A lacklustre display in Wiltshire saw Shots beaten comfortably by Paulo Di Canio's Swindon Town side.
Shots manager Dean Holdsworth made a bold decision to show faith in keeper Jamie Young, despite the return of first choice Ross Worner from suspension. His starting line-up also saw top scorer Danny Hylton return in place of Scott Davies, to make his 100th Shots appearance. New loan signing Greg Pearson took up a place on the bench.
There was very little in the opening exchanges and no worthwhile efforts on goal in the opening 20 minutes. The home side edged the possession in the next quarter - Ridehalgh, Ferry and Flint all shotting from long range - none of the efforts troubled Young though.
Shots only attempt in the opening half hour was a 20 yard shot from Rankine, which was always heading wide.
The two most clear cut chances of the first half both came in the closing five minutes. Firstly - McGlashan did brilliantly to flick on a long punt from Young and the ball fell perfectly to the onrushing Hylton who took the ball on toward goal, only to lose his footing at the crucial moment.
Then in the final minute of the half, Rodman tried turning with the ball well inside his own half and lost possession to De Vita. His cross fell perfectly for Jake Jervis - but his finish was poor - blazing high over the goal from 10 yards.
Shots almost caught Robins napping in the opening minute of the second period. Half chances came and went for both Hylton and Guttridge, the latter forcing a save from Foderingham. Alas - Shots were soon made to pay for not taking those chances.
Swindon should have had a penalty on 50 minutes. Darren Jones was outpaced to the ball by De Vita and the Welshman clearly pushed the Italian to the ground inside the box. However English referee Adcock was not convinced and waved play-on. The Robins fans did not have to wait long for a goal though - as just two minutes later, Paul Caddis crossed from the right and Jervis side footed home from close range to put Swindon 1-0 up.
With 25 minutes left to play - Holdsworth brought on loan signings Adam Smith and Greg Pearson on for Rodman and McGlashan - who had both been ineffective.
Shots rallied briefly but the game was effectively decided within the space of a minute. Firstly, Shots thought they had equalised when they had the ball in the net, as Rankine headed home a cross from the right. However, he was deemed to be offside and the decision proved costly for Shots - as Swindon went straight up to the other end of the pitch and doubled their lead. It was difficult to see quite what happened as a deflection and a ricochet resulted in Darren Jones bundling the ball into his own net. 2-0 Swindon.
Scott Davies came on for Collins, who like so many of his playing colleagues on the day, had been poor.
Ridehalgh and Ritchie both went close for Robins as the game petered out, but that was pretty much that. Another disappointing defeat for Shots - who are now looking a shadow of the team that for much of this season have played with much heart and passion. Swindon will be delighted with a workmanlike home win, which sees them consolidate a play off spot. Shots though, drop a place to 16th and now find themselves 8 points away from such as lofty berth.