Swindon Town were brought back down to earth with a thud as they were dominated on the road during a 2-0 loss to Notts County.

David McGoldrick again showed his class against Swindon and shone during the first half as he notched twice to give a depleted Town a massive task.

Despite making changes at the break, Swindon were still hugely outclassed during the second half as the hosts romped to a comfortable victory.

Ian Holloway is still waiting for his first away win as Swindon manager, a feat Town have only accomplished once this season as their four-match unbeaten run has come to an end.

Ian Holloway made four changes to the side which started the New Year’s Day win over Colchester United but was without Harry Smith entirely and could only name Ollie Clarke on the bench. It was a move back to the early days of his reign with a three-striker system of Kabongo Tshimanga, Aaron Drinan, and Paul Glatzel.

The drum beat from The Kop quickly set the tone as County quite literally passed to the rhythm of their own drummer and moved the play this way and that.

After just three minutes Alassana Jatta held off Billy Kirkman and set a pass back to Sam Austin. McGoldrick pulled away from his marker and got on the end of the cross but struck the crossbar before Town were able to block the rebound from his strike partner.

Without arguably their two most important players, Swindon switched to go three against three at the top end of the pitch but Stuart Maynard’s side were far more flexible than that as George Abbott and Matty Palmer dropped into pockets of space out wide to render the press null and void.

Their patient play was giving them space in behind Swindon out wide and on a few occasions threatened with balls into the area which Town were able to clear.

It was the route which led to the opener after 17 minutes. Austin got in behind down the right side of the box and stood up a cross. George Cox was in position to clear but the ball struck Joel Cotterill and gave County the ball back. They crossed again and this time McGoldrick was there and made it count.

It was very much the McGoldrick show as he popped up all over the field, stringing passes together and running Swindon ragged. Shortly after taking the lead, he played a one-two with Danny Crowley which set up the midfielder to force Dan Barden into a save low to his right.

Having created almost nothing, in the space of a minute Swindon had two openings. The first arrived as Alex Bass’ poor kick was intercepted by Rosaire Longelo. He chested the ball into Drinan and he slammed a shot just over from the edge of the area.

Then a minute later he latched onto a ball into the channel and fired into the side netting. Half chances at best but ones Swindon could really have done with going their way to stop the onslaught.

But it was not enough as the space was always there for Notts. George Abbott was afforded a huge pocket in midfield and had both strikers running through on goal. He chose to go for McGoldrick and he tucked home his second. It was his third career brace against Swindon and his seventh goal against them.

A triple change at half time saw Swindon move to a back four as Clarke, Tunmise Sobowale, and Danny Butterworth were all brought on to try and change the direction of travel.

But the wheels were set in motion and Notts County continued to steamroller Swindon through their dominance of possession.

McGoldrick could even have had a hat trick ten minutes into the second half as Jatta intercepted a poor pass from Ryan Delaney. He motored down the right and rolled the ball across goal but on the stretch, McGoldrick turned over from six yards out.

Domination was becoming a footballing lesson in the second half as black and white shirts danced into great chasms of space deep in Swindon territory. Twice Notts County had free kicks from inside the D as Crowley was brought to ground as a desperate last resort.

As if their problems weren’t big enough, Barden and Jatta clashed heads after 70 minutes causing both players to be removed, so Town were down another player as Jack Bycroft was brought on.

Town's numerical number one made a few smart stops in the latter stages as the game petered out on a day they would be eager to move beyond quickly.

Swindon had proven themselves to be a much better outfit across the festive period but with the squad stretched to its limits, they were reminded of the gap between them and the truly top sides in the division.

NCFC starting XI: Bass, McDonald, Bedeau, Platt, Crowley, Austin, McGoldrick, Palmer, Martin,   Jatta, Abbott.

NCFC substitutes: Slocombe, Hinchy, Jones, Grant, Brown, Cundy, Tsaroulla.

STFC starting XI: Barden, Delaney, Wright, Cotterill, Glatzel, Longelo, Kilkenny, Tshimanga, Drinan, Cox, Kirkman.

STFC substitutes: Bycroft, Sobowale, Ofoborh, Clarke, Cain, Butterworth, Ameen.

Attendance: 9,296 (634 away).