1. Freestone
2. Jones S
3. Howard
4. O'Leary
5. Smith
6. Romo #
7. Watkin
8. Savarese @
9. Price
10. Cusack
11. Lacey

    ---

12. Jones J
13. Cusack @50
14. Bound
15. Boyd
16. Casey #57

 Walsall

1. Walker
2. Brightwell
3. Tillson
4. Hall
5. Bennett
6. Matias
7. Keates
8. Roper
9. Angell
10. Leitao
11. Aranalde

    ---

12. Wrack
13. Byfield
14. Bukran
15. Barras
16. Marsh

A bright opening 20 minutes for the Swans failed to disguise what was ultimately a thumping defeat at the hands of a strong Walsall side at Bescott today. And despite good support throughout from a contingent of 4 - 500 Jacks, the team could do little to stem the tide of attacks, and the landslide of goals, from a home team which was ultimately stronger, quicker and more talented than us.

The Swans lined up with Watkin and Savarese up front, a midfield of Jenkins, Lacey, Romo and Price, and a back four of Howard, O'Leary, Smith and Jones, with Roger in goal of course. Bound remained bench-bound, as did captain Cusack, which left Jason Smith playing the role of young lion as captain of a youthful looking Swans team. Stu Roberts didn't travel - apparently feeling ill. Boyd warmed the bench, but never got the chance to warm himself on the field.

In the opening exchanges the brightness of our youth seemed to be winning through - Jenkins and Lacey harrassed their midfield, Price, Watkin and Savarese battled hard in advanced postions and even Romo, ever adjusting to the British game, seemed to be stamping his authority in the centre of the park, as the Swans won the early battles on a sandy, bumpy and burnt (!) pitch. We enjoyed the bulk of the possession in this spell and saw little of Walsall in attack, as they seemed to continue in their recent lethargy. Unfortunately, it was the usual story of failure to convert chances into goals. The best opportunity fell to Gio, who was performing a stalwart target man role and causing the home defence all sorts of headaches. A through ball from O'Leary set him through on goal in the 12 minute, and his fierce shot was turned away brilliantly by Walker. Walsall responded with a decent curling effort from Leitao, but the Swans were soon back ont he attack with a swirling Romo free-kick, which deceived Walker in its flight - the keeper dropped the ball atthe feet of Savarese who appeared to squeeze the ball home, only for the effort to be disallowed.

We followed this with the best move of the half - a surging run from Price taking him the length of the field and into the area, from where he laid the ball to Jenkins, who hit his effort well wide. This moment spurred the home side into a response, and it was only a brilliant save from Freestone to deny Paul Hall at point blank range which kept the scores level on 29 minutes. But this gave them some encouragement, and just a couple of minutes later, a seemingly harmless Walsall cross became caught up in the sandy surface at the edge of our box, and Angell stole in to scuff a shot past Freestone. A streaky goal, the type which teams concede when things are just not going right. But it nearly got worse a minute later when Freestone had to rush out smartly to save at Leitao's feet, and shortly afterwards a last ditch tackle from O'Leary denied the same player. We responded through Steve Watkin who burst through the home defence only to curl his right foot shot over the bar just before half time. And over the half time coffees we found ourselves reflecting on a half which we had edged on points, but perhaps dreading the possibility of a second half drubbing.

It was another twist of fate that took the game away from us on the 50th minute, the Swans having again started the brighter. A through ball set Hall towards goal, only for Roger to react quickly and clear the ball from him outside the area; unfortunately, his clearance fell straight to Leitao, who squared the ball for Angell to score from close range. To our credit, our heads did not drop, and we kept on battling, despite having by now lost Savarese to injury, Cusack taking his place up front. But the home side was rampant by now, winning every midfield tackle, passing the ball crisply and exploiting us with their pace down the flanks. Roger made another panicky save at the far post, Hall hit a fierce drive over the bar, and some excellent play from Dean Keates set up Angell who scuffed his shot from close range. Our only effort during this period was a long range header from Smith which curled wide, with Walker un-worried. So it was no surprise when the home side extended their lead, a terrific cross from Mattias on the left glanced home brilliantly by Leitao at the near post.

This prompted our best spell of the game, with Cusack in particular causing the home defence some problems in the air. Indeed it was a push on Cusack by Walsall's Roper which was rightly punished with a penalty, well finished by Watkin. We continued to push forward and could easily have forced another goal in this spell, with our best effort being a low drive from Casey. But we were again caught out on the break when Matias again deceived the Swans defence with a neat turn and cross which found the head of the unmarked Hall at the far post, who nodded into an empty net on the hour mark. As the Swans heads finally dropped there followed more stern home pressure, which finally told when a simple through ball to Hall set him on a one on one with Freestone, which the striker won with ease to add a slightly flattering air to the scoreline. In injury time we nearly pulled one back when Price latched on to a Jenkins throw and struck a low shot which was well saved by Walker, but by then the game and the points were long gone. Credit to the bulk of the Swans fans who were still out-singing the home side even at the final whistle, with an excellent and defiant rendition of "Swansea til I die" and "we'll support you ever more" (much better than the anti-Cardiff nonsense).

Player ratings:
Freestone - 6 Never looked comfortable against the dangerous Walsall attack
Howard - 6 Battled gamely, but struggled to cope with the pace of Hall and Leitao
Smith - 7 Led the line OK as captain and looked a class above his colleagues in defence
O'Leary - 5 Shows great spirit and made one great tackle, but really not quite up to it at this level
Jones - 6 Walsall were terific down their left side, and there was little that Steve could do to stem the tide
Jenkins - 6 Started brightly but faded after the first 20 minutes
Romo - 7 very infuential in the first half; seemed to have taken a knock before he was substituted
Lacey - 6 Started well but faded
Price - 6 A good first half, not so great after the break
Watkin - 6 Battled gamely but never really threatened to score in open play
Savarese - 7 Gave them all sorts of problems before his injury
Cusack - 6 Played a decent target man role
Casey - 5 A couple of good runs, but not really up to this match

Walsall, it has to be said, looked a really good side today - they have some impressive players, such as Hall (who showed skill and pace on their right), Dean Keates (who bossed the midfield), Aranalde and Matias (excellent on the left), Byfield (another pacy and skillful striker) and Leitao (clinical and skillful finisher). We had no one like these players today! And unfortunately, no amount of dabbling in the loan market or 20K signings from the LOW is going to fix that. This game just showed that we are not good enough, as a team or as individuals, to compete with the best sides in the division; and as a club we don't have the resources to rectify that. We didn't play badly today - and we never gave up until the final whistle - we were just outclassed in the end. Our only ray of hope is that Walsall, like Wigan a fortnight ago, are better than most teams in the Division, and our fate will rest on some of the battles with the mid-table clubs rather than on games like this. Let's not give up hope yet, but its going to be a hard battle. Let's keep behind them - "If you're all going to Bristol........"

Today’s team was the usual defence with O’Leary still in for Bound. The midfield was Romo Price Lacey & Jenkins with Watkin & Savarese up front. The weather had eased with the pitch playable and very soft on top. An estimated 400 Swan fans. In the pre warm up the players looked focused and a change in the routines seemed to help. We even had a Spurs fan joining us in our shortest journey to a Swans match.

The first half was very much end to end with the Swans dominating without any real chances on goal apart from on 10minutes when we thought we had scored. It was at the far end but it looked like Savarese & Watkin trying to bundle the ball in with their goalie on the ground, but a foul given. This was a very good first half display by the team who looked up for it. Comments have been made in the past about the standard of officials and again we were not to be disappointed when again many strange decisions were given. Their goal was slightly farcical what with half challenges and the bounce of the ball on an uneven pitch, the ball going past Rog in the area which resembled a sandy beach. Half time came with the team putting in a large amount of effort to get back into the game. On around the half-hour mark Savarese had been caught in a tackle but no foul given, resulting in him needing lengthy treatment.

We started the second half in good spirits, but this was to change dramatically when not for the first time Rog had to race out of his area to intercept, after taking the ball around one attacker he was caught in possession resulting in an open goal. Cusack came on for Saverese who must have been suffering from the effects of his first half injury. Romo was also replaced by Casey. Walsall were still showing us respect with their goalkeeper Walker wasting time at every opportunity. Even so they were now gaining the upper hand and the inevitable happened, goal no 3. A cross from their left was met at the near post with their player getting there before 2 defenders and glancing a header into the far corner. We did get some hope when Cusack was bundled in the area And Watkin converting from the spot. This hope was short lived as Walsall now playing confident football dragged the defence all over the pitch and it was no surprise when number 4 came, when the defence were ball watching allowing Hall a clear shot on goal after a cross from their left found him in acres of space on the right in our area. By the time the fifth came many fans had left. The final minutes were played out with us doing most of the attacking but in fairness Walsall had won by a canter.

There were a few shouts towards the end aimed mainly at Cusack about pride. We saw it differently, the team had played the majority of the game, showing commitment. effort and courage. The fact unfortunately is that we are not good enough and need strengthening. We have come away from many games this season feeling much worse than we do tonight. 5-1 is a bad result, but at least effort was shown. In the end we were well beaten by a team who attacked at pace and spread the ball around. We could say that luck was not with us especially for the first 3 goals. The first down to the pitch. The second a mistake by Rog. The third was after a counter attack from one of our attacking moves which looked like it was broken up by a handball. In reality you make your own luck and as confidence is low 50-50 balls end up 40-60. In the last 2 reports, and others commenting at games we were not at, Price has been roasted for lack of effort, well today that cannot be said as he battled with the rest of them.

As at Wigan it was only Rog that really applauded the fans at the end. Fans who for the final 5 minutes were singing their love for their CLUB.

The question is where do we go from here. The team selections can be questioned, but whichever team we put out is eventually overrun as our midfield is far to lightweight. Why not restore Bound in defence allowing O’Leary to beef up the midfield. Time is running out quickly, but more importantly the loyalty of the fans is stretched to the limit.