Ollie Clarke nets late leveller as Swindon deny 10-man Cheltenham in thriller

Ollie Clarke scored an 88th-minute equaliser as Swindon battled back from two goals down to earn a 3-3 draw against 10-man Cheltenham.

Cheltenham looked to be on course for victory when Swindon’s Will Wright – who had earlier levelled for his side – put through his own net to give the visitors a 3-1 lead in the 54th minute.

But visiting skipper Tom Bradbury was sent off in an incident that allowed Kabongo Tshimanga to pull a goal back from the penalty spot in the 67th minute, before Swindon captain Clarke struck near the end to earn a share of the spoils for Ian Holloway’s men.

Jordan Thomas opened the scoring for Cheltenham in fine style after eight minutes, leaving two defenders for dead on the edge of the box before curling into the far corner.

Swindon drew level on the stroke of half-time when centre-back Wright scored with a stunning free-kick bent over the wall which gave keeper Joe Day no chance.

However, Cheltenham reclaimed their lead three minutes into the second half when Timothee Dieng neatly tucked home a loose ball, and it was 3-1 soon after when Wright turned Ethon Archer’s low cross past team-mate Connor Ripley.

Swindon were given a major boost just after the hour when Bradbury was shown a second yellow for hauling down Harry Smith in the box, and Tshimanga scored from the resulting penalty to make it 3-2.

Day parried another dangerous Wright free-kick as Swindon pushed for an equaliser, which arrived late on when Smith unselfishly laid off to Clarke to slot home.

Smith then nearly won it for the hosts with a touch at the far post but Day was alive to it and the visitors clung on for a point.