1. Freestone
2. Jenkins
3. Howard
4. Roberts
5. O'Leary
6. Todd @
7. Bound
8. Coates
9. Phillips &
10. Sidibe #
11. Williams

12. De Vulgt &
13. Appleby @
14. O'Sullivan
15. Jones
16. Mumford #

    ---

 Halifax

1. Butler
2. Woodward
3. Stoneman
4. Mitchell
5. C Clarke
6. Jules
7. Harsley
8. Redfearn
9. Swales
10. Smith
11. G Jones

    ---

12. Crookes
13. M Clarke
14. Midgley
15. Fitzpatrick
16. Middleton

The match was preceeded by an immaculately observed minute's silence for the victims of the US bombings.

New management team of Addison and Nicholas decided to play 3-5-2 with the surprise being Stuart Roberts at right wing-back. The idea was to strengthen the right side of midfield with Lee Jenkins rather than have him out wide - a position favoured by Roberts.

The 3 centre backs were Todd, O'Leary and Bound. Howard was the left sided wing back with Phillips and Coates assisting Jenkins in midfield. Sidibe and Williams were the front two.

Swansea started very hesitantly and for the first 15 minutes, all the pressure came from Halifax. Their "in your face" approach led to a succession of corners.

The scrappy play continued and bookings ensued for both sides - Phillips picking up a yellow for leaving his foot in. Then on 25 minutes, after a rare excursion into Halifax territory, Swansea lost the ball and were hit on the break. Halifax hit the ball long and Gary Jones sloted a pass to Harsley who easily turned Todd to slot the ball past the exposed Freestone.

The last 15 minutes saw Swansea enjoy their best period of the match, but despite the pressure, could not create any real openings as the Halifax players threw themselves wholeheartedly in front of every cross/pass/shot. There was much concern from the bench when Sidibe lay motionless in front of the dug out and after a few minutes treatment, he was stretchered off to be replaced by Mumford. Immediately Roberts went up front with Mumford slotting in his place.

After being booed off at half time, the fans were expecting the players to respond to the new style teamtalk - but within 1 minute of the restart, Swans were 2-0 down. A similar situation to the first goal led to hesitancy from Freestone when Howard failed to tackle and Harsley doubled his tally after rounding the hapless Freestone.

Swansea did force some pressure as the game ebbed away but nothing that caused Halifax any serious problem.

Further substitutions, Appleby for Todd and De Vulgt for Phillips made very little difference and by the end, Swansea werea well beaten team.

Some highlights of the game
The big fat Halifax fan who had chants of "belly's going to get you" and "get your t*ts out for the boys", and the pigeon that more or less camped relatively undisturbed on the Halifax penalty spot despite Swansea's efforts to get the ball in this area.

Player ratings:
Freestone 6 - made one very good full length dive to deflect the ball behind in the 1st half. Didn't have much direct action but was partly responsible along with Todd for the 2nd goal. If he had been more decisive and had come earlier, Harsley would not have scored.

Roberts 7 - joint man of the match for his involvement alone. Did not look comfortable in the wing role where defensive duties detracted from his attacking role. Had several goalbound shots blocked in the 2nd half as were many of his crosses by excellent Halifax defending. Made the chance of the game with a super low front post cross which Jenkins was milliseconds away from connecting with.

Howard 5 - did not have a comfortable time and gave the ball away too frequently like many of his team mates. Was roundly barracked by the North Bank for one particular wayward cross in the first half which wasted a good build up. Minutes later, no doubt affected by his treatment, instead of crossing he opted for the losing of option of a pass inside which was easily intercepted and led to another breakaway. Should have done better in the lead up to the 2nd goal.

Todd 5 - looked uncomfortable for most of the match - with again the crowd contributing to his nervousness. Distribution was very erratic and to cap it all, he was frequently given the responsibility of delivering the ball from the back. Plus points were his contributions in the opposing area from corners and free kicks.

O'Leary 6 - looked pretty solid to me but like Bound and Todd, once turned, was out of the play. Had a good attempt at goal 2 nd half.

Bound 6 - much the same as above - distribution a definite weak point that the management team will no doubt be working on.

Jenkins 7 - quite busy in his midfield tole and got stuck in on most challenges. Combined well with Roberts at times.

Phillips 7 - some classy passes mixed with dogged aggression in the tackle. Was booked for one of these and was surprisingly substituted after an hour.

Coates 6 - surprised me today with some of his aggression - I was convinced I was watching Phillips going into many of his tackles. Had a sight of goal in the first half but didn't pull the trigger in time.

Sidibe 5 - some neat step overs but that was the sum of his contribution for the half hour or so he was on. There appeared to be no understanding between him and Williams.

Williams 6 - marginally better than his partner but any headers that he won, were gobbled up by the Halifax defenders rather than finding a white shirted colleague.

Subs:
Mumford 7 - joint man of the match. Despite only being on the field for 60 minutes, probably was the most influential player in terms of contact with the ball. Needs a few run outs to get match fitness.

De Vulgt 5 - made no improvement to the team when he replaced Phillips on the right of midfield.

Appleby 5 - first opportunity to get the ball saw him beaten over 15 yards for pace by Halifax's 6'5" centre half. Says it all.

This has to be the worst game of football I have ever been unfortunate enough to witness. Even the 1994 World Cup final was more exciting than this and that say a lot. The game can be summed up by the two highlights I can recall that excited the crowd.

The first, a pigeon was sitting happy as larry in the penalty box while the Swans pressed on the Halifax goal. The pigeon was there for a good three or four minutes and was soon to be joined by another pigeon. This excited and pleased the crowd who were then disappointed to see the next Swans attack get cleared away and finally scare off the pigeons.

The second was a character in the away crowd who the north bank affectionately nicknamed, 'fatty'. He provided no end of entertainment and was more than game when the crowd chanted for him to show his belly and his breasts. I'd like to personally say thanks to the gent for providing the entertainment that was so desperately lacking on the pitch.

Now, onto the game. This is the first game that Colin Addison has taken charge of. He has had 48 hours to assess the players and the squad and maybe teach them a few new tricks. My only guess is that he has spoken to Nick "I love Hollins, he's the best" Cusack and asked him what the best line-up and tactics to use. This backfired and I'm hoping that Colin can now see how bad things have got down the Vetch and can start to make amends for at least 18 months of mismanagement and bad training. The general consensus was that we were playing no differently to how we usually play so I am hoping to God that this is the case.

The supporters said it all with comments like, "What a load of rubbish", "Someone tell the players we kicked off half an hour ago", and "Fatty, fatty give us a wave".

Now, onto rating the players themselves:

Roger Freestone - 7 - Made no mistakes and can't be blamed for the goals.
Lee Jenkins - 5 - Looked shaky but put in a few good moves.
Michael Howard - 6 - Same as Jenkins but a little better.
Matthew Bound - 6 - Badly missing Jason Smith as defensive partner
Kris O'Leary - 5 - Who? I remember seeing him but nothing he did.
Chris Todd - 5 - He's still young, at fault for not stopping the first goal. Give him time.
Jonathan Coates - 4 - Why does this guy start for the Swans? Did nothing right really.
Gareth Phillips - 7 - Looked sharp but not one of his better games really.
Stuart Roberts - 7 - Probably our best outfield player.
John Williams - 7 - 100% effort and did well with it.
Mamady Sidibe - 7 - Only on for about 20 mins but looked dangerous.

Subs:
Andrew Mumford - 7 - Made an impression coming on that sparked our 1st half revival.
Leigh De-Vulgt - 5 - Did nothing apart from come on the pitch.
Richie Appleby - 6 - Only on for a few minutes but showed some promise.

Referee - 2 - Absolutely useless.

I have to question the tactics used today. Ok, we have Sidibe and Williams (2 big guys) up front but when Sidibe came off, Roberts moved up and we were playing to his head. Stu isn't a tall player and when markedby a big 6 foot plus defender, guess who lost out? We constantly played the ball in the air and didn't look where we were passing. We had nobody in midfield who could take the game by the scruff of the neck and battle which concerns me. Oh for Martin Thomas in a Swans shirt right now! I'm hoping that Colin will be able to trim the squad and bring in some quality players. It looks like anyone with a backbone has been kicked out of the squad (Standing up to JH) and that reflects on the pitch. Give it time but we really need to start seeing some improvement in the next 3 or 4 games.

To conclude, 2-0 flattered Halifax a little but they took the chances well. We have 1 fit striker and the next few games are going to be hard. So much for the 'all the players we need are in the squad' comment. No true right-back and no midfield general. I sincerely hope we have new owners, who are prepared to spend, on the horizon.