QPR
Digby
Forbes
Palmer
Plummer
Perry
Bignot
Warren
Bonnot
Connolly
Griffiths
Dou Dou

That rare experience of watching the Swans on Sky TV did, as usual, yield plenty of joy for us tonight as we roared them home from the unusual comfort of the sitting room sofa, accompanied by the in-laws! And in fact, this was probably the best of our televised games in recent years, certainly surpassing that victory over Northampton when we were rather lucky to win 4 -1. This time, it was a genuinely comprehensive and comfortable victory for the Swans, over a QPR side that were made to look pretty inept. In all departments of the field, we were in total control, and there was only one moment in the 90 when we feared that we might concede. How often have we been able to say that in recent times?!

The Swans stuck by their familiar 3 - 5- 2 formation, with Bound, Smith and O'Leary making up the back 3 and the two Evanses (Terry and Stephen) taking the wing back roles. Cusack, Coates and Lacey made up the central three, with Sidibe and Williams providing the leggy challenge up front. And this made for a physical and committed Swans side, who challenged and buffeted their way into the match from the first whistle, refusing to be over-awed by their higher league opponents, and never letting them settle into their passing game.

But it was a move of sweet fluency that brought the Swans an early lead. A neat interchange of passing on our left side involving Lacey and Coates led to Steve Evans feeding a neat through ball to Sidibe. The Frenchman then brilliantly rounded the keeper before slotting the ball to Williams for an easy tap-in. The Swans then sought to press home their advantage, and on 12 minutes a decent strike from Cusack was comfortably held by Digby in the QPR goal. The visitors then began to regain some composure, and pass their way back into the game. We had a scare on 26 minutes when the lively DouDou almost pounced on a misjudgement by Freestone, but Smith was on had to clear; and a minute later a clearing header by O'Leary bounced off the advancing Dignot, but Roger saved comfortably. At this point, the Sky commentators took great delight in telling us that QPR had held 60% of the possession, but in fact they had created very little from this, and it was the Swans who looked more dangerous breaking forward.

We again signalled danger to our visitors when Williams broke away on our right on 33 minutes, only to lash his shot wide of the post. But we were not long denied, when five minutes later a long ball by Terry Evans was flicked on by Williams to Cusack, who neatly volleyed home from close range. This spelt the start of a tremendous spell of pressure for the Swans, who almost increased their lead a minute later. First Digby misjudged a high ball, and had to palm it behind under pressure from Sidibe; and then from the corner, a point blank header from Smith was somehow cleared off the line by Connelly. Just on half time, a strike from Coates was deflected into Digby's grasp, and at the whistle the visitors looked relieved to be just two down.

We expected a lot of pressure at the start of the second half, but despite a lot of possession for QPR, the threat on goal never really came, as the Swans back five held their positions well, blocked almost every cross, tracked every run and headed away any attempt via the aerial route. Indeed, this defending was reminsicent of the strength and resolve of the championship winning side of two years ago (a point which Mr Hollins alluded to in his post match summary!!).

Coates began the half with a decent strike on goal which was well saved by Digby, and as the half progressed we began to make life very difficult for the visitors down their left side, with Williams and Evans breaking into good crosing positions, but failing to find their man with the delivery. Throughout this time QPR held most of the possession, but it was the Swans who should have gone 3 - 0 up on 64 minutes, when Sidibe chased down the right back, robbed him, and laid the ball off for Williams, who shot over the bar when he could have fed Lacey who was unmarked to his right.

The visitors then responded with their best effort on goal. After Steve Evans was booked for a late challenge, Bruce struck an excellent left foot free kick which clipped the outside of the post with Freestone beaten. A couple of minutes later an inswinging QPR corner found the head of Connelly who flicked across goal, but failed to find a colleague. These proved to be QPRs best efforts on goal - and they had still not seriously tested Roger. Another couple of good efforts for the Swans followed - notably a good spin and shot from the tiring Williams. Coaets made way for Phillips in order to stiffen the midfield for the last 15 minuts, and Gareth's enthusiasm again got him quickly into trouble as he was (rather harshly) booked.

But now we were in control, and when we extended our lead to 3 - 0 on 79 minutes it was really no surprise. A long pass by Williams was chased enthusiasticlly by Sidibe who erached the ball just ahead of the advancing keeper - Mama flicked the ball over Digby's head, before controlling it neatly on his thigh and walking it into the empty net. A great finish and just reward for Mama's tireless running. This broke the hearts of the visitors, and the last few minutes were virtually a matter of going through the motions. That was untill Big Mama made another break forward in injury time, again robbing a defender of possesion before slipping the ball to the suporting Terry Evans, whose low cross perfectly picked out Watkin (on for Williams) at the far post, who tapped in an easy fourth goal to round off a great night for the Swans.

Freestone - 7 One dodgy moment in the first half but little else to do - some good distribution to the wing backs.
T Evans - 9 An excellent all round performance: strong in the tackle, good positional play and some terrific crossing from the right.
Smith - 7 A tidy and combative performance
Bound - 7 As above
O'Leary - 8 Mobile and aggressive in the tackle (seems to be slimmed down)
S Evans - 7 Steady and aggressive; less effective coming forward than his namesake.
Coates - 7 some sound creative play and good support to the front two
Cusack - 7 Held the midfield together well and took he goal brilliantly
Lacey - 6 Steady, but some of his passing rather predictable
Williams - 8 Caused a lot of problems for the visitors with his leggy and unpredictable style
Sidibe - 9 A great all round effort: plenty of running, some good skill, fine goal and a great assist
Phillips - 7 Brought plenty of aggression to the midifeld, but must learn some control
Watkin - 7 A neat poacher's finish.

I hate to bring a note of caution to what has been a great night, but we mustn't get too excited yet. If we can play like this there is no way we will go down,and the performance of the back five was particularly pleasing. But some of our players are notoriously inconsistent, and the team can be infuriatingly mercurial! But let's enjoy this one for now, and hope that it sparks the turning point of the season, both on and off the field. Who knows what sort of performance we will produce on Tuesday at York, but we will certainly be there to witness it!

Only on rare occasions has a rainy, 7 degree C, November Copenhagen been this beautiful at 10pm! What a great city I live in!

Greatest place tonight, was the pub in which we watched Swans beat QPR 4-0!

Unfortunately only two of us in the pub where interested in the match. The rest of the pub was either Ipswich fans on their way home, or lazy, sleepy Sunday drinkers killing time. And the QPR supporter I had arraged to meet with to take a protest photo (Petty Out!/Wright Out! poster was ready) didn't show up. Another QPR man did though. But we had to sit in a remote corner of the pub (very far from the gents, which meant I missed the supposedly unfair booking of Philips, but lucky none of the goals).

The QPR bloke soon fell silent, as the Swans were rewarded for their early pressure, when a neat pass (from?) saw Sidebe almost tripping over the ball, but manging to play it across to Williams who had no problem tapping it in. At the same exact moment my mate, Thor, stepped in the door and looked with amazement at my celebrations. (Not a football fan, Thor. Just there to sample a few pints).

The QPR bloke started talking about "team waking up" and "coming back in it before half time". However, Nick Cusack shut him up. I was turning around to reach for my pint, when he got the pass so I didn't see the few second up to the goal, but it was a good, strong challenge that saw him get on the ball first. 2-0. "I think we'll do it tonight!" I yelled out loud. My now despairing QPR friend tended to agree.

Smith, who looked solid most of the match, and who seem to be a calming factor in the back row, went really close, when a messy scramble in the QPR box gave him an opportunity, heading towards goal. Unfortuntely it was cleared off the line.

A very catchy sounding song was sung by the crowd, but we couldn't quite pick up what was sung. Anyone know? Wasn't Swansea 'til I die.

HT: 2-0

During half time the QPR bloke told me how Hollins had been a fairly big name at QPR, and that it was his impression that most fans regarded him as a realy competent bloke. It told him that the view among Jacks was a split decision! :-)

We all had a good laugh at the few seconds they showed of the penalty thingy at half time. Man, that Cyril thing looks rediculous. I'm sorry, but if I had a say, he'd go! If I can give Mel Nurse some advice, it's to save the expenses on that rediculous creature! Never liked that whole bloke-running-around-in-rediculous-suit-to-amuse sort of thing. Hollow, superficial entertainment in my opinion. Half time's for discussing the first half, to get a pint, to buy some grub, to pay a visit to those endearing facilities beind the stand etc. etc. Plenty of entertainment in that for me. Anyway, the second half ........

I must admit I was a bit anxious about the 2nd half. Not that QPR had showed much - wasn't impressed with them at all! Contrarily, I thought they were quite disappointing. But I feared that this would be one of those dreaded "game of two halves". Fortunately I was wrong.

QPR came out stronger, and had quite a bit of possesion, putting pressure on the Swans, but from memory I can't think of one incident where they went really close. And I began to think that the next goal would come from a Swans fast break. Can't remember what happened right at the break, but Sidebe ran at a ball which I suppose really shouldn't have caused Digby all that much trouble, but as he showed in the 1st half, he was a bit dodgy tonight! Whether Sidebe actually tapped it past him, or if Digby just missed it, I don't know, but Sidebe managed to get it with him, and could almost run it across the line. 3-0, and QPR more or less stopped playing after that.

Williams (good game I though) was substituted, and in came Watkin, who I didn't notice much apart from when he tapped in the 4th goal. The QPR fan in the pub gave a dispairing sigh, and complained they had given up completely.

Attempt of player rating (1-10) (feel free to mock - I probably confused a few players names?):

Freestone - 8 - not much to do really, but I remember he caught a faily good attempt in the 1st half.
Smith - 8 - worked well, looked solid. Looks like the calm and overview has come back into the defence with his return.
Bound - ? - didn't make any mistakes I noticed - but I didn't particularly notice him much.
S. Evans - 7 - worked well, seems to fit in well at the back.
T. Evans - 8 - impressed me. I realise he might break the mold for LofW players, but he did really well I though. Maybe the LofW is better than I thought. His height (he's as short as me!) didn't seem to be any problem today.
O'Leary - 9 - my man of the match (tie with Sidebe, but when having to chose on Gary's form I went with O'Leary). That long sliding tackle said it all really. Will power, pace and ability. I was well impressed.
Lacey - ? - must admit I didn't notice him too much, but I thought the midfield work well as a whole. Still getting used to actually seeing the players and trying to figure out who's who though. But if Statto Tony's right, we need him there!
Cusack - 8 - great game for him I thought. Very useful in midfield. Created some good play - the goal showed his will and must have been a good inspiration for his team mates - in other words, he can be proud of his captainship - deserves it.
Coates - 6 - although I give him the lowest ranking of the starting line up, I thought he contributed with some nice play, and a great shot which had deserved a better fate. Perhaps a little too light in the tackles?
Williams - 7 - I like his style of play. Remeinds me of Preben Elkjær, 80ies Danish International. And it looks to me that he loves to play for Swansea. Worked well, but thought he was a bit tired at the end, and it was probably a good idea to put Watkin on at the end - well, he scored so I guess it was!
Sidebe - 9 - great match. Great man. Looks really, really strong. A girl passing the telly when he took his shirt off seemed to like what she saw! Looked pretty ordinary to me!!!?? He's clearly on a run, and he's joint man of the match with O'Leary in my book. If Hollins got one thing right, it was signing this bloke from the lower Parisian leagues. A diamond not so much in the rough any longer. I think he'll shine for us again!!!!!

Subs used:

Philips - ? - can't really tell, as I must admit I sometimes confused him with other players.
Watkin - ? - didn't notice him much, apart from the goal.

A great night out, I trust everyone else had that too - Rich in Plymouth, Tony in Hong Kong (games was AFTER the Ipswich match, Tony) and everyone else. To the US Jacks (better than Yank Jacks?), look forward to Tuesday!

Before I head home, let me just add how impressed I was with the impecably held minute's silence in memory of the Port Talbot accident. Quite impressive. Even our corner of the pub went silent, although it turned out only I knew what it was about. Nice one, all around!

perhaps a fitting memory of those who lost there lives in port Talbot especially kristian O'leary

then the best performance i've seen from a team that had the guts, determination and the gall to do what they where meant to do. from the back of defence with Bound leading the way to the midfield with Cusack and Coates running the play with flair and creativity that in the first half made you feel that you were watching a premiership side. and that was in the first five minutes. to tell how i felt when Sidebe put the ball across the face of the QPR net to be met by the foot of Williams would take another day, but needless to say plymouth hasn't seen an outburst since the swans came to town. And when goal scorer turned provider to let Cuasck score things seemed rosier at the vetch, and in the middle of plymouth.

The vetch faithful done there usual with adding to the nervousness and whistling for the referee to call the first half to an end, but little did know what may lie ahead. How ironic that an ex wrexham player was to keep a swansea goal at bay though during the first half, which was a well worked piece that ended in Jason Smith's attempt being denied by the ex robin.

then came the killer blow, an amazing if not lucky touch to take Sidebe past the QPR keeper and to control it like a world cup finalist that his nation is, was sublime, the finish matched the preformance of the player of the match in my eyes and he deserved the goal. To make the night was to see Stevo come on to make it four and seal it behond any doubt that Swansea where through to the second round of the best cup in the world, and to take me home to my girlfriend with an unimpresive face of seeing me with an extra large smile in my face, in plymouth

my night watching the swans in plymouth

I watched the match with my mate Joe, a bloke from Ammanford with a cuddly swan and three of his mates. Venue was the Airport Lounge, Warwick Uni: they now have a far bigger screen than when I was a student there!

Passers-by and Joe very impressed with performance, helped greatly by QPR ineptitude. Sidibe particularly impressive throughout, Coates a good first-half but faded badly, O'Leary also commanding. In the light of Clive's revelation about O'Leary's best man-to-be, his performance was all the more impressive. Evans good again: a promising start from him. Roger looked solid as ever: will everyone please join me in contacting the Pope for details on how to apply for a sainthood? pope@god.com

Sidibe's unselfishness in the first goal did not go unnoticed and he thoroughly deserved the impressive third. Let's hope he can stay fit for the remainder of the season.

In conclusion, this was a professional performance: Petty please note, further outward changes of personnel would be unhelpful in the extreme. Greater strength in depth is clearly needed, however, given the evidence during recent enforced absences by O'Leary and Sidibe amongst others.

Very little evidence of banners, chants etc. regarding club ownership. QPR end a different story: can someone enlighten me on this one? Was there strip-searching going on? :o)

And another one for the anoraks (no, I don't know the answer but maybe someone will......): How many times have we been on Sky and have we ever lost? By my reckoning, we've been on three times in the last five years (Card*ff Dec 96, Northampton Mar 00 and QPR Nov 01) and won all three... have we ever lost in front of Sky?

Thanks and well done boys

Another "magic night" in the history of supporting Swansea City - not so much because we hammered a 2nd Division side in the FA Cup - but it was one of those special atmospheres on the North Bank, that sadly, are few and far between.

A swift pint of Brains Dark (£1 a pint) in the Builders and good to meet Gareth for the first time as well as several other listers.

A leisurely walk to the Vetch at the strange time of five to six saw massed ranks of policemen responding to an early kick off outside the Garibaldi!

The North Bank was fuller than usual but the Centre Stand was very sparsely populated around its edges.

The team more or less picked itself with Tyson and Sharp ruled out through ineligibity but Addison did exercise choice when he preferred Lacey to Phillips for a starting midfield role.

The game started brightly and the threat to Swansea soon became obvious; the dimunitive Dou Dou certainly had the pace and trickery to upset the less mobile trio of Bound, Smith and O'Leary.

But it was a superb sweep up the field involving 5 players that brought the Swans fans to climax! A quick ball out saw Williams neatly lay off to Coates. He played the perfectly weighted through ball to the overlapping Steve Evans on the left who crossed the ball first time to Sidibe at the near post. He easily beat the keeper to the ball but appeared to lose control of it under his feet, but he had the time to make amends. Instead of trying the near post shot himself with one defender on the line, he unselfishly slid the ball across the open goal to Williams to side foot home.

Just the start we needed.

QPR continued to play neat short balls and Dou Dou remained the threat - almost snatching an equaliser when he beat Roger to a loose ball chase - but Smith was at hand to boot the ball behind for corner before he could cock the trigger.

With a satisfactory half coming to an end, Swansea had their best spell of pressure. A long kick downfield was backheaded on by Williams, and Cusack in the poaching centre forward role, was first to react to beat his marker and the advancing keeper with a toe poke into the corner of the net.

Further pressure ensued and QPR were fortunate not to concede a 3rd when a near post flick on from a corner saw Smith stoop to head home - save for a goal line clearance from ex-Wrexham player Connolly.

As soon as the whistle went, the crowd broke out into chants of we want Petty out.

Second half followed the pattern of the first - QPR having a lot of approach play without hurting us - and both Williams and Sidebe causing all sorts of problems for their defence with quick and decisive counter attacks.

Within minutes of the restart, Coates had a superb 20 yard rising drive plucked out of the air by the diving Digby. This was surprising as Digby had appeared the proverbial dodgy keeper throughout the match.

With 20 minutes or so to go, another counter saw Williams play Sidibe free on a run from the halfway line. The long chase upfield favoured the QPR keeper, but when it came to the crunch, Sidebe wanted the ball more than he did and so a deft toe poke lifted the ball over Digby and set Big Mama on a 20 yard stroll unchallenged to the empty net.

Cue some kids and idiots to run on the field in celebration - no doubt costing the club dear again - whilst the other 4770 (less the QPR contingent) danced in delight.

This 3rd goal was too much for many of the QPR faithful who left the match at this stage to waves and chants of cheerio. This was soon followed by chants of can we play you every week - and who knows, if Hollins had addressed the shortcomings at full back as Addison has done - we may have been playing them another twice this season.

Phillips replaced Coates (where in my opinion he should have replaced the flagging Lacey) and was soon booked for one of his trademark tackles. Sliding in, he clearly won the ball fairly but followed through on the man. Now I don't know if they've changed the rules on this - I suspect not - but putting a man in the North Bank in hard a tackle is a perfectly legitimate ploy in my book. A very harsh booking obviously administered by someone who's never played the game.

Watkin also came on as replacement with 5 mins left - and Williams left the field to a standing ovation for his 100% contribution.

With 3 minutes added at the end there was still time to make the scoreline more respectable - Sidibe played through the middle was tackled just outside the box but Terry Evans following up wide right was able to pick up the loose ball and drive into the area unchallenged. Instead of taking a near post pot shot himself he slid the perfect ball across the goalmouth where Watkin poked home from 2 yards out on the far post.

What a great night. The fans clapped long hard as the players came over for their deserved applause.

Player ratings:
Tonight's performances were outstanding, so any criticism given here should be taken with that in mind.

Freestone 7 - dodgy kick for starters and some hesitancy which nearly let Dou Dou in for an eqaliser was far outweighed by his excellent aeriel handling and his reaction save from a first hald ricohet
Terry Evans 7 - excellent match making the final goal. Was caught out for pace once in the 2nd half but has made a seamless step up from LoW
Bound 7 - did not find it easy dealing with the quick turning Dou Dou but improved as the game went on
Smith 8 - uncompromsing as ever, getting stuck in for balls that were never his for the winning
O'Leary 9 - tackled like a demon all night. His last gasp sliding tackle in the first half was worth the entrance fee alone
Steve Evans 8 - was all over the field without neglecting his defensive duties. Definitely a missing piece from the Hollins jigsaw
Cusack 7 - was outstanding first half leading by example and getting a goal. Played much deeper 2nd half and as a result, was comparatively anonymous
Lacey 7 - covered miles in this game - but understandably flagged 2nd half as he is short of match fitness
Coates 8 - turned it on as usual for the cameras - promising youngster who has his testimonial year next year! :-)
Williams 8 - outstanding contribution - was a little selfish on one or two occasions but can feel pleased with his performance
Sidibe 8 - unorthodox and troublesome - caused the QPR defence nightmares with his running and trickery

Subs:
Phillips 7 - on for the last 20 minutes gave 100% and 110% in the tackle. Would avoid many of the bookings if he was half a yard quicker
Watkin 7 - on for last 8 minutes and managed to bag the final goal.

Special mention:
The crowd 10 - gave their all, but the players made it easy for them with the early goal and susbsequent performance.

So it's off to York Tuesday night - let's hope it's not a case of after the Lord Mayor's Show - there's no reason why it should be.

well, I've finally seen my first Swans game, and it was something to see. But of course NOTHING is at is seems...

I get home from work and my VCR is still running, 90 minutes after is is supposed to have shut off. This is not a good omen.

Must've been me, because a quick check shows the game is well taped and ready to watch. Just as they are lining up for the moment of silence--Commercial break! Fox Sports World, which is of course an arm of the Sky empire, shows a lot of matches from overseas, but in order to see 45 continuous minutes of action (or 40 of egg chasing, lets say) you have to endure the same 5-6 commercials over and over pre-match and at half time. So we come back from break and there is Cyril kicking at goal, with no sound. Just like Kathie said!

Back to commercial. Then the kick off. Only one problem. IT'S THE SECOND HALF! This goes on for about 60 seconds and abruptly, you guessed it, another commercial. Some junior technician in Los Angeles must've cued the wrong tape.

When the game returns, 4 minutes have gone. But at least it's the right half now.

Of course, the first thing you notice is the noise. Crisp, loud, nearly drowning out the announcers at times. Very boisterous and making the hair on my arms stand up.

2 players for QPR I used to have on my fantasy game team--Connolly and Bignot. So I get a good look at them too. It's weird in a way. Don't feel bad about selling either one of them though.

Ian Holloway is sure a sharp dresser.

Laughed when the announcers were talking about how young Addison looks.

Also laughed when they were talking about Sidibe and how Hollins' "scouts" uncovered him in Paris.

And where was Big John? I thought he was doing commentary? Did he just do the wrap around stuff at half time and post match? Having two guys do commnentary was weird, since we're used to Premiership matches here with only one announcer.

Which by the way, we didn't see any of. Had to squeeze some more ads in.