MATCH REPORT: Swindon Town (3) Harrogate Town (0)

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy scored his first league goals for Swindon Town as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Harrogate Town. Total Sport’s Joe Acklam reports from the County Ground.

Hepburn-Murphy scored at the start and end of the first half as his header and left-footed finish both crept beyond Mark Oxley in the Harrogate goal.

Joe Tomlinson has now scored on both of his debuts for Swindon as he headed in a scrappy third 12 minutes from time.

A second straight win sees Swindon move up to tenth in the League Two table, but still four points outside the play-off places.

Jody Morris made two enforced changes to the line-up that beat Salford City seven days ago, as Hepburn-Murphy returned from suspension alongside Jonny Williams for the suspended Saidou Khan and injured Frazer Blake-Tracy.

The first time Swindon did anything of any menace they found the back of the net as Remeao Hutton received the ball on the right and lifted a cross into Hepburn-Murphy who headed back across goal and in for his first league goal for the club.

Town took confidence from the opener and nearly had a second straight after as McEachran played a peach of a ball out to Iandolo, he hit it with his instep and the cross went narrowly over the head of Jacob Wakeling.

The Sulphurites got their first shot after 25 minutes when Kazeem Olaigbe wriggled beyond two defenders on the left side of the box and tried his luck, but Sol Brynn made a good catch.

Just after the half hour mark Jake Cain cut the Harrogate back line in half with a marvellous pass to find Hutton, he cut the ball back to Wakeling and after finding space, the forward hit his shot over the top.

Late in the first half Swindon put together a long, patient move that concluded with Iandolo and Wakeling exchanging passes, the latter cut the ball back to Hepburn-Murphy and his scuffed shot rolled into the corner.

The joy of the second goal did not last long as Ciaran Brennan had to be stretchered off before the break after he felt something passing the ball to Brynn.

In stoppage time it could have been three as McEachran hit a stunning pass to set Hepburn-Murphy away, he found Wakeling and his ball across goal was just pushed out of the path of Charlie Austin by Mark Oxley.

Austin had a guilt-edged chance to make it three early in the second half as he got the ball in space in the area, but his touch let him down and allowed Oxley to smother his effort, it fell to Hutton, but his follow up was cleared off the line.

Harrogate shifted the momentum in the second half and could have scored after 61 minutes when Danny Grant beat Dylan Kadji and sent a ball across the face of goal, before Wakeling hooked it away from danger.

Shortly after Iandolo miscued a back pass and got beaten to the loose ball by Luke Armstrong, he got his shot off, but a well-positioned Sol Brynn made the save.

Joe Tomlinson came off the bench to score the scrappiest of goals on his second debut for Town after the full-back smashed a shot against a defender and as it came back to him, headed the ball over Oxley and it just got over the line before a defender could get back.