1. Freestone
2. Price
3. De Vulgt
4. Bound
5. Smith
6. Romo
7. Jenkins @
8. Savarese
9. Watkin #
10. Cusack
11. Roberts *

    ---

12. Jones J
13. Boyd #79
14. Thomas @72
15. Appleby *85
16. O'Leary

 Oldham

1. Kelly
2. McNiven
3. Duxbury
4. Rickers
5. Innes
6. Allott
7. Corazzin
8. Adams
9. Eyres
10. P Jones
11. Carss

    ---

12. CMiskelly
13. Holt
14. Boshell
15. Dudley
16. Tipton

Certainly a game of two halves at Boundary Park today. At the end of the first half we saw a dispirited and mishapen Swans side troop off knowing they were lucky to be on level terms, only for them to return 15 minutes later, to produce a performance of passion and commitment, which rescued them a deserved point. Why they didn't play that way from the start, only they can answer.

The Swans midfield had once again been shuffled, seemingly to try to accomodate Romo, with Jenkins and Cusack in the middle, Romo on the right and Roberts on the left. Despite a bright Swans start, with Watkin nearly giving us an early lead with a terrific header well saved by Kelly, the formation quickly fell apart. The centre midfield was overrun, our flanks increasingly exposed, and several players found themselves confused about their roles. At one point Roberts and Price inexplicably changed positions (until ordered back by Hollins) and shortly after, Roberts switched to the right and Jenkins went wide left. This game of musical chairs spelt the start of the increasing Oldham pressure which we endured for the rest of the half.

We thought we had gone behind on the tenth minute, when Price was caught out of position (a recurring theme for the afternoon) and a low cross was turned home, only to be flagged offside. Shortly after, Oldham's David Eyres hit a powerful free kick just wide of Freestone's near post, and after half an hour Mark Allott seemed poised to score but was foiled by a terrific saving tackle from Smith. A few minutes later we thought the pressure had finally told when Neil Adams struck a superb right foot shot which crashed back from the cross-bar with Roger beaten. It was with much relief that we trooped towards our half time coffee, wondering how we could get back in the game, though it seemed that the introduction of Martin Thomas to stiffen the midfield would have to happen.

Much to our surprise it was a transformed, although unchanged, Swans side that emerged after the break. We nearly took the lead when Romo touched a free kick to Bound who hit a vicious shot just wide. Shortly after, the rejuvinated Roberts showed some superb skill on the wing and his swirling cross was met by Savarese who nearly played Watkin in. Suddenly we were the better side playing the more fluent football, but we nearly blew it when Roger dropped the ball from a corner, resulting in a scramble which we eventually emerged from. We responded with our best move of the game involving Cusack, Roberts and Savarese which almost set up Watkin. The home side replied with some powerful long range strikes which Freestone handled comfortably but then Roger produced his save of the match with a diving stop from impressive substitute Craig Dudley.

We struggled to handle Dudley, and this resulted in a booking for Cusack who brought him down in a dangerous position. From yet another corner, some lax marking allowed Paul Jones to head home. This even brought some noise from the perrenially subdued Oldham fans, surely the quietest (and wetest!) in the division! Just as we thought another game had got away, the team produced an excellent late rally inspired by substitute Martin Thomas. His brilliant run and cross found Watkin, who unfortunately headed against the post from close range. But we weren't long denied - from our first corner of the game a powerful header from Cusack was parried by Kelly, but Giovanni was there to tuck away the rebound from no more than a yard. At the end it was the Swans chasing the win in a game which could have easily seen them buried at half time.

Freestone - 7 Handling poor in bad conditions, but some good saves.
Price - 5 TOO often out of position at full back and ineffective up front also talked himself into the book early on
DeVulgt - 6 Often exposed, but needs to build up his experience
Smith - 8 Good in the air and covered well for Price
Bound - 8 Good in the air and covered well for Smith who was covering for Price!
Roberts - 8 A quiet first half but inspirational in the second
Jenkins - 6 Some neat touches here and there
Cusack - 7 Battled well, but not enough influence
Romo - 5 Seemed to do a good impression of Hartfield today!
Watkin - 8 Held the ball up well and unlucky not to score
Savarese - 7 Improved on previous away performances and got the goal when it mattered

Subs -
Thomas (for Jenkins) - 8 On this form should certainly be picked ahead of Romo
Boyd (Watkin) Not on long enough to make an impression...he ran for the showers for warmth at the end!