Maurice Malpas afforded himself a rare smile as Swindon trounced Tranmere 3-1 to set an early-season marker in their quest for promotion.The normally dour Scot lavished praise on his team after first-half goals from strikers Billy Paynter and Simon Cox and a third from midfielder Jon-Paul McGovern comfortably saw off Tranmere.

The away side did grab a late consolation through Bas Savage but it was Swindon's afternoon as they dominated from start to finish.

"I'm delighted, I thought it was an excellent performance and usually the first game of the season is a bit nervous but we were excellent throughout," said Malpas.

"We passed the ball well, we defended well and to be honest we maybe could have taken one or two chances a little better. The first game you are never sure of how the players are going to react but everything went right during the game which is pleasing."

Malpas added: "I don't think Billy (Paynter) sometimes gets the recognition he deserves because he works his socks off."

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