Ian Holloway emphasised his pride in his resurgent Swindon side, despite Will Wright’s own goal against Bromley ending their slim play-off hopes.
Danny Imray nutmegged Tom Nichols on the byline and fired a low ball into the box which bounced off the hapless defender’s shin in the 88th minute, condemning the Robins to a 1-0 loss.
Kabongo Tshimanga had earlier missed a first-half penalty for the hosts.
Holloway criticised his team for letting their shoulders drop after the late setback and was also unhappy with the referee for only playing four minutes of added time at the end, with Bromley boss Andy Woodman admitting to time-wasting.
But the Swindon boss, who took over in October, said he was incredibly proud of his team’s efforts in mounting a late play-off push after an awful start to the season.
He said: “When your season’s over, it hurts. But I don’t want to sound down. I’m not. I am completely honoured and it’s a thrill to be here.
“This group have grown in unrecognisable ways and I can’t thank them enough.
“I can’t wait to try and get this right, keep this group, add to it and see where I can go.”
Holloway said he will not accept any slacking in their final two games.
He added: “They won’t be on a beach. They probably couldn’t afford to go to the beach, unless it’s Weston-super-Mare. And there’s no beach there. It’s just mud when the tide’s out.”
Swindon had the chance to take the lead when Adam Mayor fouled Paul Glatzel just before the break, but Tshimanga’s weak spot-kick was easily smothered by Grant Smith.
Omar Sowunmi’s header hit the bar for Bromley, while Smith tipped over a bouncing Nichols effort.
Harry Smith’s diving header at the back post was also clawed away by Smith before Swindon substitute Joe Westley hit a post, but Wright’s own goal settled the contest.
Bromley boss Woodman was delighted to get a win against a side who had scored 13 goals in their previous three games.
He said “Ian Holloway has got this place bouncing and they’re bashing teams four and five.
“So you know you’ve got to be set up right and you’ve got to be absolutely on it in every department.
“We had to weather moments in the game, and sometimes long moments, and we did that really well.”
He added: “You know what you’ve got to do in places like this. There’s a bit of time wasting, this and that – you’ve got to use every trick in a trade.
“When you come to these places, you can’t come here and play an honest, open game.
“You’re just going to get picked off. The way we went about it was perfect.”
