Paolo Di Canio's Swindon took advantage of slip-ups by rivals Cheltenham and Southend to clamber to the League Two summit with a 2-1 win over Shrewsbury on Tuesday night.
After Matthew Richards put the Shrews in front, Alan Connell's second-half double proved enough for Di Canio's men as Cheltenham were surprisingly held to a goalless draw at home by AFC Wimbledon, and previous leaders Southend fell to a 2-0 defeat at Aldershot.
Adam Mekki opened the scoring for the Shots on 26 minutes and Josh Payne sealed the victory with a second-half penalty in a game that had been abandoned at the first time of asking due to floodlight failure.
Elsewhere, Oxford boosted their play-off hopes as they came from behind to beat Barnet 2-1 with James Constable striking a 56th-minute winner after team-mate Scott Rendell had cancelled out Michael Hector's 16th-minute opener.
Northampton took a big step towards safety with a 3-2 win over Macclesfield.
George Donnelly gave the visiting Silkmen the lead on 17 minutes but goals from Michael Jacobs, Luke Guttridge and Adebayo Akinfenwa meant Ben Tomlinson's late strike was merely consolation.
Crewe eased past Accrington Stanley 2-0 at Gresty Road with goals from Max Clayton and Luke Murphy in the last nine minutes while Gillingham's clash with Rotherham ended goalless.