RICHIE Wellens lauded a scintillating performance from his Swindon Town side as they claimed an emphatic 4-0 win away at Crawley Town in League Two on Saturday.

Eoin Doyle took the plaudits with a hat-trick, striking twice in the first half and once in the second, before Jerry Yates sealed the rout late on.

The victory represented Swindon’s biggest of the season, with the visitors in almost total control throughout the 90 minutes at Broadfield Stadium.

Wellens hailed the efforts of his players and they made life tough for their hosts in almost every aspect.

“The performance was really good,” said Wellens.

“I wouldn’t say we were ruthless in the first half. We got into lots of opportunities where we played good passes through the lines and either the man on the ball came back or chose the wrong pass.

“We have good players who are switched on, creating angles all over the pitch.

“When the ball goes to whoever it may be, they have got two or three options. They have got an option to play short or an option to the side and an option to turn out.

“I just think we mixed our game up really well.

“When we put it in behind, we caused them problems. That also created the space to play in front of their centre backs, which I thought we did really well as well.

“We were very good today, very good.”

Although his two strikers shared the four goals between them, Wellens conceded things could actually have played out differently.

The Swindon boss originally wanted to deploy both Doyle and Yates in a front three, so was delighted his decision to stick with a two-pronged attack paid off so handsomely.

“I don’t think you can ever sit back and enjoy it, especially in this division as one set play in these conditions can turn the game,” said Wellens.

“I think once the third goal went in and we changed our shape to 4-3-3, that extra body in midfield gave us even more possession and we controlled the game.

“I thought we controlled it throughout, but especially when we went 4-3-3, we really dominated.

“I like 4-3-3 but with the two strikers we have got, it gave me a massive headache. I wanted to start 4-3-3 today but it is so tough when you have got them two firing like that.

“Everything worked out OK.”