Rushden
Turley
Mustafa
Peters
Tilson
Underwood
Burgess
Hall
Hanlon
Wardley
Angell
Lowe

A game wrecked for the Swans by nothing short of lamentable defending, on a day which should have yielded a far more encouraging scoreline. It was a lively looking Swans line-up, with Sidibe partnering Watkin up front, and Cusack lining up alongside Phillips Coates and Mumford in an eager looking midfield. The defence comprised DeVulgt, Howard, Todd and Smith (making a welcome return) and therefore had an air of youth and physical vulnerability about it at all times, with Smith the only reliable and robust member of that department. This was not helped by the nervy presence of Jason Jones, replacing the injured Freestone in goal.

In fact this weakness was exposed as early as the first minute when Howard miscontrolled the ball and gifted possession to Hall, whose shot took a wicked deflection to beat the stranded Jones. A cruel start indeed, but we responded with some fluent attacks, built through patient approach work and plenty of passing to feet. This saw us cerate several chances, mainly through the industrious approach play of Mumford. On 3 minutes he fired in a superb free kick which was well saved by Billy Turley in the Rushden goal. A minute later another Mumford effort was deflected for a corner and on the quarter hour a slick one-two with Sidibe saw Coates slip through on goal, only to see his close range shot saved well by Turley. In between, the home side had continued to look lively, but had been restricted to a couple of wayward headed efforts.

But again we paid the price for failing to take our chances. On 16 minutes the impressive Onandi Lowe burst through the parting Swans defence and fired a low shot past Jones, as if he wasn't there. We were two down having controlled most of the possession and played most of the football. And to be fair we continued in positive vein, and created the better chances in the rest of the half. On 42 minutes a terrific cross from DeVulgt was nearly turned in by a Rushden defender, only for Turley to make another smart save; and just before half time Chris Todd headed wide when he might have done better. The reflection at half time was that we barely deserved to be two down, and that next goal would be crucial.

And at the start of the second we very nearly got it – a rampaging run from Coates carried him past several defenders and into the penalty area near the goal line; as Turley advanced, Coates chipped it past him and onto the boot of Watkin, whose low goalbound volley was blocked. This really was a turning point, as the home side went up several gears and began to starve us of possession and exert some real pressure. We had a scare on 48 minutes when a good shot from Lowe was well saved by Jones, who also recovered smartly to block the rebound. But shortly after this a disastrous two minutes saw the game blow up in our faces. Firstly, a good run from Lowe saw him skip past Howard and Todd, and as Smith charged across to recover the situation, Lowe fed the now unmarked Brett Angell, who was able to strike home easily from 15 yards. And before we had even recovered our composure, a routine high ball was spilled by Jason Jones at the feet of Lowe, who tapped home an easy open goal.

This visibly destroyed the Swans' confidence and commitment, and from then on it became a matter of how many Rushden would score. And as our defence became more and more static, we feared a real tanking would take place, but mainly due to poor Rushden finishing (Scott Partridge twice the culprit) this was not to be. In our attempts to salvage something, Brodie replaced the injured (again!) Sidibe and Casey replaced Mumford. Watkin had a good chance to pull one back on 77 minutes, when he drove in a low shot following some good work from Brodie, but again the excellent Billy Turley was equal to it. And in injury time we thought we had scored when a Casey cross found the head of Watkin, but once again his goal bound effort was plucked from the air by Turley.

Remarkably, the 300 or so very vocal jacks gave the team a really rousing ovation at the end of the game, and the side showed their appreciation with some warm applause to the fans.

Jones – 5 Without wishing to be unkind, he was nervous and inspired no confidence. His gaff for the fourth goal was a real blooper.
DeVulgt – 5 A lightweight presence in defence, though he produced a couple of good crosses.
Howard – 4 As above but without the crosses
Todd – 5 Struggled against a physical attack
Smith – 8 Our best defender on the day…seemed to be doing the work of all four of them, and kept battling until the last minute.
Phillips - 6 energetic, but failed to use possession well enough
Coates – 6 Dangerous in spells
Cusack – 6 Marshalled the team OK, but not enough influence
Mumford – 6 Started the game brilliantly but faded after the first quarter
Watkin – 7 Held the ball up well, got in some good sound strikes and was genuinely unlucky not to score.
Sidibe – 6 Some twisting and turning, and some neat interplay, but little in front of goal.
Subs:
Brodie – 5 A couple of moments, but little threat
Casey – Not on long enough to make an impression – one good cross.

Worryingly, it is clear that our increasingly small squad is on the precipice of becoming too weak to cope. We are becoming very reliant on a few key players, and when they under perform, the team can all too easily fall apart. Today we asked a lot of Mumford and Sidibe, and they didn't really deliver. We have no real quality in depth, and we have to hope that some of the younger lads can improve enough to keep us in the hunt in the seasons to come. Unless, of course, some real investment comes from somewhere.

However, we are safe from relegation and hopefully from financial oblivion (for the time being). A few months ago we would all have settled for that. Today's result was disappointing, but also the margin greatly flattered the home side. A bit of good fortune could easily have turned the game back in our direction, so we should not be too despondent. Indeed, it was almost the difference in goalkeeping quality which was our downfall today – with the home keeper making several key stops. So to take the "half full" view….things could have been a lot worse at this stage of the season – just ask Halifax or York!

The final away trip this season for most of us – Hartlepool is surely only for the hardy weekenders – and what would it bring?

A change in line up for this game saw the following team parade out at the ground, which did resemble a Subbuteo stadium, complete with plastic home crowd.

			Jones

	De Vulgt	Smith		Todd	Howard

	Phillips	Cusack		Mumford	Coates	

		Sidibe		Watkin

Subs: Freestone, Williams, Romo, Casey, Brodie

The surprise appearance of Jones in goal was, according to Roger on Radio Wales after the game, due to an ankle injury. Jason Smith also captained the side. Surprising to us to see Smith start this game having sat out the last 2 or 3 on the bench when maybe a 10 or 15 minute run out might have prepared him better. Also strange to see O'Leary left out altogether.

We have called for some changes to see how things work out with so few games left in this campaign, so despite our comments, no real complaints.

A lively start by both sides saw Rushden take the lead on 2 minutes when a shot took a nasty deflection and left Jones with no hope. Despite this set back, the Swans were trying to show better composure and attitude than during the game against Luton, and shortly afterwards a Mumford free kick brought a good save from Turley in the Rushden goal. We continued to be well involved the game, but Rushden were always able to contain us, and on 17 minutes we went two down; again, you immediately felt that the game was lost.

We survived the remainder of the half to hit the interval at a 2-0 deficit, but there was a familiarity about our play that said we were going nowhere and I'd guess that Rushden knew it as well.

The second half kicked off with no team changes, and within a minute we could have pulled a goal back. That might just have spurred us on a little, but it wasn't to be. Within 10 minutes of the start of the second half, Jones made the worst of a few blunders during the game, when he failed to gather the ball with the Rushden attack upon him. Three nil, and two minutes later it was four. The gaps in the defence were now opening up from all angles, and the signs were becoming ominous.

Sidibe took a knock, and was replaced by Brodie, although surely without the foul it would have been Coates who would have walked. Casey was then brought on instead of Mumford, and we knew it was time to leave. A quick check on the radio in the car, and a surprise to hear it stayed at 4-0.

Again distribution and use of the ball was poor, as was anticipation and reading of the game. No one is expecting Premier quality when we go to see these games, but basic errors, poor skill, and too many players' all round limitations are making games predictable. The old matter of commitment can be raised again; there is just no passion or aggression in challenges.

We all know that Coates will swivel all day until he gets the ball onto his left foot, by which time there are three players on him. He doesn't seem able to even control the ball with his right. Howard is deteriorating in each game; we have only one game plan from throw ins and corners, aim for the head of the tallest forward. When that is Watkin or Brodie, it's not much of a plan really is it? When will they start playing Watkin just behind the front two; when will we get a front two that work together; when will Sidibe find himself with someone who keeps up and supports him during the game?

We still try to play fancy football, when it is not needed and we are not capable of it. As it stands now, I cannot see next season being any different, as we do not have the basis of a good side. Freestone also mentioned in his interview on radio Wales that the retention and contracts issue was nothing to do with him or Cusack. Who is it down to then? Is it the Committee looking at it, with their overall fairly limited footballing experience, or is it strictly a financial decision? Who is going to trawl the 900+ players being released this year to find the core of a team that is going to get us moving? Who knows, maybe there is a manager lined up for September, and he will do it, we'll see.

So – lessons from today? Jones doesn't have what it takes. You have to make some allowance that he hasn't played for a long time, but some basic errors in handling saw his confidence nosedive, and he was hardly helped along by the 'supporters???' who chanted jibes such as 'Dodgy Keeper' and 'Off Off Off' at him for most of the second half. Totally unnecessary comments, and I only hope that the younger squad members weren't there to hear it. As others have said, the fans, the team, and the opposition all knew he was having a nightmare, but he did too.

Too many players now look incapable of making any impact on a game. We'll get nowhere without that quality.

Jones - 4 - Difficult to criticize when he has sat on the bench for so long, but at fault for at least 2 of the goals.
De Vulgt - 3 - Doesn't look up to the required standard. Too often looks like a boy against men.
Howard - 4 - Another example of how he has gone backwards over the last 2 years. 
Smith - 5 - First game back with no run out as sub, solid but over-run by rampant strike-force.
Todd - 4 - Tried hard, lacked support from full-backs/ midfield, and ineffective.
Phillips - 4 - Poor game, played in unnatural wide right position. 
Mumford - 6 - Yet again best of a poor midfield.
Coates - 4 - Like Howard, seems to have gone backwards.
Cusack - 4 - Quiet game by his standards, not really involved.
Sidibe - 6 - Back to giving 100%, forced too deep or too wide to collect the ball.
  Watkin  - 4 - Held ball up well (as usual), but no real threat (as usual).
Sub - Brodie - 4 - Never got into game, in fairness game was already beyond us by time he got on.
Sub – Casey – unable to comment, his introduction with a few minutes left was the cue to leave, and we did.

Well where do we start? The ground is very smart, but has a capacity of only 6,500, for what seems a very family orientated club. Free car park and reasonable charges, £11 & £6, for a good view behind the goal.

We arrived early enough to see the team arrive, and by the players we saw coming off the coach expected no surprises. We were wrong, the non-playing manager today was Rog, replaced by Jason Jones for his first game of the season, Smith replaced O'Leary and also returns for Cusack and Phillips, with Williams back on the bench and Sidibe starting.

What a start it was, Rushden were out of the blocks the faster, and after a bit of pressure the ball came to Hall, who, with the defence retreating, decided to have a pop from long range, a deflection took it away from Jones and into the corner of the net. 1 down after 2 mins not the start we needed after Saturday's mauling.

Heads already appeared to go down and we struggled to contain the Rushden attacks, although we did have one shot well saved by Turley in the Rushden goal. We did try to put some attacks together but most were hopeful balls without any real thought. Watkin was battling hard, but lack of control and no support saw the Rushden defence tidy up easily.

On 17 mins thinks got worse, when again with the defence backing off, Lowe finished cleanly from inside the box on the Swans right. Whether it was a mixture of Rushden taking their foot off the gas, or just pure luck we got through to half time with no further mishaps.

During the half time interval the subs (exc Rog) came out for a warm up, after only a few minutes Casey decided to sit it out on the bench. This speaks volumes about his current attitude.

The team did put effort into the second half, nearly getting a goal from the kick off but stray passes, weak tackling and lack of thought told us there would be no way back. Within 10 mins of the restart the contest was over. On 54 Jones came out to collect a high through ball and fumbled leaving Angell with a simple tap into an empty net. Two minutes later it was 4-0 when with the defence in total disarray Lowe got his second placing the ball passed Jones from just inside the box. As we sit here we just can't believe the score was not added to, as Rushden attacked at will through our defence like the proverbial knife through butter. We did have a couple of attempts at goal but by this time we were just wishing and waiting to be put out of our misery. Brodie replaced Sidibe and with 5 mins to go Casey replaced Mumford.

We have had two very difficult games over Easter, but our limitations have been self-evident. It has been a very long season with many reports having the same theme. Effort but no result. The team is short on skill, physical presence, speed of thought and fitness. We are in a very poor division where with only slightly better aptitude could have seen us in the play-offs. Most teams have just had more of a will to win. This must change for next season. We have constantly heard that the team morale has been good, but teamwork has not shown on the pitch, today there were many glances and words exchanged from what looks a totally demoralised group of players.

To end on one bright note, the travelling support of 500 kept up a constant barrage of noise which the fare on the pitch did not deserve, although the 'dodgy keeper etc' chants at Jones after his fumble was uncalled for.