Pictures and analysis of Swindon 2 Shrewsbury 0

Visits to the County Ground and penalty grief appear to go hand in hand for Shrewsbury.

Salop boss Graham Turner was left fuming after his side's claims from the spot were ignored in last season's League Two defeat when both sides were heading for promotion.

The teams were neck and neck a year ago, but now Swindon are 15 places and 19 points better off in League One.

So the last thing Town wanted was to be the victim of more poor refereeing after they had weathered what little Paolo Di Canio's outfit could muster in the first-half.

This time, Turner's mood may not have been as apoplectic as he was after last season's Terry Gornell non-award, but the angry mass protest by his players told its own story.

After Andy Williams went down under Darren Jones' challenge they were incredulous as they surrounded Richard Clark. And they had good reason to feel sore as the referee's instincts appeared way off the mark.

On second viewing, it is possible to see why Jones' physical defensive play could be seen as having stepped over the mark in preventing Williams' passage to goal.

But, while the centre-half used his upper body strength to keep the former Hereford striker at bay, both players were giving as good as they got.

There didn't seem any hint of a pull as Di Canio claimed afterwards and overall it looked a decent piece of defensive work from Jones.

However, Northumberland official Clark wasted no time pointing to the spot and Chris Martin's conversion was swiftly followed by a second from Williams, when Town's hard-done-to players let their guard down on a 'route one' delivery.

And to cap their dismal afternoon there was some more 12-yard misery to follow in the closing minutes when captain Matt Richards had his tame penalty kept out by Wes Foderingham.

The fact the Swindon goalkeeper was making his first save of the afternoon as late as the 83rd minute summed up Salop's fate. Their lack of a goal threat left them on the back foot for most of the game.

And while they relied on Chris Weale's excellence and stubborn defending for their half-time parity, once they were stung by the Robins' swift double blast there was simply no way back.

Jermaine Grandison's failure to reappear for the second-half after the centre-back aggravated his hip problem only made the task of defending an eight-game unbeaten run more difficult.

He and Jones have been a rock at the back during their side's run but, with the inexperienced Yado Mambo on for Grandison and the Welshman slipping below his recent standard, Town looked vulnerable to the pace of Williams and the trickery of left-winger Gary Roberts.

Before that, they had held firm on a surface which was a tribute to the efforts of Swindon supporters who grabbed shovels to clear Friday's snowfall.

Di Canio ordered the volunteer army pizza all round and promised his players would work just as hard for the three points.

But while Weale was typically excellent when palming away a far-post header from Danny Hollands early on, Swindon's players were hardly taking up their manager's clarion call.

Williams twice wasted chances, one when he edged past Connor Goldson but fired wide with the goal beckoning. But Shrewsbury's sum attacking effort was a speculative shot from David McAllister which cleared the bar.

Tom Bradshaw struggled in vain to latch on to what little forward ball there was after earning only his second start of the campaign.

Turner's second-half changes, which left Jon Taylor up front for a spell before Luke Rodgers came off the bench, pepped things up slightly in the closing stages.

But, by then, the game had run away from the visitors. Martin sent Weale the wrong way with the hotly-disputed penalty.

And Town's defenders were sleeping in the 53rd minute when Nathan Thompson launched a deep cross from the right wing which Roberts headed back across the six-yard box for Williams to glance home.

Taylor tried to lead a fightback and flashed an effort across goal. But Swindon could have added to their tally with Matt Ritchie denied by a finger-tip save from Weale, who excelled further when keeping out Roberts' 30-yarder.

Before then, Alan McCormack's trip ended some determined play by Taylor, but Richards' 83rd-minute kick was comfortably pushed away by Foderingham.

By Gwyn Griffiths