Last weekend I took my final chance of the 2009-10 season to watch Brentford play away from Griffin Park with Swindon, that hotbed of architectural wonder, natural beauty and high culture, being my destination.

My brother and I were joined by one of my colleagues, a lad named Nathan, who it must be said is far too cheerful and happy-go-lucky considering the fact that he grew up in such a gruesome place.

I should say that my opinion of this ramshackle town is one that is coloured by an experience I’ve remarked upon before in this column.

Many moons ago on a previous jaunt to watch Brentford play at the County Ground, one of the friendly locals told me to go and fornicate elsewhere simply because I asked him how to get to the away end but, putting that memory to one side, I was willing to give the place a second chance.

Sadly, the pub that Nathan took us to for a pre-match sharpener, The Kebab and Knuckleduster I think it was called, didn’t exactly show off Swindon in its best light – in fact it made The Slaughtered Lamb, from An American Werewolf in London, look like an Islington gastro pub.

Thanks to a couple of small drawbacks, including the fact that there was a grown man having a fist fight with a rabid dog in the main bar area and the lovely touch of having the letters BNP scrawled on the blackboard by the pool table, my opinion of Swindon is probably now set in stone.

At least the game was fun. The Robins, who are chasing promotion, ran out deserved winners in an entertaining encounter.

The final score of 3-2 was a fair one but the Bees can take heart from the fact that we ran one of the promotion contenders close, even with a side so far down to the bare bones it would make a Paris catwalk model green with envy.

Some excellent play by Swindon’s midfielders, Douglas, Ward and McGovern, combined with our own calamitous defending put them in control and, in Billy Paynter, they have the kind of reliable striker that we could really do with to complement Super Mac and Carl Cort next season.

Swindon’s win means they have a chance to go up automatically this Saturday and, understandably, their fans were delighted at the final whistle – I wouldn’t begrudge their excellent team and their quality manager Danny Wilson that prize, especially as it would mean I wouldn’t have to go back to Wiltshire for a while.