1. Freestone
2. Jones S #
3. Howard
4. Bound
5. Smith
6. Romo @
7. Watkin *
8. Savarese
9. Price
10. Cusack
11. Casey

    ---

12. Jones J
13. Jenkins *63
14. Roberts #30
15. O'Leary @88
16. Lacey

 Wigan

1. Stillie
2. De Zeeuw
3. Balmer
4. Bradshaw
5. Green
6. Sheridan
7. Martinez
8. Kilford
9. Liddell
10. Haworth
11. Ashcroft

    ---

12. Padula
13. Marriott
14. Griffiths
15. N Roberts
16. Nicholls

For the second succesive away game, a stirring second half recovery from the Swans could not prevent them sliding to another disappointing defeat. And to be fair, it was no more than the home side deserved over the 90 minutes.

It was a familiar Swans line-up; Watkin & Savarese up front, Casey, Romo, Cusack and Price making up the midfield, and Howard, Smith, Bound and Jones at the back. (Roger between the sticks of course!)

The opening exchanges made us look like a team who has suffered an enforced lay-off. In fact we didn't seem to wake up until the quarter hour mark had passed. The home side started in dominant fashion and could have been 2 up in the first 10 minutes, Haworth hitting the bar from close range after Cusack had lost possession, and the same player deflecting the ball just wide after a misplaced clearance from Smith (reminiscent of Walsall at home!) Indeed the ex-Cardiff man, suffering pointless and boring abuse from the Swans fans, will be disappointed not to have bagged a first-half hat-trick. He had another snap shot saved, and was foiled by a good save from Roger after a neat one-two with Lee Ashcroft.

During this opening period we could have conceded a hatful - our midfield was anonymous, and our defence was hesitant, slow to react and lacked any kind of support from our midfield four, who seemed incapable of getting back in numbers. The Wigan attacks continued, and on the 20th minute Roger was called upon to make another good save resulting from a goal mouth scramble which itself came from a routine cross (after we had AGAIN needlessly conceded possession). A couple of minutes later Wigan had the ball in the net, only for it to be disallowed for off-side - but this attack was notable for the fact that the Wigan strikers out-numbered the retreating Swans defence in our own penalty area. Our only response during this spell had been one sharp effort from Watkin after a good cross by Casey, and a Mike Howard free-kick which was saved. Interesting to note that while Mike was lining this up (being a rare bit of pressure from Swansea) some of the Swans fans were still intent on mindless anti-Cardiff chants and not the task in hand!

On the 28th minute the inevitable occurred and the home side took the lead - a simple throw in set Andy Liddell free and his vicious low shot found the far corner of Freestones net. Curiously this prompted our best spell of the half. Cusack and Price began to impose themselves a little and Roberts (on for injured Jones) began to stretch the home defence with his pace. We forged a couple of long range efforts on goal, from Romo & Cusack, but our best effort was a superb far post header from Stuart, following a Casey cross, which the keeper did well to save. We found ourselves wondering why the team waits to go a goal down before starting to play!

The Swans looked much brighter in the second half, with our midfield pushing forward far more, and Romo forcing his way into the action. After 2 minutes Savarese hit an effort over the bar, and shortly after this we produced our best move of the game - an excellent through ball from Romo to Roberts allowed Stuart to cross to Watkin, who unfortunately fired over. The home side responded with a couple of efforts from Haworth, the best of these bringing a splendid save from Roger. But the Swans continued to press, Romo looking particularly sharp and delivering several good crosses from the right, none of which were converted. A great Swans move on 25 minutes saw Casey break on the left and deliver a wicked cross which unfortunately fell between Savarese and Roberts.

A change of formation for the Swans, saw Jenkins replace Watkin, and take up a wide right position, with Roberts moving to the attack. This had been a great spell for the Swans and had we converted one chance we may well have gone on to steal the points. But it was a sucker punch which killed the game for us, a long ball finding the dangerous Andy Liddell in space, who ghosted past Smith before hitting a low shot to Rogers left. We didn't give it up and should have pulled one back when Roberts worked himself into an excellent byline position, but chose to cross to the far post when a pull back to Price could have been the better option. A minute later Stuart again broke through but hit his low shot straight at the keeper. And another good cross from Casey just evaded Savarese. A good one-two between Romo and Cusack almost set the captain in, but he also shot straight at the keeper. After this the game degenerated into a stop-start affair not helped by the petty refereeing of Mr Jones, who saw fit to dismiss Jason Smith for what seemed to be an innocuous challenge on Liddell. In the closing stages the home side reasserted their authority and could have stolen a couple more goals but for some timely interventions from Bound and Howard.

Player ratings
Freestone - 8 Made some crucial saves to keep us in it in the first half
Jones - 6 lacked support before going off after a knock
Smith - 5 a bit of a mare for Jason today; lets hope he learns from it
Bound - 7 Attempted to shore things up at the back
Howard - 8 the sharpest of our defenders today, but lacked support on the left side
Price - 6 ineffective in the first half but greatly improved in the second
Romo - 7 had a great half hour in the second half but needs to develop his defensive qualities
Cusack - 6 improved as the game went on, but off the pace in the first half
Casey - 5 put in a couple of good crosses in the second half but failed to cover adequately in defence
Watkin - 6 battled away but perhaps should have scored in first half
Savarese - 6 made a good target but failed to threaten
subs
Roberts - 7 we looked a much more threatening side when he was on - he always give defences problems
Jenkins - 7 looked quite neat in a wide right role
O'Leary (for Romo after Smith had gone) not on for long enough to give a rating - but try jumping!

In summary it was a fair result, but having weathered the first half storm and looked the better side for much of the second half, it was disappointing that we did not rescue a point or more. What it came down to was a failure to turn a good spell of play into a goal. We had only ourselves to blame as we created several decent chances during this spell.

We can take some positives from this - though it is clear that some mettle in midfield and a cutting edge up front will be needed if we are to avert relegation. Some good home wins under the belt would also be precious - starting with a good old thumping for Fat Barry Posh boys next Saturday (PLEASE!)

Our first visit to the JJB and our thoughts are, very impressive stadium with plenty of free car parks, with one allocated for visiting fans. Cost was 12 pounds and 7 pounds to the East Stand, which ran the length of one side, with an excellent view. Wycombe please take note of the cost.

Our Walsall report started with the warning that the result was great, but that we should not get carried away. This game backs up that statement.

The first half was men against boys, with Wigan slicing through our defence like the proverbial knife through butter. Before they scored there had already been numerous chances with Howarth hitting the bar when it was easier to score when he was left one on one against Rog. Some slick one-pass movements by Wigan didn’t result in goals due to some last second blocks by the defence who were under constant pressure. On the half our the inevitable happened when a throw in on the left was passed to an unmarked Liddell on the corner of the box allowing him to cut in and beat Rog with a crisp shot into the corner. Jones was injured and replaced by Roberts with Price going to right back. One chance for the Swans in the first half was a free kick outside the box which saw Howard try a side footed pass for the top corner, but lacked any power to trouble their keeper. Only a couple of other quarter chances for us before half time, which came with us totally surprised to be still in the game.

The second half again saw Wigan much the stronger team but on the hour we started to get on top and for about 15 mins dominated the play with Roberts our attacking outlet, putting in a couple of crosses which with a bit of luck ( or is it confidence) we could have taken. This was easily our best period of the game, but it came to an abrupt end when Cusack missed a pass on the edge of the Wigan area allowing them to counter attack the length of the field with Liddell again beating Rog from just inside the box. This was the killer goal as although we didn’t deserve to be in the game at half time we had battled to get back into the game. The game was played out with some handbag clashes, with Cusack & Sheridan being booked for what was their third flash point. Smith was sent off for a tackle from behind with about 5 mins to go. This brought outrage from the fans, but whether he deserved a yellow or red is debatable, but you could see the intent to follow through from his body language. By this time Watkin had been replaced by Jenkins.

As usual no individual player scores, but will add the following comments on our general display.

To continue to play Price is a mistake as he does not track back to protect Jones or close down the defenders/midfielders allowing them to set up their attacks.

Comments were made praising Caseys’ contribution after the Walsall game. We did not agree with them at the time. Today he looked out of his depth and the comments made about Price can be said about him. He did have a couple of chances to run at their fullback but lacked conviction and only crossed when it seemed he was just too tired to run any further.

That leads on to the main comment. The team do not look fit, or at times it could be just not interested. We did not play exciting football last season, but the team could not be criticised for overall effort and team support. This is now sadly lacking as gaps appear all over the pitch. Players wait for the ball to arrive instead of looking for it, giving defenders the extra second to make a tackle or interception.

Like many others this is our team which we follow over the country at no small cost in time and money.

Please Mr Hollins read our lips THE TEAM IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THIS DIVISION. The players need reinforcements now. The fans deserve to see a glimmer of hope that relegation is not the formality it looks at the moment. 2 experienced loan signings now could be the kick we need.

To end on a positive note ????????????????? It could have been 5-0.

Bring on Walsall. (Our planned next game)

One further comment there was good vocal support from the 200-250 fans, especially in the second half. But for the first 10-15 mins the large percentage of chants were anti Cardiff with the favourite Stand Up If You Hate Cardiff.

The opposition could not care less if we hate Cardiff.

The players could note care less if we hate Cardiff.