Swindon Town drew 3-3 in their final league game of the 2023/24 season, with a brace from Charlie Austin seeing the forward reach over 200 career goals at The County Ground on Saturday afternoon.
Town made three changes to the side which faced Grimsby last time out, with Sean McGurk, Conor McCarthy and Jake Cain returning for the final time this season.
It was an ideal start for Swindon with skipper Charlie Austin scoring his first of the game with a well-taken header just five minutes in.
10 minutes later, however, Morecambe responded and found themselves back on level terms with Joe Adams scoring from close range.
Morecambe got themselves in front in the 21st minute, when Adam Fairclough poked home from a similar distance to the Shrimps' first goal, before Charlie Austin got Town level again with another expert finish with 10 minutes left to play in the first half.
There wasn't to be too much more action in the first half, as Town looked to use the half-time break as an opportunity to regroup and find the third goal to put them in front in the final 45 of the 23/24 season.
Half-time: Swindon 2 Morecambe 2
It was an even 15 minutes in the second half with Sean McGurk creating Town's best chance in the 59th minute, with a first-time volley which unfortunately went over the Morecambe crossbar.
Several changes were introduced to look to find the next goal for Swindon, including a league debut for young goalkeeper Redman Evans with the youngster getting his first appearance in the league with just over 20 minutes left to play.
74 minutes played and Town got themselves ahead for the first time in the game, with a well-taken finish for full-back Williams Kokolo putting Swindon 3-2 up.
After smart work from Charlie Austin, Zach Elbouzedi and Dawson Devoy saw Town attack down the right-hand side before a delicious cross was met by Kokolo who in turn slotted home inside the Morecambe penalty area to give Swindon the lead with just over 15 minutes left to play.
Late frustration came for Town in the 86th minute when Cammy Smith got the visitors' third to see Town look to find another goal to see them end the season with three points.
Redman Evans pulled off an important save in the fifth minute of stoppage time to keep things level, before a final late chance fell Town's way with a minute left to play.
Charlie Austin was almost able to find that fourth and his hat-trick goal late in the last minute of stoppage time, following the skipper's drive into the Morecambe penalty area but unfortunately saw his low drive blocked late by the Shrimps' defender to see the game play out as an entertaining 3-3 draw.
Following a frantic final fixture of the 2023/24 season, Town's first-team players and staff applauded the home support during their lap of appreciation, with Swindon looking to a more positive campaign come 2024/25.
Swindon Town: Bycroft (Evans 68), Blake-Tracy, Glatzel (Drinan 71), McGurk (Devoy 62), Cain, Kokolo, McCarthy, Austin (C), McGregor (Elbouzedi 62), Hunt (Godwin-Malife 62), Ofoborh
Goals: Austin 5, 35, Kokolo 74
Subs not used: Aguiar, Brown
Morecambe FC: Smith, Love (C), Tutonda (Rawson 80), Adams (Rooney 80), Smith, Edwards, Brown, Harrack, Threlkeld (Davenport 80), Khumbeni (Songo'o 66), Fairclough (Larsson 58)
Goals: Adams 15, Fairclough 21, Smith 86
Subs not used: Mair, Senior
Attendance: 8,859 (204 away)
