SWINDON Town beat Barrow 2-1 at the County Ground on Saturday to leave their League Two play-off hopes in their own hands going into the final day.

Wasteful Town were a goal ahead through Josh Davison until Barrow’s Matt Platt equalised with a header in the 83rd minute.

However, one of the stand-out players of the season, Louis Reed came up trumps two minutes later to push Town up to seventh with one game to go.

Ben Garner made one enforced change to the side which beat Forest Green Rovers 2-1 on Tuesday. Ellis Iandolo dropped out due to suspension and Akin Odimayo came in to replace him.

Bluebirds defender Platt had the first chance of the game, but his header was guided off target. Minutes later, Josh Kay whipped a low ball across the face of the Town goal to remind the hosts they would not have things all their own way.

Town should have been ahead in the 17th minute after a poor kick out by Paul Farman was headed down by Jack Payne, and Harry McKirdy slipped the midfielder in down the right.

Payne crossed towards Davison, who simply had to tap past Farman, but the striker got no sort of contact on it and Farman could not believe his luck as he gathered into his body.

Five minutes later though, that earlier miss was forgotten as Davison caused the noise inside the County Ground to reach fever pitch.

Odimayo whipped in a beautiful cross from left-back with his right, and Davison wrestled Niall Canavan aside to poke past Farman on the edge of the six-yard box.

Barrow had a chance to equalise 10 minutes before half-time after Kay sprung Town's offside trap down the right and eventually crossed into the near post towards John Rooney. The younger brother of Wayne tried a cheeky flick, but it hit the side netting with Lewis Ward waiting.

With scores going Town’s way in the first half, the afternoon could and should have improved further in the 39th minute when McKirdy was presented with a golden chance.

Reed slipped Mandela Egbo in down the right, and as everyone raced towards goal, the club's top scorer held back and waited for the cut-back cross. It rolled towards him, perfectly weighted, but McKirdy ballooned it over.

The 20-goal striker almost made amends inside the first minute of the second half. Good hold-up play from Davison allowed Payne to find McKirdy on the right. The striker simply took a touch out of his feet and blasted the ball inches wide of Farman's right-hand post.

Moments later, Phil Brown’s men fired a warning shot inches wide. Remeao Hutton launched a long throw into the box which caused carnage. Town had several goes at clearing it before Kay arrowed a right-footed shot narrowly wide of Ward's left-hand post.

The second half continued to be a fairly scrappy affair and needed a little magic to liven it up. Barry almost provided it seconds after McKirdy blasted over from a tight angle on the right.

Town turned the ball over in Barrow's half and Payne found Barry on the left. Farman came sprinting out of his goal and threw himself at the ball to smother Barry's shot and keep the score at 1-0.

With 20 minutes to play, McKirdy wasted another glorious chance to put the game to bed. He was played through on goal down the left and rounded Farman before taking another couple of touches as the ball threatened to run out of play. Turning onto his right, McKirdy should have given Barry a tap-in in the middle but tried the cheeky near-post effort instead and a defender on the line turned it out for a corner.

An alert Ward prevented Barrow from equalising with 15 minutes remaining. The visitors counter-attacked, and Rooney found himself in space inside the box. After cutting in onto his right, a deflection took the ball up and towards the top corner, but Ward scampered across to turn it over.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes, a rollercoaster period saw hearts sink and then come bursting back to the surface.

Platt headed under Ward in the 83rd minute as hopes of a top-seven finish were dashed briefly. But two minutes later, Town’s man of the match Reed smashed into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box to put Swindon back on top.

Prior to eight minutes of added time, Ward provided another excellent save with an outstretched right hand to prevent a second Barrow equaliser and ensure Town remained with their fate in their own hands going into the final day at Walsall.

STFC starting XI: Ward; Odimayo, Conroy (C), Baudry, Davison, Payne, McKirdy, Egbo, Barry, Williams, Reed.

SUBS: Wollacott, Gladwin, O'Brien, Mitchell-Lawson, Aguiar, Parsons, Minturn.

BAFC starting XI: Farman, Brown, Brough, Platt, Kay, Gordon, Gotts, Beadling, Hutton, Canavan, Rooney.

SUBS: Lillis, White, Grayson, Williams, Banks, Stevens.

ATTENDANCE: 13,355 (233)