Swindon Town took home a second draw of the Christmas period from London as they earned a 1-1 draw against Bromley at Hayes Lane.

The opening 45 minutes was low on quality at the sharp end of the pitch and saw limited opportunities as both sides looked to set pieces to capitalise on.

Omar Sowumni eventually headed Bromley in front but Rosaire Longelo came up with his first goal for the club to take home another valuable point.

On their first-ever trip to Hayes Lane, Swindon were able to halt their hosts fine run and ensure that they ended 2024 outside of the relegation zone.

Against a side naming an unchanged line-up for the fourth straight game, Ian Holloway opted for the other strategy of rotating heavily amidst the fixture pile-up. There were six changes from the Boxing Day draw across the capital, including a first league start since Milton Keynes Dons for Longelo and since Morecambe for Nnamdi Ofoborh.

Swindon’s recent upturn in results had been based upon their switch to become a more disciplined team that plays on the counter, but they were facing the masters of that particular style. The number of set pieces and long throws was already too many to count inside ten minutes as both teams looked to bombard each other.

Town were giving as good as they got in that regard with two strong early chances, the first seeing Danny Butterworth fire into the gloves of Grant Smith before Aaron Drinan flicked a header onto the roof of the net both stemming from deliveries from Will Wright.

Through all the physical rutting, Swindon were still playing some slick football and they won a throw-in from one of these passing moves. They took that short and found Ofoborh on the edge of the box but he couldn’t hit the target.

Their attacking efficiency was displayed for the first time after 24 minutes when Tunmise Sobowale was needed to make a big tackle in the box before Danny Imray’s cross was caught by Dan Barden as Jude Arthurs lurked nearby.

Soon after the hosts won a corner which they rolled low in towards the near post where Michael Cheek stole a march and got a shot off which was blocked at the near post. Both teams were spluttering but a few cogs were starting to turn.

Wright had been at the centre of everything in the first half and was frequently dangerous, finding Paul Glatzel with a cross but he couldn’t get enough power to send it beyond Grant Smith and then he curled a free kick from 25 yards out narrowly over the top with the goalkeeper scampering across his line in a state of panic.

As an opening half starved of much quality drew to a close, Bromley had a succession of corners drilled into the near post but Swindon were standing up to the test well enough.

Bromley were able to maintain that pressure straight after the game got back underway when Imray raced inside Swindon and switched the ball to the left. Arthurs was able to get the ball into Cheek in the box but Swindon got a touch to send it over the bar.

Even though Swindon had the fresher players having made so many changes, Bromley were the team coming on stronger as the match progressed. They were finding space out wide and although big chances remained elusive, they were forcing Town back.

The absence of Harry Smith was really showing in how Swindon were struggling to retain the ball at the top of the pitch and he was duly introduced along with Ollie Clarke after an hour.

The introduction of that key pair instantly made a difference as the captain drove through the middle to slip a pass into Smith but he toppled over on the edge and then Clarke again got outside Drinan and played the ball across goal before it was hacked clear.

But this game was always going to be decided by a moment of magic or madness and Swindon obliged with the latter. Sloppy defending down the right allowed for a cross onto the head of Omar Sowumni, Barden got down but didn’t do enough to parry it wide.

Swindon once again showed their new-found resoluteness as they never gave up on a corner three minutes later. The ball eventually came to Longelo and he flicked it over the leg of a defender and smashed home his first Swindon goal for a swift reply.

Both sides had opportunities to snatch the win, with Swindon having the best of them as first Clarke struck just wide of the mark from outside the box before with just two minutes to play, Joel Cotterill's shot took a huge deflection, wrong-footed the goalkeeper and dropped millimetres wide.

Another hard-fought draw would do for Swindon in the second leg of their festive London double header.

BFC starting XI: Smith, Reynolds, Sowumni, Cheek, Grant, Whitely, Arthurs, Congreave, Imray, Odutayo, Thompson.

BFC substitutes: Long, Elerewe, Leigh, Webster, Amantchi, Olomola, Thomas.

STFC starting XI: Barden, Sobowale, Delaney, Wright, Ofoborh, Glatzel, Longelo, Kilkenny, Butterworth, Drinan, Kirkman.

STFC substitutes: Bycroft, Cotterill, Clarke, Smith, Tshimanga, Cox, Brown.