Match report

Swansea 2 Lincoln 0 - Famous Five

For weeks the club have been asking for the crowd to be the 'extra man' on the field, but many fans in turn have thought that having the eleven players with the kit on giving it their all might be a better starting point in our survival fight.

On today's performance, during which the crowd of 5,099 was surprisingly quiet for long periods, that fighting spirit might just prove to have returned in time, and the second half performance, although far from classic in football terms, showed that the players can dig in and chase when they need to.

The line up:

A fairly steady start to the game could have been lit up dramatically by a 20 yard scorcher from Britton after just three minutes but an excellent save from Marriott kept things level.

Some good first time lay offs from Johnrose saw him enter the game early on. Although he didn't appear to be fully fit, throughout the game he gave 100% and wasted no time in shouting instructions and directions at the other players. This is something we have been badly lacking in midfield and it is a very encouraging sign.

We failed to settle into any rhythm in the first period, and allowed Lincoln too many opportunities to break from defence. When they did, they were fast and direct, and we did well to keep them out, even though our defence didn't look as solid as we would hope at times. The partnership between Tate and Smith seemed a little less co-ordinated than it has in some games, but nevertheless a clean sheet is a clean sheet. Tate actually made some uncharacteristic errors today especially with his timing and judgement in clearing tight situations.

Whereas Lincoln moved fast on the ground, our attacks were being monitored by air traffic control during the first 45 minutes, and this was limiting the chances we had to put pressure their goal with any real threat.

Just as a stalemate first period was drawing to a close, man of the match Britton took the ball to the dead ball line at the away end of the ground, crossed from the right, and Nugent rose perfectly to head the ball at goal and over the keeper to give us a one nil advantage.

The second half continued but there was a clear sign that we were starting to get a bit more dogged about how we were playing. We started to show a lot of fight for the ball, with players who had been a little quiet in the first half (Howard, Williams, Thomas) suddenly showing a lot more spirit. This brought with it some crowd noise, and after all that is what the discounted admission price offer was put in place to achieve, a bigger gate and more atmosphere.

We had four efforts on goal in the second half, one of which, a slightly scrambled affair on 65 minutes saw John Williams hit the back of the net after a Mumford corner. Two of the others were well worked and brought good saves, and towards the end of the game, Mumford let rip with a great shot which just cleared the bar.

To put some perspective on the statistics, our six shots on goal were of higher quality than Lincoln's seven, and if we keep creating a few chances in a game and convert a couple, and continue to show the same fight that we did in the second half, then this could be a very interesting run of games ahead. Games at this level are not about skill, they are about passion and fight and working together, and we had more of that about us today than for a long time.

There were no substitutions for the Swans today and that says a lot for the players on the field. It was good to see John Williams play a full 90 minutes, and some continuity will see the understandings between players improve game by game.

As we have said, Britton had a great game and covers so much ground in the game. No one had a howler today, and that was important. Evans is let down by control when in positions to move forward, although he did have one excellent attack in the first half, spoilt only by the quality of the final ball.

Another player well worth a mention is Nugent, who was Sponsor's man of the match, and could have easily stolen it for us as well. He plays the holding game, and plays it well, but has good vision and commitment and is an excellent signing given our position and what we have to do. He seemed to work well with Thomas and Williams, and knew where he needed to be to have most effect. He took his goal well, and his name will appear on the score sheet a few times in the remaining games if today is any guide.

We've got some especially tough away games coming up, but on today's performance, we could get some points that we would never have thought possible a couple of weeks ago.

If we continue to play like this, and that is the key factor in our survival plan, then crowds will be bigger, support will be more vocal and positive, and less people will take Sony Discman players to the games to kill the boredom.

• Freestone - 7 - Easy day at the office.

• Evans - 5 - Let down by poor control too often.
• Howard - 6 - Started poorly, but grew in confidence as game went on.
• Tate - 6 - Made a few glaring errors. Luckily woeful finishing from opposition let him off today. 
• Smith - 7 - Battling captain's performance.

• Williams - 7 - Starved of ball for too long. Nice to see him getting a goal.
• Mumford - 6 - Some nice touches, but still some way off the Mumford of last season.
• Britton - 8 - A little dynamo. Gave 100%.
• Johnrose - 7 - Not involved as you would expect, but tidy game and retained ball well.

• Thomas - 6 - Quiet game. Had little or nothing to work on in first half. 
• Nugent - 7 - Like Watkin, held the ball up well. Unlike Watkin, when opportunity knocked, he was at home. 

I do not know the financial implications to the club of discounting prices like they did today, but with that extra 1,500 people all paying at the gate, it would seem a good idea to try it all over again, although with all the 'females for free' adverts for Cambridge United on 15th February, the male contingent could well increase as a matter of course for that game.

Swansea 2 Lincoln 0 - Paul Smith

The starting line up.

The Swans bagged three points after a battling win against seventh placed Lincoln at the Vetch this afternoon.

Midfielder Leon Britton had a brilliant volley from 20 yards out which was saved by the Lincoln goalkeeper Marriott.

Lincoln thought they had scored in the 20th min. But to the relief of the Swans fans the ref decided Roger had been fouled.

Late on in the first half Terry Evans made a cross from the right hand side in to the box. Kevin Nugent headed the ball at the far post and the Centre Stand were on their feet cheering and then realise its gone wide.

But that chance led to a similar ball being made by Leon Britton. Which again was headed by Kevin Nugent at the far post it went over the keeper and in at the far post. Swans 1 Lincoln 0.

In the second half Tate had a volley, which was deflected off a defender and went over.

Tate received the ball in his own box and had plenty of time to clear it. Instead of getting the ball away from the danger area he tried a short pass, received the ball back, he then decided to run across his own box and got caught in possession. The crowd was waiting for the attacker to put it in the corner. But Freestone pulled off a stunning save.

In the 66th min the Swans had a corner. The ball came in to the box there was a bit of a scramble but eventually John Williams stuck it in the back of the net from close range. Swans 2 Lincoln 0.

Towards the end of the match a Lincoln defender made a mistake and Leon Britton got the ball and went down in the area trying to get a penalty. But the referee said goal kick.

Player Ratings:

• Freestone = 8 Made a stunning save which kept the swans in the game.
• Evans = 7 A couple of good tackle nothing special.
• Smith = 8 Won most things in the air, played well.
• Tate = 7 Made a stupid mistake but apart from that played well.
• Howard = 6 Did his job
• Mumford = 7 Was good going forward.
• Britton = 9 Covered every blade of grass
• Johnrose = 8 Made a good first impression, strong battling performance.
• Thomas = 7 Better performance this week
• Nugent = 8 Took his goal well.
• Williams = 7 Good performance