THE DELICIOUS irony of Swindon Town’s potentially season galvanising late 1-0 victory over Millwall on Saturday was not lost on head coach Luke Williams.

Seven days earlier, the shoe had been on the other foot for Town as they were beaten at the death on the trip to Bradford City.

Even the narrative of this latest match against the Lions seemed destined to conclude in the same manner as it had done at Valley Parade.

Where in Yorkshire they had managed to snatch an unlikely lead only to capitulate in the dying minutes, at the County Ground, Swindon were in total control but unable to make it count on the scoreboard.

It seemed the longer the contest went on and the more Town failed to find a way through, if a goal was going to come, it would do so the way of the visitors.

As the minutes ticked over into stoppage time, thoughts of Town’s home against Chesterfield back on March 4 – and the agonising way that ended – may have even sprung into the minds of those in the stands at the County Ground.

However, when you’re scrapping for your lives to avoid relegation, sometimes a bit of luck needs to go your way.

And that is exactly what Swindon got as they breathed new life into their battle to beat the drop in League One, with the decisive goal deep into stoppage time at the end of the game coming from a man who probably would not have been on the pitch if events had not unfolded in the way they did.

Williams had planned to name an unchanged team for the third game in a row but that ploy went out of the window in the warm-up when Ben Gladwin was forced to withdraw from the starting XI with a knee injury.

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Town's John Goddard battles for possession

Conor Thomas was the man selected to replace him and was promoted off the substitutes’ bench and although his presence on the pitch was more by luck than judgement, it was he who was the man in the right place at the right time to finally break Millwall’s resistance a matter of seconds before the final whistle.

Town certainly will not be getting carried away by this result as an uphill struggle still lays ahead of them as they remain in a deep hole inside the relegation zone.

However, it does at least prove they have not thrown in the towel yet and gives them a glimmer of hope that the impossible is actually still possible with six games to go.

While Thomas for Gladwin was the only alteration in the starting XI, there was further freshening up on the bench, which included James Brophy – back in the matchday squad for the first time since being fined for a breach of club discipline – and Yaser Kasim after illness.

Liverpool loanee Lloyd Jones was the man outside of the original 18 who found himself included at short notice and amongst the replacements as a result of Gladwin’s knock.

Town goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux had to be on his toes in the fifth minute when opposite number Jordan Archer went route one with a counter attack following a Charlie Colkett corner but Lee Gregory’s effort was easily gathered.

The contest then petered out into a lacklustre affair and it took until the 22nd minute for the first genuine chance to materialise. Rohan Ince drove forward and fed Jonathan Obika in the box and the Town striker laid off to Thomas, who in turn found John Goddard, and his curling effort was pushed behind by the diving Archer.

Millwall looked most likely to threaten on the counter attack and another long ball from Archer just after the half-hour mark had the Town defence worried as Gregory was able to squeeze between Raphael Branco and Dion Conroy but his first-time effort went safely wide.

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Nicky Ajose is thrwarted by Millwall keeper Jordan Archer

Town had a big claim for a penalty waved away seven minutes before the break when Goddard found Obika in the box. The striker was able to roll away from Jake Cooper only to then go down under pressure from the Lions defender, but referee John Busby was not interested in the hosts’ appeals.

Swindon mustered up one more meaningful effort a minute before the break when Colkett cracked in a strike from 20 yards after good work from Obika but Archer got down well to push it away and the spinning ball just eluded Nicky Ajose as he looked to pounce.

The hosts continued to be the more attacking of the sides after the break, although they still did not muster up anything particularly dangerous.

One such foray forward was only half-cleared by the Lions and skipper Nathan Thompson brought the ball down before trying a spectacular half-volley from 25 yards but it flew straight at Archer.

Archer was almost caught out just before the hour mark when he slipped trying to adjust his positioning to a deflected Obika strike, although the Millwall keeper reacted well to push the ball away just as Ajose looked too gobble up on the rebound.

Williams opted to make a double change with 20 minutes to go adding pace in the shape of James Brophy and an additional striker in Luke Norris, with Goddard and Fankaty Dabo the players withdrawn.

However, it failed to kick-start the game into life and again, there was a further lull in proceedings as Town saw plenty of the ball but failed to ever really open up a stubborn Millwall back-line and genuine chances dried up once more.

The resistance looked like it might finally be broken with nine minutes to go when a Colkett corner looped up and down in the box after a succession of headers before finally breaking to Branco at the back post but the centre-back lashed high and wide.

Town fans then had their hearts in their mouths with five minutes to go when Lions substitute Fred Onyedinma whipped in a dangerous cross from the right, with Town defender Conroy slicing his attempted clearance narrowly wide of the post.

Swindon were forced to do without the services of captain Thompson in the dying minutes as he was taken off after an existing ankle injury appeared to flare up, with Bradley Barry sent on in his place at right back.

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Coach Ross Embleton and midfielder Charlie Colkett embrace after the final whistle

The home side looked to rally again but seemed destined to be frustrated in their efforts, only to finally get a deserved breakthrough in stoppage time.

Vigouroux pumped a long ball forward, which Obika leapt to flick on, allowing Ajose to dart into the box and although his shot fired straight into the midriff of full-back Mahlon Romeo, it broke perfectly into the path of Thomas, who rifled past Archer from 10 yards to send the home players and fans into raptures.