Jack Thomson was in the thick of the action, as he was elbowed by Jili Buyabu to reduce Rotherham to ten men after six minutes, before firing home from distance in first-half stoppage time.

Dominic Iorfa was sent off for a last-man challenge, and Joseph Hungbo sent the resulting free kick into the top corner to finish the job, even if Denzel Hall grabbed a late consolation.

Town’s splendid spooky season record continued, as they won their sixth game in seven on Halloween.

Ian Holloway made two changes to his starting line-up, as Stephan Negru came back in after illness, and Billy Kirkman took the place of the injured Sam Inwood. After a week back in training, Ollie Palmer was fit enough for the bench, in the place of Antwoine Hackford.

Before the game was able to take any sort of shape, the storyline was decided. Jack Thomson was chasing for a loose ball with Buyabu, and the Rotherham winger elbowed him in the head. The referee had no hesitation and dismissed him after just six minutes.

Handed the initiative, Swindon went about trying to capitalise. Negru headed over from a corner, and a smart run from Matty Virtue saw a Millers defender just get to the ball as Aaron Drinan was preparing to head home.

It was attack against defence, and Town were picking their passes. A combination down the right saw Tom Nichols flick Virtue into space in the box. Possibly with his miss a week ago flashing before his eyes, he opted to place it into the corner, only to let Julian Eyestone get down to save.

But as the first half reached its midway point, Swindon had been sucked into the trap of slowing the play down too much. Kirkman’s drive just beyond the post was a warning shot, but it was an effort from outside the box that Rotherham would be pleased to give them.

The trio of Mitch Clark, Nichols, and Virtue had created space down the right with quick passing and interchanges of positions, but it was not coming their way often enough.

With Dominic Iorfa keeping Drinan shackled, the inspiration needed to come from elsewhere, which has been a problem this season. This saw a lot of play with Dan Butler and Clark, which produced a few half chances, but no serious threat on goal.

The game was playing out almost entirely in the Rotherham defensive third, and so, with defence not really a priority, Holloway made a decisive move shortly before the break. James Ball was sacrificed for the dynamic Hungbo.

It quickly produced a chance, as a Clark long throw was headed out to the edge of the box. Joe Snowdon let it drop and drilled an effort hard and low, but Eyestone got down really well to save.

Right on the stroke of half time, the breakthrough arrived. Butler rolled the ball into Thomson with acres of space 30 yards from goal. He took aim and his trike took a deflection to send Eyestone the wrong way as the ball flew into the net.

The goal arrived at the perfect time for Swindon, as things could have started to become frustrating against a resilient Rotherham.

The second half began with The Millers knowing that they needed to push on, and they held more of the ball, but the created some room for Town.

Hungbo skipped away from his marker and sent in a cross that bounced off the goalkeeper and just away from Drinan. Moments later, it was Butler’s turn to deliver a mean cross that Drinan could not quite get clean contact on.

The crosses and near misses kept coming as Hungbo started a break and Clark was able to drill a ball into space. The goalkeeper dived out and got a glove to it, taking the ball away from substitute Ollie Palmer.

Swindon were a little bit more cautious after the break. Having taken the lead, they were less keen on going all out for a second, and that left the game just about in the balance leading into the final 15 minutes.

But any unease was quickly taken away after 77 minutes, as Drinan though he had scored, only for him to be offside, meaning that a last-man tackle from Iorfa on Virtue was given as a foul, and he was sent off. For good measure, manager Alex Bruce saw red for his protestations.

To compile the Yorkshire misery even further, Hungbo whipped the free kick fabulously into the top corner to make it two.

There was one final fright, as Connor Ripley, a virtual spectator, dropped a routine catch for Hall to score, but it was not enough to prevent the unbeaten run extending to four.

STFC starting XI: Ripley, Clark, Negru, Ball, Nichols, Snowdon, Drinan, Virtue, Thomson, Butler, Kirkman.

STFC substitutes: Ward, Hungbo, Debayo, Majekodunmi, Palmer, McGregor, Millard.

RUFC starting XI: Eyestone, Rafferty, Austerfield, Ngwenya, Mullin, Hall, Fitzgerald, Nemane, Buyabu, Iorfa, Cover.

RUFC substitutes: Cann, Aljofree, Agbaire, Williams, Lolos, Bradshaw, Sebine.

Attendance: 7,515 (406 away).