For 60 minutes they were great to watch, attacked with menace and appeared destined for a victory that would briefly stop them looking in the rearview mirrors.

The only problem was there was another half an hour to play and what followed explained why Notts County find themselves anxiously treading water at the wrong end of the table.

How their 1-0 lead transformed into a 2-1 defeat was a question most were left asking at full time, but it was a result of the deficiencies that have cast a shadow throughout their season.

A lack of leadership allied with no game management is a dangerous recipe, but it’s one that Notts continually cook up and this was another serving that was hard to digest.

The manager Harry Kewell fumed at the way his side chucked this game away and in keeping with the fact Halloween is just around the corner said the way to correct it would be to “scare” his players.

He explained that meant changes in the January transfer window, but that is two months away and even then it is likely the players he can sign will be short-term solutions.

In the meantime, he must find a way to make Notts hard to beat because Swindon did not have to work particularly hard to relieve some of the pressure on Phil Brown.

The Swindon manager admitted Notts are dangerous in attack and there’s certainly progress being made on that front, given Kewell’s side should have been home and hosed in the first hour.

But when Brown made a tactical change early in the second half by reinforcing his attack with an extra striker, nobody showed the intelligence to stop it from changing the landscape of the contest.

This is what needs to change if Notts are to hoist themselves towards the safety of mid-table and you sense from Kewell’s cutting post-match analysis that some players are on borrowed time.

Kane Hemmings nips in ahead of the Swindon keeper to put Notts County 1-0 ahead.

You could feel his frustration afterwards, especially after witnessing arguably the best 45 minutes of football he has presided over since he came to the club.

Within 30 seconds Jon Stead had turned deep inside the Swindon half, before releasing a pass into the feet of Kane Hemmings who had time to turn and surge towards goal.

He decided to take the strike early from 20 yards and it required Lawrence Vigouroux to tip it behind for a corner before Lewis Alessandra had a shot saved at the near post.

It set the tone for a hugely impressive first half from Kewell’s side who did not take long to launch another attack as Enzio Boldewijn teased his way into the box.

He sized up the far corner, but his effort took a deflection to send the ball spinning out for a corner which subsequently caused some panic in the visitors’ defence before it was hacked clear.

Kewell would have been delighted with the way his team had started as they demonstrated real confidence in possession which soon led to another chance.

Matt Taylor, a seasoned campaigner who had graced the Premier League, was struggling to deal with the threat of Boldewijn who danced his way into the box, shifting the ball onto his left foot.

Vigouroux had to get down low to save the Dutchman’s low strike which had it been aimed for either corner would have certainly resulted in a goal.

Kane Hemmings is congratulated on his goal.

The only complaint Kewell could have was that Notts were not able to turn their superiority into goals with the 4-3-3 formation he had deployed giving Swindon all kinds of problems.

But the breakthrough they deserved finally arrived five minutes before half-time when Cedric Evina, who had supported an attack down the left-hand side, produced a peach of a cross.

Hemmings timed his run to perfection to guide it in from close range although he required some help from the woodwork to make sure.

At that point, there appeared to be one winner underlined by a section of the Swindon support who had clearly grown frustrated by their form of one victory in seven coming into this game.

But on the hour, Brown shoved an extra striker up top and following Steven Alzate’s introduction, they began to offer more of a threat.

It proved an inspired change as Alzate scored the equaliser having been allowed to tease his way to the edge of the box before unleashing a low shot which carried accuracy rather than speed.

Notts County fall behind to a Jamie Turley own goal.

Hemmings wasted a chance to restore the lead as Swindon eventually went on to grab the winner with 10 minutes remaining.

Kewell had warned of Taylor’s dangerous crossing ability in the build-up and he showed why with a terrific low centre that clipped off Jamie Turley and flew past Ross Fitzsimons.

Notts tried to salvage an equaliser, but for all of their huffing and puffing, they could not find one in a defeat that leaves them third bottom in the League Two table.