Brentford 2 (Cort 77, MacDonald 82) Swindon Town 3

Yet another poor first-half defensive performance saw Brentford slip up at home against Swindon Town at Griffin Park on Saturday.

The Bees conceded the first goal for the fourth consecutive game as they allowed Swindon to race into a two-goal lead that they held on to at the end of a game that saw three goals in the final 13 minutes.

Boss Andy Scott couldn’t hide his frustration afterwards: “I am fuming, absolutely fuming and if I could rip heads off I would do.

"We’ve been beaten by a side that we shouldn’t have been beaten by. We should have won that game. But we lost because we gave away three goals.”

Scott made two changes to the side that beat Southend on Tuesday, with Ryan Dickson making a welcome return at left back and Carl Cort returning at centre-half.

Yet, after falling three goals behind at half-time to Bristol Rovers a fortnight ago, the Bees looked as if they had learned little, allowing the Robins to score twice in the opening 15 minutes.

Scott Revell put the visitors ahead when he burst into the six-yard box and fired home from a tight angle at the near post after John-Paul McGovern had sent a low cross into box from the right touchline.

On-loan Celtic striker Ben Hutchinson extended the lead when he shrugged off Alan Bennett and ran on to a through ball from Anthony McNamee before slipping a low shot past Nikki Bull.

The Bees eventually emerged from their lethargy and after a one-two on the edge of the box, Dickson crossed from the left for Cort to head the ball onto the top of the net.

A few minutes later, good close control from Cort created space for a shot, which was blocked before falling to Sam Wood, whose acrobatic overhead kick was saved by David Lucas.

Brentford emerged for the second half and immediately looked a more focused side.

Early in the half, Sam Saunders nearly scored when his shot came back off the post and fell to Charlie MacDonald, who put his shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

The Bees eventually pulled a goal back when Saunders broke down the right and played a low pass to Cort, who did well to step round the defender and fire home from the edge of the box.

Yet the hopes of the home fans disappeared shortly after when a long ball found Revell on the left and, after skipping round Mark Phillips, he curled a shot into the right hand corner of the net.

Brentford hit back again with eight minutes remaining, when a Saunders corner from the left was missed by the defence and headed home near the back post by a stooping MacDonald.

Despite the referee adding five additional minutes, the Bees were unable to find a way to draw level and were forced to settle for another home defeat.

Brentford: Bull; Wilson, Phillips, Bennett, Dickson; Saunders, Bean, O’Connor, Wood (sub Weston 73); MacDonald, Cort

Subs (not used): Price, Foster, Osborne, Legge, Taylor, Kabba

Attendance: 6,471

Goals: Cort 77, MacDonald 82

Man of the match: Carl Cort

Match rating: 3/6.