Swindon Town got back to winning ways with a professional 3-1 home victory against Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday evening.
Sean McGurk opened the scoring with an excellent individual finish before Tranmere's Rob Apter equalised just minutes later in the first half.
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy marked his return with Town's second and third goals on either side of the half to ensure the victory and a brace on his return to the starting XI.
Town made four changes to the side which drew against Stockport away last time out, with Udoka Godwin-Malife, Ricky Aguiar, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Sean McGurk all returning to the side, with Swindon looking for a strong start this evening.
After clearing opening chances from Tranmere Rovers, Town created their first chance in the 17th minute with Paul Glatzel and Sean McGurk looking to break the deadlock, both of whom looked to shape up for a shot in the penalty area, but Tranmere cleared in the nick of time.
Four minutes later though, Swindon had their opener and it was through the dangerous Sean McGurk with an exceptional opening goal.
After linking up with Glatzel, the forward broke into the Tranmere penalty area, feinted past an away defender's challenge before smashing the ball into the back of the net at the near post and gave the youngster his second goal in Swindon Town colours.
Despite this, Tranmere equalised just minutes later and it was Rob Apter who volleyed home to give Tranmere their initial response to McGurk's goal.
Town reacted back to this goal for Rovers, and chances for Dawson Devoy and Paul Glatzel came agonisingly close to restoring Swindon's lead.
34 minutes in, and Swindon were back in front and it was through the electric Rushian Hepburn-Murphy after exceptional work by Udoka Godwin-Malife to set him up to score.
Following a pinpoint cross-field pass from Godwin-Malife, Hepburn-Murphy showed high levels of composure to knock the ball past the onrushing Luke McGee to poke it home into an empty net and give Town their second goal of the game.
More late chances fell Swindon's way in the first half following their second goal, with Hepburn-Murphy firing just wide in the 38th minute before Devoy saw penalty claims waved away two minutes later and Charlie Austin fired an effort that well-blocked in the 42nd minute to give Town optimism going into the second half to continue their overall impressive first half performance.
Half-time: Swindon Town 2 Tranmere Rovers 1
After a whipped Sean McGurk effort whistled just wide of the far post in the 48th minute, Jack Bycroft began the second half by making a crucial save to stop Tranmere from equalising through Apter again as Town's keeper denied him at his near post.
A strong chance for a third came from Williams Kokolo in the 63rd minute, whose effort was tipped wide by McGee after a sharp break from Town to set the Frenchman through on goal.
It wasn’t long after, McGurk passed into a great space to Hepburn-Murphy and he secured the third goal and his brace with no second thought in the 64th minute.
With McGurk finding a pocket of space, this allowed him to set through the pacey Rushian Hepburn-Murphy one-v-on, before slotting the ball past Luke McGee with a first-time finish, rounding off the victory for Swindon emphatically.
A free-kick was awarded to the Reds with 20 minutes to go, in which recent substitute Jake Cain struck a decent attempt but it was unfortunately narrowly off-target, with Town bringing on defensive reinforcements to see out their two-goal advantage.
Aaron Drinan’s late attempt in the 87th minute was a brilliant opportunity for the fourth and his first goal for the club, as he took the ball down the right-hand side and struck with a fantastic shot but McGee had it covered on the near post as Town saw out the victory this evening.
Tonight's result saw Town rise above Tranmere in the league table, as attention now turns to later in the week, with Swindon Town remaining in SN1 against Harrogate Town for their latest league contest this weekend.
Swindon Town: Bycroft, Blake-Tracy, Glatzel, Hepburn-Murphy, McGurk (Brewitt 67), Devoy, Godwin-Malife (Elbouzedi 67), McCarthy, Aguiar (Cain 67), Minturn (Kokolo 45), Austin © (Drinan 57)
Goals: McGurk 21, Hepburn-Murphy 34, 64
Subs not used: McKirdy, Brann
Tranmere Rovers: McGee, O’Connor, Davies ©, Turnbull, Henrdry, L. Norris (Saunders 62), Hawkes, Lewis (Jolley 62), McAlear (Merrie 87), Apter (Taylor 71), J. Norris (Pike 71)
Goal: Apter 24
Subs not used: Murphy, Belehouan
Referee: Martin Woods
Attendance: 7,245 (292 Away Fans)
