in the eighth minute when Richard Duffy’s botched header fell to Town's Keshi Anderson in the area, only for the on-loan Crystal Palace man to stab it towards goal.

Given the speed and the angle the ball came to him, it was no surprise his shot failed to trouble Adam Collin in the home goal.

The game was 15 minutes old when Town proved to be a danger on the counter, Luke Norris started with the ball as he drove towards the centre circle.

From here, Kaiyne Woolery, Ben Purkiss and Timi Elsnik all featured in the move, before the latter hit a searching ball towards the back post, where Norris could only head wide on the stretch.

In the 19th minute a free-kick allowed the hosts to have a shot on goal and with Lawrence Vigouroux rooted to the spot, Swindon could breathe a sigh of relief as they watched Carl Dickinson’s curled effort smack against the post and go behind.

The rain continued to pour in Nottinghamshire and after a few incidents where he lost his footing, Chris Hussey dashed down the tunnel to change his boots while the game continued without him, leaving Swindon with a numerical disadvantage at Meadow Lane for a couple of minutes.

It took 32 minutes for the deadlock to be broken and it was Kevin Nolan’s home side who were the ones to do it.

Skipper Lancashire was guilty for the second time in three games as his man-handling of Jon Stead resulted in a penalty for the hosts.

Stead brushed himself off to take the spot-kick, sending Vigouroux the wrong way as he slotted it home on the left.

As the weather deteriorated so did Swindon’s hopes of getting level before the break, with the home side defending their lead until the interval.

The second half demonstrated a change in impetus from Flitcroft, with the introduction of Kellan Gordan, Woolery the man to make way.

Swindon continued to be patient, looking for a way back into the game and almost found it in the 53rd minute when Elsnik was set free down the left of the box by Anderson, but the on-loan man could only find the side netting from a diminished angle.

While Flitcroft’s troops continued to get back into contention, they were reminded of the threat posed by the hosts, who started the day third in the League Two table, as Rob Milsom’s ball from the left was met by the head of Jonathan Forte.

Luckily for Town, who were supported by 336 away fans, Vigouroux was alive to the threat and got down well to bundle the ball around his near post.

Due to the slippery surface, the visitors were resorting to a long ball forward more frequently than they had in recent weeks and that reflected in their second change, with Harry Smith being introduced at the expense of Paul Mullin.

Yet slick passing led to another chance for Nolan’s side, Lewis Alessandra did well to get the ball out from under his feet and shoot, before Dion Conroy came flying out to block the strike.

Taylor, who had been restored to the starting XI almost had Town in trouble, his loose pass to Lancashire spread panic along the Swindon backline.

Purkiss saw his pass intercepted and County were able to pick out Terry Hawkridge in the box, whose shot was snuffed out by the Swindon captain.

Midfielder Elsnik let rip from distance, earning Town a corner in the process and it was from the corner they created their clearest opening of the half.

Hussey was able to find the head of Smith, but the tall striker had his header tipped over the bar by Collin.

Flitcroft threw his last roll of the dice with just under 10 minutes of the game remaining when Amine Linganzi was brought in to replace Taylor.

With four minutes left, Swindon did have the ball in the net, Conroy chipping the ball into the path of Smith, who saw his lofted effort cancelled out for offside.

Deep into injury time, Swindon came as close as they could have to restoring parity.

Anderson was fouled and Hussey’s resulting free-kick saw the ball fall to Gordon.

His side-footed strike hit the framework, before spewing away for a goal kick.

Yet in truth Swindon struggled with County physical, resolute and effective while Flitcroft’s outfit struggled to make an impression.