A PENALTY save on debut was of little consolation to Swindon Town goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook after it was still not enough to prevent his side slipping to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Cheltenham Town on Saturday.

Charles-Cook, a free transfer signing from Coventry City on transfer deadline day on August 31, was only handed a place between the sticks for Town at Whaddon Road after regular number one Lawrence Vigouroux was hit with a four-match suspension.

To his credit, Vigouroux’s absence was not really felt by Swindon as Charles-Cook produced a commanding performance behind the back four and even pulled off a stunning penalty save to keep out Cheltenham’s Danny Wright.

That came with the game evenly poised at 1-1 with 25 minutes to play but Wright got his revenge at the death, pouncing as Town failed to deal with a free-kick in stoppage time to snatch all three points for the hosts.

Despite his heroics, Charles-Cook took little satisfaction from his first appearance in a Swindon shirt.

“It was just a guess and I had a bit of confidence after saving a couple in training the other day. It doesn’t really mean anything because we lost the game,” said the 23-year-old.

“It’s sickening, to be honest. A point was the least we should have got from our second-half performance.

“In the first half, we were very poor and we got that from the gaffer, but in the second half, we came out a completely different team and I am sure that showed to the fans and everyone in the ground. It is sickening to lose by a soft goal like that.

“It’s about discipline and we can’t be giving away silly free-kicks like that. There are six phases after the free-kick to the goal so we have just got to deal with it.”

After a looking well below their best in the first half at Whaddon Road, Charles-Cook revealed that Town boss David Flitcroft left the team in no doubt that they needed to raise their game. Although they were able to do that, it was not enough to secure them the victory.

Charles-Cook said: “It was very lively at half-time. The gaffer is a very honest man and he told us exactly how it was.”