1. Freestone
2. Price
3. Howard
4. O'Leary
5. Smith
6. Romo
7. Jenkins
8. Lacey
9. Keegan @
10. Savarese #
11. Roberts

    ---

12. Mounty
13. Watkin @
14. Bound
15. Cusack #
16. Boyd

 Bristol City

1. Phillips
2. Carey
3. Bell
4. Millen
5. Hill
6. Murray
7. Tinnion
8. A Brown
9. Clist
10. Thorpe
11. Peacock

    ---

12. Beadle
13. Amankwaah
14. M Brown
15. Burnell
16. Malessa

One thousand Swansea fans made the short trip across the Severn in glorious winter sunshine to take on high-flying Bristol City.

John Hollins stuck with the same starting XI that saw off Reading in midweek and the bench looked like the nominations for Swansea's recent player of the year award; Nick Cusack, Matthew Bound, Walter Boyd and Steve Watkin.

Swans lined up in a 3-5-2 formation as follows:-

Freestone
Smith, O'Leary, Howard
Price, Keegan, Lacey, Romo, Jenkins
Roberts, Savarase

The game was played on a perfect surface and both teams looked intent on attack. Bristol were dangerous especially when they attacked down their left flank. Their movement up front was very slick and caused problems for the defence, but wayward shooting ensured the score remained at 0-0.

Swansea took first blood when the exciting Roberts collected the ball after a defensive error. He advanced on the keeper and made it look all so simple with a shot into the right corner.

The travelling Jacks went wild and were soon baiting the wurzels who had gone very quiet.

With a spring in their step, Swansea continued to push forward. It was with one of these moves that Swansea were hit on the counter. As the attacking move broke down, the ball was played into an empty Swansea half where Howard found himself the only man likely to catch the advancing forward. Unfortunately, he could only check his progress by pulling at his elbow as he neared the edge of the area.

The obvious sending off ensued and with just 20 minutes gone, Swansea knew they were up against it. To rub salt into the wound, it was the resulting free kick that led to the equaliser.

The initial shot was beaten out but remained in the danger area. Two or three further shots were blocked and deflected but the final ricochet fell to an unmarked forward on the far post, who despite having time made a hash of finishing and it needed the further intervention of a goal line scramble to squeeze the ball home.

The remainder of the half saw the Swansea goal come under extreme pressure. Firstly the post came to our rescue. Then it was another wonder save from Roger diving low to his right to push round the post what looked a certain goal, and then the miss of the match when from 2 yards out a perfect cross was scooped into the roof of the stand by the Bristol forward.

Second half was a different story. Ten man Swansea were more than a match for Bristol and for periods took the game to them. In fact, after just 5 minutes Bristol should have been reduced to 10 men and Swansea awarded a penalty when Roberts, again through in the area, was fallen on from behind by their centre half. The referee, Mr Halsley, who had a good game, waved play on probably thinking that Roberts had enough time to shoot before he was jumped – either way, he bottled it.

Bristol had the territorial advantage but never threatened as they had in the first half and their reward was a number of corners.

Next bit of excitement was a foul on Roberts just outside the area which led to a free kick in a promising position. Romo shaped up to float it towards Smith but instead deceptively shot with his right instep (what else?) and with keeper Phillips beaten, was dismayed to see the post come to Bristol's rescue.

Bristol returned the compliment at the other end when they rattled the upright with a powerful drive, but apart from conceding corners, both Freestone and his defence appeared to cope quite well with the Bristol domination.

Bristol mad a few tactical changes up front for the last minutes and Swansea were forced to defend deep.

With a minute left on the clock a superb left wing cross (reminiscent of Stuart's on Tuesday) found Beadle on the far post to break Swansea's hearts with a firm header into the net.

Hollins threw on Cusack and Watkin for the last 60 seconds in place of Keegan and Savarese, but with Swansea pushing for the equaliser, a breakaway from the halfway line saw Thorpe in a suspiciously offside position, tap the ball into an empty net.

The players were clearly gutted at the final whistle, but the fans that had come solely for the football, stood and clapped the excellent effort they had witnessed. The other 200 or so had made their way aggressively towards the Bristol faction as soon as their 2nd goal went in.

Positives:
A well taken goal made to look far simpler than it was.
Stuart's partnership with Gio up front is a big plus and we are now making more chances than we have all season due to his pace and willingness to take people on where it hurts.
Team spirit has noticeably improved and the team is now displaying a fighting attitude that has been missing for some time.
Roger's form (kicking apart) must have put him in line for a Wales call up.

Negatives:
It can't possibly make sense to have Bound, Cusack and Watkin on the bench while relatively inexperienced players occupy their positions. This tactic would be defensible if we were winning games, but the fact that we are not, makes JH look a little stubborn/silly/naοve.
We rarely kept possession for more than a few seconds at a time. This obviously led to increased pressure on us.

Player ratings:
Freestone - 9 – outstanding display again.
Howard - 5 – deservedly sent off, but needs to question whether it was necessary to stop the player at 0-0
Smith - 8 – battling performance in which he came out on top most of the time
O'Leary – 7 – didn't let us down and got in some good sliding blocks/tackles
Price – 6 – not a defender (no surprise there) never stopped trying despite irrational disapproval of some fans
Romo – 7 – some good through balls and even put himself about a bit today
Jenkins – 7 – ran as usual but didn't catch my eye much
Lacey – 6 – poor passing at times – but stamina much improved
Keegan – 7 – not a bad game today
Roberts – 8 – lively and threatening whenever he was fed the ball
Savarese – 8 – good 100% performance again. No real chances to score.

To the neutral a thriller, to the Bristol City fan no more than the late pressure deserved, but to the vocal Jack contingent the bitter disappointment of seeing a deserved point cruelly snatched away at the death. And as for the team - well hopefully they can at least draw some heart and some confidence from a battling performance which could easily have brought some reward.

The Swans starting line-up was notable more for its absentees than for the players on the pitch. Bound, Cusack, Watkin and Boyd all warmed the bench whilst the youngsters once again held sway on the field. Roberts, whose form over the season has earned him 7 MOM awards on this site, deservedly started the game up front partnering Savarese. O'Leary, whose form has earned him no MOM awards in anybody's book (apart from JH's maybe) still ousts Bound from the heart of defence, with Howard, Smith and Price making up the back four. The midfield saw Jenkins wide left, a testimony to our lack of left footers in the squad, Keegan wide right, and Lacey and Romo in the middle.

The home team started with a vengeance, passing the ball well in midfield and always looking for their sprightly front runners Thorpe and Murray, who darted right and left seeking to get in behind the Swans defence at every opportunity. But it was the Swans, looking to play constructively on the break, who grabbed the first opporunity of the game on 11 minutes. Roberts seized on a stray back pass and nipped between two defenders before striking the ball low past Mercer for a well taken goal. This instilled the Swans with some much needed confidence and a minute later Roberts had another strike on goal, this time shooting over. But the home side always looked dangerous and on 17 minutes the lively Murry was put through on goal, only for Howard to blatantly tug him back and earn himself a deserved red card. Ironically, if he had let him go, Roger may well have saved it. The ensuing free kick was well defended initially, but when the ball was swung back to Murray in a wide right position, he brilliantly controlled it and sent over a low cross into the six yard box which, after several ricochets, was eventually bundled home by full back Bell.

This spelt trouble, but the expected capitulation from 10 man swans never came - indeed we picked up our game well, with Lacey striking a 20 yard whot which brought an excellent save from Mercer, after good work from Keegan. A minute later we hit the bar from a corner and in an ensuing melee we again came close. But again we were almost punished for some static defending when a cross from our left found its way to Tony Thorpe, who hit a low shot which Roger saved brilliantly.

Then another cross from the dangerous Aaron Brown was met by the diving Peacock, whose header shaved our post, and shortly afterwards another Brown cross was turned over the bar by Thorpe, when it seemed easier to score. Despite the pressure we continued to probe forward whenever possible, and Savarese had a decent attempt on goal late in the half. He also had a shout for a penalty late in injury time, but his claims were waved away by Mr Halsey.

It was always going to be a tought second half but it was the Swans who opened the brighter, and indeed should have regained the lead on 47 minutes when they produced the move of the game. Savarese laid the ball back to Romo who hit a defence-splitting through ball which sent Roberts through only goal. Stu delayed his shot, but then was clearly bundled over from behind when he was about the pull the trigger. Surely a penalty and another sending off? No chance - Mr Halsey waved our claims away again, this time with very little justification.

The next 20 miuntes saw the Swans play the more constructive football and continue to fashion the better chances, the best of these falling in the 59th minute to Saverese whose fierce shot was well saved. Five minutes later, Roberts was brought down outside the area, and Romo's curling 25 yard free-kick agonisingly struck the post with the keeper beaten.

This incident, plus the tiring legs of the 10 men, finally seemed to spur the home side into the all out assault on goal that their disquieted home crowd had been demanding. The last 20 minutes was the alomo, with Swans defenders repeatedly hacking the ball from the area and heading behind for a string of corners. Throughout the game we had struggled to cope with Bristol's pacy play on the flanks, and we had repeatedly conceded far too many dangerous crosses. As we began to tire, these attacks became more and more dangerous. Murray headed just wide, Marvin Brown came close with a low shot, Thorpe hit the post with Freestone beaten and Peacock headed straight at Freestone with the goal at his mercy. But just when it seemed we had managed to hold out for a precious point, yet another cross from the excellent Aaron Brown picked out substitute Beadle at the far post, and his header gave Roger no chance. This was ill reward indeed for the heroic efforts of the second half, but at the same time, it was a goal that had been threated for some twenty minutes. A last desperate effort to pinch a point saw Cusack and Watkin come on, but as we pumped the ball forward to try to find them in a last minute attack, we got caught on the break and conceded an unfortunate third. There was a tremendous response for the team at the final whistle from the Jack supporters, who recognised the efforts that the team had put in to the 90 minutes.

Players ratings:
Freestone - 8 Some good saves, strong under the high ball, and no chance with the goals.
Price - 6 A great block late on, but struggled to defend the flanks from his full back position.
Howard - 4 Should have let Roger try to save the situation rather than sacrificing himself.
Jenkins - 6 Did OK when he went to full back to cover for Price, but his distribution was very poor, often just punting it in the air.
Smith - 7 A towering effort in the back four; headed everything, but he needs his partner with him.
O'Leary - 5 Struggled both with the mobility of the Bristol attack and with its aerial power.
Keegan - 7 A decent effort in the first half, but faded in the second. Battled well and needs to develop his defensive work.
Lacey - 6 Well in the game for much of the time, but lacked the telling pass.
Romo - 8 Our most influential player on the day: some lovely touches, some great through balls, and, importantly, some good tracking back. Unlucky not to score.
Roberts - 7 Battled hard for everything and tooks his goal well.
Savarese - 6 Will always make himself one or two chances, but today just failed to take them.
Watkin and Cusack - not on long enough to make an impression.