EVER had one of those days when nothing seems to go right? Wrexham boss Denis Smith has experienced more than a few this season but Saturday's visit to Swindon Town topped the lot.

Not only did the Dragons lose defender Steve Roberts to a groin strain sustained during the pre-match warm-up, they surrendered a 2-0 lead and were then punished by two poor refereeing decisions that denied them the consolation of a point away at the County Ground.

To cap it all, the team's coach broke down on the homeward journey, resulting in a 90-minute wait for a replacement vehicle.

Wrexham can expect to resume against Bournemouth next Saturday with a bigger safety target than the current four points and there is little chance that any of Smith's injured players will be back to reinforce a squad which had a distinctly threadbare look about it on Saturday.

Mitigating circumstance apart, Smith was obviously bitterly disappointed to see his side's advantage frittered away following a controlled performance for much of the opening 45 minutes.

Swindon enjoyed plenty of possession but rarely threatened the visitors' goal and when Juan Ugarte and Hector Sam delivered clinical finishes inside the penalty box the match was there to be won.

Instead, Wrexham conceded a soft goal just before the break then missed a couple of excellent opportunities to puncture the growing confidence of the home side, who cranked up the pressure to score three goals in the final 14 minutes.

The goals started when Swindon were undone in the 16th minute by a precision pass from Matt Crowell, which gave Sam the chance to bear down on goalkeeper Steve Book and, though he might have gone on himself, he knocked the ball sideways for Ugarte to draw first blood.

Two minutes later Crowell tested Book, who responded with a good save.

The home defence was in trouble again after 31 minutes when Chris Llewellyn helped on Foster's long kick and Ugarte, who was forced wide, hooked the ball over his head and back into the penalty area, where Sam reacted quickest to head Wrexham's second.

The quality of the finishing was not matched at the back and when Grant Smith's 39th-minute throw-in bounced in front of Dennis Lawrence, he and Foster dithered and Sam Parkin snapped up the close-range chance.

Wrexham should have restored their two-goal margin three minutes later when Sam did well to set up Llewellyn, but the Welshman's finish from 15 yards flew woefully wide.

Swindon upped the tempo markedly from the restart. Smith intercepted a tired-looking pass by Lawrence to set up Parkin, who headed wide, and Christian Roberts kept Foster on his toes.

A 65th-minute counter-attack prompted by Crowell gave Trinidad international Carlos Edwards a rare chance to go on the offensive but Book was out of his goal quickly to block the shot.

The visitors were made to rue that missed opportunity in the 76th minute when Smith and Ifil combined, the latter picking out Parkin, who gave Foster no chance and a resurgent Swindon went ahead within three minutes.

Substitute Matthew Howard appeared to use his hand to control the ball before he was felled by Shaun Pejic's challenge on the edge of the box and Smith's firmly struck free-kick was a goal from the moment the ball left his foot.

There was still time for Wrexham to rescue a point and Sam went close in the 83rd minute.

But the home side were home and dry in the 90th minute when substitute Levi Mackin was harshly penalised for a challenge on Steve Jenkins and Parkin completed his hat-trick from the spot.