JERRY Yates’ first-half goal saw Swindon Town recover from their midweek malaise to return to winning ways in League Two away at Cambridge United this afternoon.

The decisive moment came just before the half-hour mark as Ellis Iandolo jinked his way into the box before delivering across the face of goal for Yates to finish the job and make it four Town victories in their last five games.

The only blemish in that superb run is the heavy 3-0 defeat at home to Colchester United on Tuesday night, but there were no signs of a hangover from that disappointment at the Abbey Stadium.

Cambridge did have the better of the second half but Swindon stopper Luke McCormick proved a dependable last line of defence as he made a number of good stops to ensure his team left with the points.

Town flew out of the traps and should have got their noses in front inside two minutes. Lloyd Isgrove whipped a lovely cross into the box and Yates was able to ghost between the two United central defenders to throw himself at the ball but could only send his header straight at keeper Dimitar Mitov.

The visitors continued to hold sway but their momentum threatened to stall after a quarter-of-an-hour when Keshi Anderson was forced off injured, with Kaiyne Woolery coming on in his place.

Cambridge enjoyed a good spell off the back of that and a good ball from Jack Roles almost sent Sam Smith in on goal through the middle but Swindon stopper McCormick raced off his line quickly to gather.

McCormick was called into action again shortly afterwards, claiming the ball as former Town striker Marc Richards failed to get a clean header on a free-kick into the box from the United right.

Town soon rediscovered their mojo and a superb team move yielded the opening goal just before the half-hour mark.

Woolery flicked Danny Rose’s pass around the corner into space on the left where Iandolo gathered and jinked his way by three would-be tacklers into the box before drilling across goal to find the lunging Yates to tuck the ball home.

The visitors remained the more threatening of the sides as the half wore to a close and were almost presented with a second goal in stoppage time before the break.

A loose Roles pass handed possession to Eoin Doyle on the left, and as he sent the ball back into the middle to Isgrove, Roles had only recovered enough to bundle him over on the edge of the box.

Rose stepped up to take the resulting free-kick and whipped a curling effort narrowly wide in the final action of the half.

Cambridge came out fired up after the break and only a superb save from McCormick kept the visitors ahead. Smith's header from Richards' cross looked destined to find the bottom corner of the net, only for Town stopper to scramble it behind.

McCormick remained the busier of the two keepers and he was called into action again on the hour as he comfortably caught a George Taft header following Roles’ free-kick from the left.

The Swindon stopper was proving a valuable last line of defence as he was then on had to pluck a Smith header out of the air following Richards’ cross.

After a spell on the back foot, Town supporters may have thought their nerves were set to be eased with 15 minutes to go as Woolery raced forward into the box, only for home captain Greg Taylor to recover well to deny him a clean strike at goal.

That led to a good bit of pressure for the visitors and another chance came when home keeper Mitov failed to claim a corner, with the ball cannoning off the knee of Dion Conroy at the back post but bobbling wide.

Another chance to kill the game off for good came and went in the last of the 90 minutes as Woolery pounced on a loose pass from keeper Mitov to find substitute Michael Doughty but he was crowded out just as he looked to shoot.

However, stoppage time passed without alarm as Town dug into see out the win and continue their excellent run on the road this season.

CAMBRIDGE UNITED (5-3-2): Mitov; Knoyle, Taylor (c), Ward (Ibehre 67), Taft, Lambe; O’Neil, Lewis, Roles (Maris 74); Smith (Dallas 86), Richards. Subs not used: Burton, Darling, Davies, Knibbs.

SWINDON TOWN (4-4-2): McCormick; Hunt, Conroy (c), Fryers, Iandolo; Isgrove (Doughty 66), Rose (May 72), Grant, Anderson (Woolery 15); Yates, Doyle. Subs not used: Benda, Reid, Curran, Sanokho.

Referee: Peter Wright

Attendance: 4,443 (736 away)