SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner felt his side were manipulated into playing Carlisle United’s game rather than their own during the 2-1 defeat at the County Ground on Saturday.

Town went behind in the 14th minute when Joe Riley hammered home a well-struck volley, only for Huddersfield Town loanee Romoney Crichlow to slide home an equaliser in the 30th minute.

Garner’s men were unable to really stamp their authority on proceedings during the first half especially, and ended up paying the price as Tristin Abrahams struck two minutes before the break to seal the points for Carlisle.

Speaking post-match, the Town chief was really pleased with the response his players showed in the second half but admitted a slow start ultimately cost them in the end.

Garner said: “In the first half, we could do better. The game was more in their style than ours. They were disappointing goals from our perspective, but it was a good response from us to get level.

“In the first half, 2-1 at half-time was probably fair if I’m being honest.

“The second half was much improved – that was a really good second-half performance. We got into fantastic positions, created chances, we just didn’t quite get that final ball right.

“More so the decision rather than the technique, there were opportunities when we got in behind to cut the ball back or play it across goal rather than shooting.

“But the second half was a really strong performance, I thought we passed the ball so much better, we looked more organised, and we need to take that into Tuesday now.”

LISTEN BELOW: Ben Garner discusses how Carlisle got their way in terms of style.