BRACES from Jonathan Obika and Nicky Ajose saw Swindon Town come from two goals down to claim all three points against Southend United this afternoon.

Storm clouds were gathering above the County Grounds in more ways than one as Swindon, under the stewardship of caretaker boss Luke Williams for the first time, were trailing 2-0 with just 13 minutes gone, but Town rediscovered their belief from somewhere and a shaky, whimsical performance transformed into one of irresistible attacking verve.

Following a raft of midweek departures, Town made three changes to their starting line-up, with Drissa Traore, Yaser Kasim and Raphael Branco, who returned from suspension, restored, whilst there were places on the bench for the likes of Jordan Stewart and Michael Smith.

With just six minutes on the clock, Swindon did their own confidence no favours by offering up an irresistible gift to the Shrimpers, borne of a lapse in the home side’s usually confident possession game.

Branco’s loose pass intended for Traore was picked off by former Town man Michael Timlin just yards outside of the Swindon area and he wasted no time in feeding debutant striker Tyrone Barnett, who gleefully thumped the ball past Vigouroux to open the scoring.

Both Noel Hunt and David Worrall threatened for Southend as Town’s shellshocked defence struggled to come to terms with falling behind and just seven minutes after the Shrimpers had netted their first, they doubled their lead.

Jordan Turnbull was harshly penalised for impeding Worrall but from the resultant set-piece on the right flank, full-back Ben Coker floated a delicious left-footed delivery towards the far post, where Adam Thompson nodded home.

Obika came close to restoring some good feeling around the County Ground as his strike in the 20th minute fizzed over the crossbar after deflecting wickedly off Worrall and then in the 28th minute, his half-volley from a superb Ormonde-Ottewill was met by a terrific save by Southend’s Dan Bentley.

However, Town continued to play themselves into trouble at the back as the half wore on, although Kasim drew another save from Bentley after exchanging passes with Anton Rodgers as part of a clever short corner routine.

Vigouroux was forced to keep out a low Timlin shot before Swindon halved the deficit two minutes before the break to hand their supporters around the County Ground some hope.

Another sublime Ormonde-Ottewill delivery led to Bentley getting down well to push away an Obika effort but the Southend defence were static, allowing Ajose to rush onto the loose ball and tuck away the rebound.

Then, in added time, Town went from zeros to heroes in the blink of an eye as Kasim dinked the ball into the area from the right and Obika prodded home at the near post with the outside of his foot to restore parity in unlikely circumstances.

Four minutes into the second period, Southend threatened to derail Swindon’s renewed air of optimism as midfielder Gary Deegen volleyed inches wide of the target whilst Hunt nodded over the bar from a dangerous Coker delivery.

Just before the hour mark, a low cross from Bradley Barry caused chaos in the United box, with Obika colliding with goalie Bentley before Ormonde-Ottewill smashed over the bar as he was challenged by a despairing Southend defender.

Bentley was then forced to beat away an attempted lob from Robert as Town rapped on the door, with the Shrimper’s Thompson getting in a last-ditch block to prevent the impressive Ormonde-Ottewill from finishing off a flowing counter-attack involving Kasim and Obika.

Then, with 12 minutes to go, a moment of brilliance from the ever-dangerous Obika completed the comeback.

The striker strode forward as his team broke on the counter and after opting not to lay the ball off to an overlapping team-mate and riding a challenge from an opponent, he superbly slid a shot into the bottom corner to fully flip the scoreline on its head.

Despite taking the lead, Town continued to pile the pressure on their opponents, with Rodgers curling an effort narrowly wide, and in added time, Ajose put the icing on the cake.

After his team had cleared a corner, the striker won the ball from Jack Payne, who was booked for attempting to take Ajose out, but only after he had tucked away his second of the game to wrap things up.

Swindon kick off 2016 by going from the ridiculous to the sublime.

SWINDON TOWN: Lawrence Vigouroux, Bradley Barry, Raphel Branco (C), Jordan Turnbull, Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill, Anton Rodgers, Yasser Kasim, Drissa Traore (Jeremy Balmy 77), Fabien Robert, Jonathan Obika (Jermaine Hylton 90+), Nicky Ajose.

Subs not used: Tyrell Belford, James Brophy, Ellis Iandolo, Jordan Stewart, Michael Smith.

Attendance: 7,162 (620 away supporters)