SWINDON Town offered the perfect response to their dispiriting defeat to Crawley at the weekend with a rousing win against in-form Bradford City.

Needing to restore confidence the return of Massimo Luongo was the perfect tonic, the Aussie star scored both goals as Town looked to have put the Bantams out of sight with a dominant first half display.

A mistake from Nathan Thompson presented Billy Clarke with an opportunity to make the game interesting in the second half. The Irishman took it well, but ultimately Town just about held their nerve to win for the first time in four games.

With wins elsewhere for Bristol City, Preston and Sheffield United meant Town’s endeavour served only to close the gap on MK Dons but it was the performance that was most encouraging. Although the nervy finish would have raised a few heart rates it would have heartened those in the Swindon dugout to see the home side come through it.

Mark Cooper followed through on his pre-match encouragement for Raphael Branco, bringing in the Brazilian into the back line and shuffling Jack Stephens up to midfield. Luongo and Louis Thompson were the others to return to the starting XI, having missed out in the defeat to Crawley.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the omission of Yaser Kasim, the Iraqi was not at his best last Saturday but his metronomic play has been key to Town’s success this season. John Swift and Harry Toffolo also missed out, with Ben Gladwin moving to left wing-back.

It was Gladwin who made the first chance for Town. After a solid opening 10 minutes where Swindon dominated the ball, Smith and Gladwin fashioned some room, allowing the wing-back to fire in a cross. It found Williams unmarked at the back post but such was the pace on the ball the striker could not get over it and put his header over.

Gladwin may not have got the assist but his pass was key in creating Town’s opener. A sharp square pass cut out three men and allowed Stephens to find Luongo with room to turn. The Aussie did so, bursting into the box and firing low into the far corner past Jordan Pickford.

The decision to leave out Toffolo was looking more and more inspired. Gladwin made an energy sapping run to get on the end of a swift counter-attack, he was found by Byrne with space to shoot inside the box, but his side foot effort was blocked by a scrambling Bantams’ defence.

From the resulting corner Branco found only the Stratton Bank.

Stephens was also enjoying himself in midfield. Next he and Williams almost repeated their trick from Saturday. Stephens with a beautifully weighted pass through the defence, Williams on to it, and the striker lined up his shot but found only the angle of post and bar.

At that point Williams may not have been having a standout night in front of goal but he did play a part in Town’s second, even if it was unintentional. Stephens fired in a pass to the striker, it bounced off Williams but straight into the path of Luongo who lashed home.

At the break there was only one side in it. It seemed the two-day break had completely refreshed Town, though the return of Luongo could have had a big part to play in it. The Australian’s two goals were complemented by a sense of purpose to his running with the ball, invigorating the midfield.

Louis Thompson’s resumption of his starting spot helped as well, continuing where he left off against Crawley.

Bradford could not play with less intent than they did in the first half and they did come out of their shell to a degree in the in the first five minutes, hassling the Town defence. Nathan Thompson was looking uncomfortable under pressure and had to be bailed out by Turnbull after slipping when chasing back with Clarke.

It was Clarke who ruthlessly took advantage of the Swindon skipper’s next mistake. Nathan Thompson attempted a clearance chasing back towards his own goal in the six yard box but only managed to stop it dead presenting the Bradford striker with the simplest of finishes to bring back the Bantams back into the game.

The visitors’ second half performance seemed to suggest they had been pulling a rope-a-dope on Town, showing far more intent with their pressing and trying to turn the ball over in midfield.

A hairy moment from Foderingham almost presented Oliver Burke with a debut goal, the keeper slipped when coming to collect a straight ball but recovered well to earn a goal kick by palming it off the Forest youngster.

Moments later Foderingham had to be sharp from Burke again, turning his looping cross-come-shot over the bar for a corner.

At this stage Swindon were not at the level of the first half, looking a bit panicked in possession at the back and lacking the confidence they had displayed in Bradford’s final third.

The nervousness continued all the way to the finish, with Swindon resulting to long clearances as the Bantams pressed for a late leveller.

Ultimately Swindon saw it out to return to winning ways, it was a result that should lift spirits at the County Ground and puts them just two points behind the second-placed Dons.