A LOT can happen in a week in football. Just last Saturday, everything was seemingly going to plan for David Flitcroft and his men.

Swindon Town had made an unbeaten start to their league campaign and were sitting top of the table before Crawley Town came to the County Ground.

However, things went slightly off track last weekend when the visitors handed Flitcroft his first defeat as Town boss.

Fast forward seven days and a transfer deadline day later, a renewed sense of optimism was installed as Town looked to bounce back with a win against Barnet - which would be their first home victory since Millwall came to Wiltshire in March.

Everything was geared up for Swindon to get back to winning ways, but that wasn’t to be the case as an abject performance saw them well beaten 4-1 by Barnet in front of the County Ground faithful.

On Thursday, Keshi Anderson, Kellan Gordon and Timi Elsnik all put pen to paper on loan deals, while goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook signed a two-year contract as four new faces arrived on deadline day.

Flitcroft handed starts to Elsnik and Anderson, while Gordon and Charles-Cook were named among the substitutes.

Matt Taylor was also given his first start in a Town shirt, while Chris Robertson came in for Dion Conroy.

Initially, Town looked good. With eight minutes on the clock, some good work down the right hand-side between Donal McDermott and Ben Purkiss fashioned a glorious opportunity for the hosts to take the lead.

Purkiss put in a tantalising cross which was met by an incoming Amine Linganzi, however, the former Portsmouth man could only scuff his effort before it fell to Anderson but his shot was deflected over the bar.

From there, Town should have looked to cement their dominance with a goal, but did the opposite in the 10th minute, when a poor defensive mix-up between Lawrence Vigouroux and Robertson gifted Barnet an early lead.

With neither player sure who was going to clear the ball, they eventually lost out to Shaquile Coulthirst, who pinched possession and walked the ball into an open net with 10 minutes played.

From there, it went downhill fast. Captain Olly Lancashire, who scored an own goal during the Crawley defeat, man-handled Almeida Santos in the box six minutes later to concede a penalty.

As expected, former Jamaican international striker Jamal Campbell-Ryce made no mistake from the spot, firmly placing the ball low to the right of Vigouroux to double their lead, an advantage they took through to the break with little trouble.

Boos rang around the County Ground as the half-time whistle blew, something the home fans were well used to last season, as Swindon only managed seven wins last term.

In a bid to change things around, Flitcroft was forced into a double change at the break, Taylor made way for Paul Mullin ,while Conroy was brought on for Lancashire, who quickly departed for Manchester to be by the side of his wife, who was giving birth.

Town had 45 minutes to turn things around, however, just five minutes into the second period a moment of madness from McDermott saw him handed a straight red for a reckless challenge on David Tutonda.

With two substitutes used and a numerical disadvantage, it would have taken a remarkable comeback for Swindon to get back into the game.

Yet, just before the hour mark, the hosts had a great chance to haul themselves into contention again when Robertson almost redeemed himself as he rose well to meet Chris Hussey’s corner, only for it to be palmed away by Craig Ross for the visitors.

Attack swiftly turned into defence for the hosts as Swindon were carved open and were lucky not to be 3-0 down as Barnet’s new arrival David Tarpey, who scored 45 goals last season for Maidenhead, was only denied by the crossbar, with Vigouroux well beaten.

Time was running out and, with 25 minutes left, it was game-over as the Bees grabbed a third, Campbell-Ryce switched to being the supplier as he fed Coulthirst, who was in acres of space with a defence splitting pass, before calmly slotting it past Vigouroux.

Striker Kaiyne Woolery was a final roll of the dice for Flitcroft, but the forward failed to live up to heroics of his home debut where he netted against Exeter City last month.

Coulthirst continued to be a thorn in the Swindon defence’s side as the 22-year-old, who was clearly enjoying his afternoon, added insult to injury by completing his hat-trick in style.

The former Peterborough United striker jinked past several passive Town players, including Robertson and Linganzi, before the forward hit a curling shot past Vigouroux to make it 4-0 in the 69th minute.

Luke Norris, who had put in a standout performance, was able to restore some pride for Flitcroft when he headed home in the 78th minute.

Frustration among the fans and players was clear to see, Mullin was lucky not to go into the book when voiced his opinion to the referee and kicked the ball away late on.

The game, which had long slipped away from the home side, saw the numbers evened out in the 80th minute.

An off-the-ball incident involving Mullin and Barnet’s Andre Blackman resulted in the latter being sent off after some deliberation between the referee, the linesman and the fourth official to leave it a 10-a-side contest.

However, it was all too little, too late for Flitcroft’s men, who slipped to their second home defeat in eight days.

While the Country Ground continues to be a pressure on the players, there are some positives as Town look to build on their impressive away form with a trip to Luton Town next up.