SOMETIMES a little bit of perspective is needed.

Yes, there is nothing quite like an FA Cup defeat at the hands of lower league opposition to get alarm bells ringing and leave even the most optimistic of supporters feeling blue.

However, if that elimination – which Swindon Town had to endure at the hands of non-league side Woking – can be softened by coinciding with three league wins in succession, then the overall picture does not look too bad at all.

Prior to Richie Wellens’ arrival as Town boss in mid-November, the club had not won two League Two games in a row all season.

Come 5pm on Saturday, they were celebrating three in succession after a dramatic 2-1 victory over Newport County at the Energy Check County Ground followed previous triumphs away at Port Vale and at home to Stevenage.

Kaiyne Woolery was Town’s hero, with his strike eight minutes from time capping a morale-boasting comeback for the striker.

Woolery’s season has been beset by injury problems and his inclusion in the starting line-up against the Exiles was the first time he was been named from kick-off this term.

The striker had only made four appearances off the bench previously in 2018-19 – and none at all since late October.

Woolery’s heroics came after Padraig Amond’s header early in the second half for Newport had cancelled out Michael Doughty’s first-minute opener for the home side.

In truth, blustery conditions dictated the contest at SN1, with the side that enjoyed a strong wind behind them dominating play in the respective halves.

But come the final whistle, the overall feeling was that it had blown away the glum mood left from the previous FA Cup humbling and the overall state of affairs at Town into a much more upbeat context overall.

Woolery’s inclusion was one of five changes made by Town boss Wellens from the side that started the defeat to Woking the previous weekend.

Lawrence Vigouroux returned in goal, Sid Nelson was restored into the heart of defence, while Matt Taylor and Elijah Adebayo came into midfield and up front respectively.

Luke McCormick, Olly Lancashire, Jak McCourt, Steven Alzate and Sol Pryce were the five to drop down to the bench, while Keshi Anderson missed out on a place in the 18 altogether due to injury.

For the second league match in succession, Town got off to a dream start with a goal in the opening minute as Doughty broke the deadlock.

Woolery charged up the right, with a challenge from Dan Butler seeing the ball break to Kyle Knoyle. The right-back sent in a cross towards the far post where Doughty collected, swivelled and drilled a low effort across goal and into the far corner of the net.

County almost mustered an instant response with their first attack as Josh Sheehan got himself on the ball in the box, but he lashed across goal and wide.

The Exiles were then next to threaten on the quarter-of-an-hour mark when Butler whipped in a cross from the left, with Jamille Matt rising highest to meet it but sending his header wide.

The remaining half-an-hour of the first half was dominated by the home side and only the woodwork denied them a second goal after 17 minutes.

Ellis Iandolo darted forward up the left towards the County box before managing to squeeze the ball into the path of Adebayo’s run, and his low curling shot look destined to nestle in the bottom corner, only for County keeper Joe Day to make an outstanding save to divert it onto the base of the post where it bounced away to safety.

The blustery conditions were causing a host of problems for the Exiles and Doughty pounced on a loose ball in the County half before attempting an audacious 25-yard lob after seeing Day off his line, which landed on the roof of the net

Taylor then tried his luck from distance after Nelson won an aerial duel against Amond, with the former Premier League player firing narrowly wide from 40 yards out.

Adebayo was proving a real handful for the Newport back-line and he latched onto a poor pass from Andrew Crofts before play eventually broke to Scott Twine on the edge of the box, but his curling effort was well wide.

The Exiles put together a rare foray forward two minutes before the break, which ended with Tyreeq Bakinson seeing a 20-yard strike comfortably saved by home keeper Vigouroux.

Town had another good chance to double their lead in the final minute of the half when they broke the length of the pitch at speed, but Twine opted to find Adebayo on the left instead of releasing Woolery in on goal and the Fulham loanee’s curling effort went well wide as the hosts had to settle for a 1-0 cushion.

Swindon were made to pay for failing to make the most of their dominance as a nightmare start to the second half saw Newport draw level inside two minutes of the restart.

Bakinson whipped in a good ball from the right and Amond shook off the attentions of his marker Knoyle to power a header goalwards that Vigouroux did well to get a hand to but could not keep out.

The home side spurned another good chance after 55 minutes when Doughty and Woolery led a rapid counter to catch the Exiles cold, but the former delayed his pass too long, allowing the defence to recover.

With conditions now in their favour, County were largely in the ascendancy and Vigouroux was forced to punch clear after a low cross from Scot Bennett was sliced up into the air by James Dunne.

Town still put together some nice moments themselves and Twine wriggled into the box and got in a shot midway through the half, which forced a good save from Day.

After further Newport pressure was ushered away, Town were content to play on the counter and one such instance saw Dunne send substitute Jermaine McGlashan into space on the right and he whipped a low cross into the box, but it was just too far in front of the charging Adebayo.

The hosts were much more clinical when they next got forward with eight minutes to play, though, with Doughty threading Woolery into the box and he beat his man before lifting the ball over the advancing Day to put Town back in front.

Town were forced to defend for the majority of the closing minutes and stoppage time, but a stubborn rear-guard effort safely snuffed out any Newport threat as the home side held firm for another valuable League Two win.