Swindon Town 0 Bristol Rovers 4: Jo Kuffour helped to put Swindon Town to the sword – and then insisted Bristol Rovers can learn a lesson from the side they had just beaten convincingly for the second time this season.

The Robins have lost only two of their last 19 League One outings, both of them to the Pirates.

And while Rovers' fans may understandably be enjoying bragging rights after watching their side complete a double over the Wiltshire side, the nine-point gap that still exists between the clubs speaks volumes about their contrasting form over the middle third of the season.

"Swindon have shown over the last few months that if you can put a decent run together, you can soon move your way up the table. It's all about consistency," said Kuffour.

"We'll be hard-pressed to play as well as we did here in every game we've got left, but I think we can definitely win more than we lose.

"Hopefully this is the start of better results away from home and we can push on between now and the end of the season."

Rovers had gone more than five months without an away win and 11 hours and 28 minutes without finding the net on opposition soil.

But after withstanding some early pressure from the home side, they suddenly hit the Robins with three goals in a devastating 21-minute spell before the break to take a firm control of the outcome.

Things could have been very different, for the visitors were fortunate that Alan Sheehan's free-kick in the opening minutes struck the inside of a post and stayed out.

And their luck was in again when Mikkel Andersen failed to hold an angled shot from Danny Ward in the 13th minute – the only mistake the Danish keeper made during another impressive afternoon – and Steve Elliott conjured up a magnificent block to prevent Charlie Austin burying the loose ball.

Though the home side undoubtedly had the better of the opening 20 minutes, Rovers struck first when Paul Heffernan sent Kuffour scampering clear in the inside-left channel, and the pint-sized marksman conjured up a sublime finish to float the ball over keeper David Lucas and into the net.

Kuffour also played his part in their second goal, doing well to bring down Byron Anthony's cross and feed Heffernan, who swivelled before firing home from 10 yards.

Just before the break, Jonathan Douglas was penalised for handling and Chris Lines delivered a dream strike from the resulting free-kick 25 yards out, curling his shot over Swindon's defensive wall and into the top corner as Lucas was left clawing at air.

The home side, rather harshly, were booed off at the break by their own fans, but they had most of the early pressure in the second period.

Yet the game was put emphatically out of their reach on the hour when Lucas inexplicably hesitated as Kuffour fired a cross-shot across goal. Jeff Hughes needed no second invitation to ram home from close range.

It could have been five when Heffernan broke clear again, only to see his shot beaten out by Lucas. Then Lines tried his luck from another free-kick, but this time curled his effort over the top.

Andersen made a good save low to his left to keep out a fierce drive from Douglas, but Heffernan was still tormenting the home side at the other end with his intelligent movement and control. Yet the Irishman probably chose the wrong option when he tried to beat Lucas from a tight angle while Dominic Blizzard was waiting in the six-yard box for a pass. The keeper beat away Heffernan's attempt.

Daniel Jones wasn't far away from opening his Rovers account 11 minutes from time when his strike from a free-kick flew just past the far post, and Swindon's afternoon was encapsulated in the final 10 minutes.

Somewhat ironically, the Robins had more attempts both on and off target, and a corner count of 12-1 in their favour suggested they should have made more of their chances.

But Rovers were simply better in both boxes than their opponents as they delivered what was pretty much a textbook away performance.

Billy Paynter rattled the bar with a header from a corner and Elliott made another impressive block to prevent the Robins netting from the follow-up.

Then Andersen pulled off a breathtaking late save to fingertip Jon-Paul McGovern's 25-yard curler around a post.

Fittingly, however, the final opportunity of a chance-filled game fell to the visitors, and substitute Andy Williams was only a fraction away from adding his name to the scoresheet when he pulled his shot just wide of an upright. "Having not won away for so long, it was good to come here and do the damage that we did. We played really well," said Kuffour.

"We were very strong at the back and didn't give anything away, while up top we counter-attacked very well and took our chances when it mattered.

"We'd worked all week on hitting them on the counter-attack and our game plan paid off really well.

"We knew about their firepower with Paynter, Austin and Vincent Pericard and that we would have to defend well right throughout the team – but I thought the boys at the back were brilliant, especially towards the end."

On this showing, Rovers' own front two look to be developing a more than useful partnership and Kuffour was full of praise for the contribution of loan marksman Heffernan, who left the field to chants of "Sign him up" from the away fans.

"I think we definitely have to sign Heffs for longer because his experience means he's great to play with," said Kuffour.

"I've not long come back from injury but I think we are starting to link up well – and if he stays then hopefully we can continue it."