PAUL Mullin was thrilled to make an instant impact off the bench for Swindon Town on Saturday, with his introduction all but sealing their 3-0 victory at Port Vale.

With Town leading 1-0 at Vale Park after Matt Taylor’s superb free-kick just after the break, Town boss David Flitcroft sent on fresh legs to give his side a second wind.

Timi Elsnik was the first to be sent into the fray before Mullin joined the action in the 69th minute.

Two minutes later, the visitors had taken a big stride towards another three points in League Two as the 22-year-old headed home Taylor’s cross to double the lead, capitalising as Vale keeper Dimitar Evtimov misjudged the high ball in.

“It was nice to get a goal with one of my first touches,” said forward Mullin, a summer signing from Morecambe.

“I saw the ball and just focussed on that and knew if I could get between the defender and goalkeeper it would cause them problems and thankfully I did. I didn’t think about them, just the ball.

“I am made up to score, as always. You love any goal but today we were 1-0 up and the game was a bit edgy so if you get that second goal you take command of the game and after that we looked a lot more comfortable so it sort of sealed the game for us from there on.”

Kellan Gordon followed Mullin’s lead with Town’s third goal late on, wrapping up the win with his first touch just a matter of seconds after coming off the bench.

The victory backed up last week’s narrow 1-0 win at home to Wycombe Wanderers and also ended the Valiants’ own three-match winning streak.

With all of Town’s substitutes having a big influence on the outcome of the game at Vale Park, Mullin felt it proved the level of hunger and commitment that runs deep through the Swindon squad.

“It was difficult conditions and Port Vale had been on a good roll with three league wins back to back but all the lads put a great shift in,” said Mullin.

“We worked hard and that’s what got us the win.

“We like to work hard as a team and it starts from the front. Everyone puts all their effort into every game, no matter how long you last.

“If that’s only 60 or 70 minutes, you can always be replaced by someone else and that’s what we did and thankfully it worked.

“It’s a team game and we all give our all in every game.”