Rushden
Turley
Peters
Butterworth
Brady
Partridge
Darby
Carey
Pennock
Setchell
Hall
Hanlon
Sambrook
Solkhon
Talbot
Folan
Hunter

Referee

A much improved second half performance did not really dispel the disappointment of a ropey and disjointed first, and did not deflect attention from the main business of the day - the unanimously supported 'Petty Out' protest. Indeed Mr Petty would have gained little satisfaction from any aspect of today, both on the field and in the stands. But lets hope that no further such protest will be necessary to remove the 'crafty cockney' from his berth.

Terry Evans made his debut for the club at right back, and Neil Sharp his home debut as the Swans stuck to the now familiar 5-3-2 formation. Jason Smith also made a welcome return to the starting line-up alongside Bound & Sharp with Howard at left wing back. The midfield trio was Phillips, Cusack and Coates with Williams partnering Tyson up front. The home side received a rapturous welcome from the vocal 4,000 crowd when they took to the field, but even before kick-off the persistent 'Petty out' chants had begun and reached an early climax when the man himself emerged in the centre stand to a tirade of abuse.

The first half was a scrappy and generally dire affair; Rushden were physical and well organised, maintained a good shape throughout and never surrendured possession easily. This made it extremely difficult for the Swans to make an impression on the match as Rushden dominated possession, their midfield generally first to the ball and bossing the play.

However, the visitors ambition did not match their overall control and they failed to create many chances, the best being a free header for Paul Hall who placed his opportunity well over the bar on 13 minutes. The out of sorts Swans created their first chance on 24 mins when a low cross from Williams fizzed across goal and just evaded Tyson on the far post. 5 minutes later a decent strike from Coates was deflected wide and from the resulting corner Williams volleyed into the side netting.

At 38 mins the Swans injury crisis deepened further when a series of rather reckless challenges involving Rushden's Andy Sambrook and our Nathan Tyson resulted in a yellow card for Tyson and what looked like a serious injury to Michael Howard, who left the field to be replaced by Ryan Casey. In a first half of few chances, Rushden would have been the happier side and many Swans fans felt the second half would see them take control.

However, the Swans emerged rather rejuvinated and from the first whistle went about their task with far more aggression and application. Gareth Phillips in particular began to impose himself on the game winning challenge after challenge in midfield and giving us a platform on which to attack. These attacks came almost exlusively down our right side as the increasingly impressive Terry Evans began to link up creatively with Williams and Tyson.

Having said that the first chance of the half came on 50 mins when a Rushden player headed over from a corner. On 60 mins the Swans forged their best attack of the half when Tyson broke through on the right, having been played in by Evans, and slid the ball across, but neither Williams nor Phillips could get a shot in. The visitors responded quickly via a long ball which sent Scott Partridge away on goal but with just Roger to beat, the ex-Brentford man shot high and wide.

The Swans continued to press forward and on 68 minutes created their best opportunity - a long throw from Williams ricocheted to Matthew Bound who produced an athletic and well executed over-head bicycle kick which seemed to be heading for the far corner, only to bounce back off the post. The Swans fans rose in celebration as the ball appeared to fall in the path of Tyson but he somehow managed to miss what looked like an open goal. We sensed that our best opportunity to win the game had gone, and so it proved. We continued to press forward but failed to create and clear strikes on goal, despite the introduction of Watkin (for Coates) and the switch to the more attacking 5-2-3 formation.

On 80 minutes Rushden substitute Caleb Folan produced a sharp strike on goal which Matthew Bound did well to block. The Swans showed some initiative with some neat wing play from Williams, but as the massed ranks of the North Bank began to prepare themselves for a pitch invasion, the final minutes were played out as a nervy conclusion. At the final whistle about 1,000 North Bankers surged onto the pitch to jopin the protests already taking place in the Centre Stand.

Most of the Swans players took the time to acknowledge the support of the crowd before leaving the pitch, Captain Cusack having lost another shirt in the process. The protest continued for some time after the final whislte although Messrs Petty, Lewis and Shuttleworth had long since departed the scene. Their exit no doubt hastened by the sight of a thousand angry Jacks surging across the pitch towards them! Despite later reports of an attack on Lewis, the protest was peaceful and comprised a range of chants including 'Petty out', 'Swansea til I die' and 'there's only one Mel Nurse', the latter hopefully to become the new Jack anthem :-)

Player ratings -
Freestone - 8 no saves to make but held pretty much everything
Howard - 7 a tidy defensive performance before departing with injury
Evans - 8 solid in defence and probably our most potent creative player as he began to link cleverly with the front two
Smith - 8 pretty much faultless
Bound - 8 as above
Sharp - 7 settling in well
Coates - 5 made no real impact on the game despite his good recent form
Cusack - 6 did not really impose himself on the match either
Phillips - 7 a fairly anonymous first half followed by a towering second half in which he took control of the midfield...more of the latter please!
Tyson - 6 plenty of effort but little direction
Williams - 6 some nice touches but no real threat
Casey (for Howard) 5 did not really get into the game
Watkin (for Coates) 6 a few nice touches but no great threat

The scores above tell the tale of the match for us - we were extremely solid at the back today with only a few fleeting chances falling to the visitors. However, going forward we seemed to lack any real game plan, obviously missing the creative input of Stu Roberts. When our midfield struggled to get us any decent possession, it was always going to be an uphill battle. But credit should be given for the way we stuck to the task, battled extremely hard after the break, and came close to fashioning a victory through the unlikely source of Mattie Bound's acrobatics! We will need to get better than this, but there is cause for optimism if the off-field events can sort themselves out.

Today saw the defence back to the good old days, Smith returning to the heart of the defence and a right back who actually is a right back.

Terry Evans arriving from Barry playing his first game joining Neil Sharp playing his first home game. We played 3-5-2 with the back three of Sharp, Smith & Bound. Midfield was Evans, Cusack, Coates, Phillips and Howard with Tyson & Williams up front.

There had been talk that Petty would have watched the game from the relative safety of the East Stand or whether he would take police advise and not turn up at all. Whether it was bravado, plain stupidity or just part of his ‘master plan’, he appeared in the directors box before kick off, to be met by the whole ground, as one, chanting a very vocal and passionate “Petty Out’. On the North Bank, people who would normally just shout a few times in a game, gave it their all.

Unfortunately one fan from the North Bank attempted to cross the field, was rugby tackled by a steward and led away. This type of action could lead to a ban on attending matches, others please take note, stay off the pitch there are other ways.

Back to the game. The first half was very uneventful, with R&D a very physical side especially at the back where their height advantage was evident throughout the game.

R&D were first to most balls and our midfield was nearly non-existent. Much of the play was dominated by Rushden but without creating any chances. We had one real scare when during one attack Howard slipped allowing Hall a header on goal which he should have done better with but it went high over the bar.

A couple of speculative shots from Rushden were our only worry as the defence looked solid. In return we offered very little against their well organised defence, but we did create the best move of the half when Evans always linking well with the attack played a perfect ball into space towards the right corner allowing Williams the time to run onto it and crossing hard and low across the six yard line with Tyson just unable to get a touch to what would have been a clear goal. The only other event of note, was the injury to Howard, who was carried off with a leg injury to be replaced by Casey.

The second half saw the Swans performance improve from the first, but this was mainly due to Phillips getting more into the action. The format of the game did not change much from the first half and there was not much goalmouth action. We could have sealed a win when from a long throw from Williams, Bound hit the post with an overhead bicycle kick, the rebound falling to Tyson who missed his kick completely.

By this time Watkin had replaced Coates. With the game entering its final minutes many from the North bank were already pitch side ready for the charge across the pitch, it looked like one of those games when Rushden would score a late winner but luckily it was not to be as the game ended 0-0.

On the footballing side, Coates had a very poor game, Tyson must learn to control his actions as on every possible occasion he would jump into players and although good to see his commitment, he must improve not only his first touch but keep his arms off opposing players.

Great to see the return of Jason Smith whose presence improved the defence greatly. A good debut by Terry Evans, especially attacking.

On the downside we are still very lightweight in midfield, and without Stu Roberts our attacking options are very limited. We continued to attack mostly down the right in a very narrow area making it easy for Rushden to defend.

For most of the second half Casey on the left, who must get more into the action, did put over 2 very good crosses, but found himself mostly in acres of space while play was confined on a postage stamp on the right .

Off the pitch. A very strange atmosphere to watch and play a game. After the initial appearance of Petty the abuse seemed half hearted. This changed dramatically in the second half when a group of fans congregated in the seats directly behind the directors box and continued a verbal assault.

On many occasions the crowd of 3970 sounded considerably louder as the chant of ‘Petty Out’ came from all sides of the ground. The final whistle saw the inevitable charge on the pitch, followed by others at a more sedate pace. The demonstration itself was very muted as by then there was nobody to aim at and it contained a few chants aimed at Petty, but at least will show the feeling of the Swans fans and continue the pressure on Petty.

A couple of things from Swansea Sound. Petty was escorted to safety, after the pitch was clear and quiet, out through the away terrace. Lewis, again, either through gross stupidity or very thirsty went into the Harry Griffiths Bar for an after match drink. The mood changed and he had to be rescued by the police and stewards. Apparently many punches and kicks found their target. The reaction was understandable but not condoned , but was this just another ploy for Lewis to use PR machine to get sympathy.