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Listers' view - The Famous Five

The much awaited and often postponed semi final clash between the Swans and Barry eventually took place tonight in ideal conditions.

The Swans fielded a full strength team, intent on reaching the final and the increased financial rewards that this would bring to the club.

Early exchanges were even, and fairly uneventful, with the Swans did look a little more likely to break through from the right flank with Williams, De Vulgt, and Brodie trying to make ground as opposed to the left side of the field where Casey was already looking uninterested, and Howard was ineffective. The hallucinations we suffered in the first half against Mansfield the other Saturday when Casey looked almost half impressive, had now cleared, and he was exposed for all his lack of involvement in the game throughout.

The people on the pitch gaining most attention in the first quarter of the game were the officials, particularly the referee, and the linesman (or assistant referee) running the Centre Stand. A clear case of handling outside the area by the Barry keeper on 5 minutes, followed a minute later by a blatant back pass to the Barry keeper, which he picked up with his hands, both went unpunished, and possibly worse, unnoticed. At this stage also, the same linesman was unsure whether the flag went up for offside or onside, so he varied it a few times. The referee was one of the most unfit I have seen, failing to keep pace with the game in a way that only Casey could match.

Anyway, back to the game, and after a shaky start Barry settled down and play was evenly matched. The Barry attack forced Roger Freestone into a good ground save, and on 25 minutes Howard headed clear another shot at goal, with O'Leary having headed a Lloyd free kick clear just minutes earlier.

Crowd frustration at some Swans players' apparent lack of desire for a solid challenge grew, and the need for a goal was becoming more critical.

Then on 41 minutes, the linesman spotted a handball in the Barry area, missed by many of the 1,518 crowd, and Watkin duly stepped up to score another excellently taken spot kick. If we could have a game plan whereby we were awarded a couple of penalties in each match, then Watkin may be worth a good contract as he can certainly hit the net from there. Unfortunate that he can't hit the goal trail from free play in the same way.

A one-goal lead at half time was a reasonable scoreline against a determined Barry side, but it would need a shift up the gears from a few players to make this game safe, and our performance something to applaud. Many expected one or two changes at that stage, but the second half saw the same Swans eleven line up.

On 50 minutes, the Swans should have had the chance of a 2-0 lead, when the Barry goalkeeper climbed all over Steve Watkin and more only for the eagle eyed officials to wave the claims aside.

Williams continued to struggle up front, despite his efforts and tired as he does in the latter stages of each half. He was often alone, and a lacklustre display by the midfield (Mumford excepted) made life difficult. Far too often we allowed Barry too much space and too much time on the ball. Challenges were weak, and Barry were able to move yards up field without the need to demonstrate great football skill, just an ability to run straight.

The game was finally put out of Barry's reach on 62 minutes when John Williams found himself in space with the ball in the Barry area, and coolly struck it home.

It seemed as if the Swans did just what they needed to do to win the game, but it did not make for good entertainment. The last 20 minutes saw performances deteriorate. Poor distribution, from head and foot, and the ball being airborne as opposed to being played on the floor on too many occasions (with clear frustration from Nick Cusack at this), led to jeering from the crowd.

Few players came out of the game with credit, and it will take a mammoth improvement if we are to get the £100K top prize winnings from this competition. Having said that, it was a win, and one that we needed and deserved, although with better effort, the margin could have been much wider.

Player Performance Marks
Freestone - 7 - Rarely tested but did well with the few shots on target. 
De-Vulgt – 4 - Has he improved at all in the last 12 months?
Howard – 6 - Poor 1st half, good second half. 
O'Leary – 8 - Good solid game. Deserved Man of the Match award.
  Todd – 6 - 1 or 2 errors but did ok.
Brodie – 4 - Dreadful 1st half, better 2nd half
Coates – 4 - The worse the opposition the worse he seems to play
Mumford – 7 - A cut above anything else on show in midfield.
Casey - 3 - Often drifts out of games, never even drifted into this one.
Willo – 6 - Worked hard but still doesn't look a 90 minute player
Watkin – 5 - Great penalty, not much else
 

Ref / Assts refs- Tried hard to ruin game. The Welsh FA / BBC must look at the quality of officials they appoint for these games - they were appalling.

The Famous Five are Giggsy, Pauly, Jono, Becky & Sophie