PATHETIC. An overused adjective in the stands of football stadiums across this country that is so rarely apt.

Sadly for Swindon Town this weekend it was an accurate description of their performance as they were decimated 5-0 by League Two neighbours Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup first round.

One could point to the soft dismissal of captain Nathan Thompson as an excuse but the lack of determination from his teammates to recover from it resigns the 21st minute red card to debateable relevance.

Only the few most optimistic of home fans saw this score coming, why would they? On Tuesday the visitors to the County Ground were professional and ruthless as they beat Preston North End and kept one of their division’s top strikers at bay. Cheltenham came into the game goalless in two and fresh from being beaten 1-0 at home by York City.

Some romantics, who probably were not at the game, might cite the result as part of the charm of the FA Cup.

There was little charm about the performance from either side, a destruction based on footballing aesthetics this was not, yet still Town got shellacked in the first round for the second year running.

Byron Harrison scored a hat-trick of open goals that for the most part were created not by his teammates but presented to him by the woeful ineptitude at the back of Town’s defence. Terry Gornell, the villain of the piece in Nathan Thompson’s red, was allowed to score from close range. The other goal, Matt Richards’ looping volley from the edge of the box, defies its pleasant description. In skill levels it was less Tony Yeboah, more Tony Adams.

This sort of result has the potential to be mood defining beyond the half-life of a regular defeat’s grieving period. It was demoralising and with a West Country derby, where Town will now be without three key players due to suspension and international call-ups, on the immediate horizon, some major confidence rebuilding will need to be done.

Michael Smith sat out a game for the first time in a month, allowing mid-week hero Andy Williams to start. Nathan Byrne also returned on the right hand-side and Branco was included on the bench.

Swindon set out their stall early on and spent the first five minutes camped out in the home side’s half. The League Two side appeared to lack the resources to apply the same sort of pressure some of Town’s recent opponents. Then disaster struck as Cheltenham scored a goal straight from the FA Cup upset playbook.

Trevor Carson punted a long kick straight down the middle and Town’s defence let it bounce. Nathan Thompson got himself trapped underneath it and his header bobbled off his head. Harrison was straight in behind him and bundled past Foderingham and to earn the simplest of open goals to score into.

It was as basic a goal as you’re ever likely to see and long-ball advocate Charles Reap would have been proud to see it in action, Mark Cooper probably less so.

Town were not rocked by the goal and fell back into their passing rhythm seamlessly, almost pretending as if their hosts’ goal never happened.

Then a combination of recklessness and some questionable decision making contrived to make Swindon’s job even harder. The ball was knocked past Nathan Thompson towards the corner with Gornell after it. The Town skipper tangled with Cheltenham striker , who made the most of it and went down. Thompson saw red.

Whether the captain was denying a goal-scoring opportunity is very open for debate but referee Carl Boyeson certainly thought so. Mark Cooper did not and his feelings on the decision were plain to see as he raged from the technical area.

Nathan Thompson was also angered, almost kicking through the tunnel on his return to the dressing room, whether his frustration stemmed from the decision or his own actions he will only know. Either way nothing about the episode was clever.

Cheltenham continued to be the antithesis of all things Swindon, all direct play and set-pieces. It was from one of those that they doubled their lead. Initial good work from Raffa De Vita released Craig Braham-Barrett, his cross came through to Lee Vaughan who forced Foderingham to tip behind.

Cheltenham’s second go at the set-piece was nodded back across the face of goal by Harrison, allowing Gornell to poke home from less than a yard.

The goal broke Swindon’s spirit for the remainder of the half, as they barely created anything barring a couple of shots from distance and struggled to play their football against a buoyant home side.

After the break Cooper shuffled his formation. Gone were the three at the back as Louis Thompson returned into the midfield three, Harry Toffolo and Byrne now operating as full-backs.

Cheltenham picked off Town’s shape change almost immediately. Exploiting the space left behind an advanced Byrne, Braham-Bennett mugged off Jack Stephens at the byline and drew Foderingham out of position. The full-back’s smart reverse pass left Harrison with another simple tap-in for his second and Cheltenham’s third.

Town were blunt and everything the home side did was coming off on their ventures forward. Next Steve Elliot was to hit the post from a corner and when that effort was only half cleared it came to Richards, he let fly and saw his looped a volley go in from a good 25 yards.

Cheltenham could have had more, returning defender Raphael Branco came on from the bench and almost contrived to present the League One side with a fifth. Grappling with John Marquis he slipped and left the striker one-on but with only Foderingham to beat the striker put his shot harmlessly wide.

Town were almost equal in terms of shots and possession but after Nathan Thompson’s red card the home side had a clear lead in will and desire, Town gave up.

That feeling was compounded by Branco’s next mistake. Attempting to chest the ball back to Foderingham he failed to pay attention to Harrison on his shoulder, the striker nipping between defender and goalkeeper to score hit hat-trick and cap a woeful afternoon for Town.

It was a goal that summed up Town’s day. Architects of their downfall, designing a structure with weak foundations and an ugly render. The sooner those visiting Cheltenham with Swindon in their hearts forget Saturday, November 8, 2014 the better.