Lee Bell was glad for the contribution of a couple of his late subs as Crewe roared back for a comeback win with two late goals.

Conor Thomas tapped in (82) after Swindon keeper Sol Brynn could only push out Lachlan Brook's blockbusting drive and then soon after Callum Ainley's delivery was superbly flicked on into the far corner by Joel Tabiner (86)amid a dramatic finish at the Mornflake Stadium.

There was an end-of-season feel to much of what went befofe it and the Alex struggled at first to respond to falling behind to Rushian Hepburn-Murphy's deflected effort just before the interval (44).

But Brook put in a lively cameo after being drafed on in the 80th-minute and as well as setting up Thomas for his first goal for the club, he planted a cross onto Dan Agyei's head and it was only a goalline clearance which prevented the Alex grabbing a third against a shellshocked Swindon side.

Ainley also made his mark after arriving into the fray amid four changes in 10 minutes which helped seal the Alex's fifth win in their last six games at home.

They have shown a resolve in front of the faithful in that six-game unbeaten home run, which offers a foundation for improvement next term. Their away form in constrast is dismal and while victory over the Robins moves Bell's men up to 16th, 2022/23 will still have to go down as almost as mediocre a campaign as the 2009/10 one which also followed a relegation to the fourth tier, back in the reign of Icelandic manager Gudjon Thordason.

Bell said: "It was a really good comeback to win the game like that. I always thought there was going to be an opportunity for us to get something. The subs came on and made a real impact.

"Lachlan was really bright when he came on, but it's a team game and we needed to apply ourselves to get something from the game.

"Swindon didn't cut us open and we coped well with their main threats from the full-backs really well. I was delighted that we were able to turn it around from being 1-0 down to win 2-1."

Jake Caine caught out teenage home debutant Tom Booth with an early freekick which flew onto bar and the young keeper was glad to see Jacob Wakeling drive the rebound back against the woodwork.

But Booth did well overall in only his second senior start and kept out a rasping drive from Tyrese Shade in the second half.

Bell's changes certainly paid dividends with Elliott Nevitt and Zac Williams - making his comeback from injury after four months - also coming on.

Swindon boss Jody Morris was left bemoaning his side's lack of experience and physicality to stand up to Crewe's late onslaught. Like the Alex, the Robins are in transition. This time three years ago both clubs were heading up together to League One in the Covid-cut 2019/20 season.

But even a year is a long time in lower-league football these days and change is ever constant - for example there were no survivors in today's Robins' squad from the one which cantered to a 3-0 FA Cup win at Gresty Road in November 2021.

Rod McDonald won Crewe's player-of-the-season award (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

The summer will usher in much change too at the Alex with nearly half of the 18 on duty in this win falling out of contract.

Morris said: "We didn't get going in the second half and you have to give Crewe credit too, they changed their formation a couple of times. But we should have dealt with it better and it was a disappointing performance.

"We've got a young group, the average age of the side today was 22 and when we need that personality and character at the moment we're not showing it in the latter stages of games.

"Until we get more experienced players in we're going to struggle when teams are coming for us. It keeps happening to us, and it's the type of stuff you see when under-23 sides play in the Football League Trophy. We haven't got enough experience in vital areas."

Defender Rob McDonald was crowned the club's player-of-the-season in the awards evening which followed the players' lap of the pitch to thank the fans at the final whistle.

One of those players out of contract, Dan Agyei, took the players' player-of-the-season award; Connor O'Riordan won the breakthrough player-of-the-season; Courtney Baker-Richardson, the goal of the season (for his opening strike in a 2-2 home draw with Northampton last August); and Marcus Holicek the scholar-of-the-season.