Swindon Town 2-1 Shrewsbury Town
- Published
Swindon Town substitute Alan Connell struck twice as his team came from behind to go top of League Two.
Shrewsbury stunned the in-form home side when they went ahead with a Matt Richards header from Mark Wright's corner five minutes before the break.
But, after Shrewsbury were denied a penalty, half-time sub Connell levelled from close range on 64 minutes after an error by Shrews keeper Chris Neal.
And, when Luke Rooney's shot bounced down off the bar, Connell pounced.
Shrewsbury manager Graham Turner, livid at a match-changing penalty appeal turned down at the start of the second half, ended the evening having to be restrained by stewards.
Visiting striker Terry Gornell appeared to be brought down by Alan McCormack, but referee Brendan Malone waved it away.
And Paolo di Canio's Robins, who started the night in third, roared back to make it five wins on the spin.
Turner's Shrewsbury, who stay fourth after suffering only their second defeat in seven games, had the better of the first half, taking a deserved lead in the 40th minute.
But Di Canio sent on Connell at the start of the second half in place of Billy Bodin and the move twice paid off.
Neal failed to hold Matt Ritchie's shot and Connell snapped up the rebound before his opportunism earned Swindon's 76th minute winner.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Swindon boss Paolo di Canio told BBC Wiltshire:
Now we need to relax - di Canio
"They deserve to stay at the top. Now is the time to relax, not to panic.
"Seven months we fought to get to the top and now we cannot panic. We have to take off, look back, say 'bye bye'. We go to Barbados. That is our attitude now, we have two games in hand.
"If you play like the first half we can be in trouble, so I prefer to lose and play like we did in the last half an hour.
"If we play like we did in the last half an hour we will lose one or two games, but we will win 10 or 12."
Shrewsbury boss Graham Turner told BBC Radio Shropshire:
"Over my long career I don't often criticise referees. They have a difficult job. But the decision not to award us a penalty was the big decision of the game - and he bottled it.
"He might have been overawed by the occasion, by the size of the crowd, but even the Swindon defender was ready to walk - he knew it was a penalty, everybody in the ground knew it was penalty.
"We were on top, leading 1-0, and there's a chance we could've been two up and they're down to 10 men. It was a big lift for them when they got away with something like that, and it had a downer on us."