It was one final away game that perfectly encapsulated almost all of the previous 22 as Swindon failed to get anything at Grimsby Town.

Shoots of green in the first half were instantly mown down by an aggressive lack of anything for a long period before major errors at the back allowed two wildly preventable goals that would seem like an anomaly for any other team. But when the Swindon travelling troop of The Show That Goes Wrong comes to your town, they are going to do what it says on the stage door.

Very rarely have Swindon been outclassed in any league game this season (stressing league), even with the wretched away form, it was possible to fool yourself into thinking that it wouldn’t take much for things to turn. Once again at Blundell Park, Town were much the better side in the first half and looked like a competent football team until it was time to score. All it would take was a few tweaks at half time and perhaps this end to the season wouldn’t look so bad. But it would come as no surprise that quite the opposite happened. The collective foot eased off the accelerator and stalled at the wrong moments to allow Grimsby the simplest of chances to keep the three points.

It was the story of the season written one final time away from home. It never changed, it never got better and for my personal health, I think getting a different author wouldn’t go amiss.

Flashback to the Mazuma Stadium in September. Another sunny day, another long drive to see Swindon throw away points with a late goal in a game that much of their performance had warranted more from. This was Town’s third draw in four away games to open the season. With Swindon rattling off wins at home, following the game I asked Michael Flynn whether he felt there was anything about away games that was proving more difficult. A line of questioning he didn’t take too kindly to, to put it mildly.

As it turns out, that was the high point of the away form, so maybe I was overreacting. It would be another 67 days before Town would win again away from home at Accrington Stanley and even that managed to feel like another kick in the teeth for those who dared to travel to watch Swindon.

No Swindon team has ever struggled this much on the road in the fourth tier. League, all competitions, whatever parameters are put on do not make for good reading. They never even won in the away kit. Things started poorly and just never got better. To be more accurate, they got decidedly worse. The County Ground pitch has been sighted as a problem for a while, but Swindon couldn’t play on anyone else’s either.

No team has been worse on their travels in League Two this season than Swindon. Fewest points, most goals conceded, second-fewest wins, and second-most defeats.

Away days are when the real memories are built supporting a team, I don’t make the rules that is just how it is. But this year the only remotely wistful ‘Do you remember whens’ will be about throwing leads away in stoppage time.

With more long and arduous journeys looking set to be confirmed for next season as the division gets a shake-up, you like to hope that things couldn’t possibly be this bad again. If nothing else but for the sake of those who subject themselves to this torture every week. Maybe Swindon will be subjected to the vicious North Sea winds in Grimsby next January and things will feel very different, but I have my doubts.