Match report

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Cambridge 0 Swansea City 1

Cambridge 0 V 1 Swansea City

Match report by Mike Thomas

Around two hundred and fifty intrepid Jacks made the trip to Cambridge United's Abbey Stadium last night to see if the Swans could continue their winning ways after picking up three points against Orient last Tuesday.
Although showing the vestiges of last week's snow around the margins of the touchline, the pitch itself was in immaculate condition on a crisp and chilly evening with, thankfully, not a breath of wind. Home fans were in short supply, and the twenty or thirty orange-shirted locals standing on the terrace nearest the away end, seemingly embarrassed by their lack of numbers, made only half-hearted attempts to vocally goad their Welsh opponents, and they were quickly drowned out with biting reposts such as "We've got the nice stand!". Oscar Wilde, eat your heart out.
The big pre-match talking point was the inclusion of goalkeeper Murphy in the starting line-up ahead of Roger Freestone. Apparently, the two expensive errors in successive matches by the veteran had persuaded Brian Flynn to give the 'young pretender' his chance.

The Swans lined up:

The Swans, attacking the far end in the first half, continued to press, and once again the ball was worked into a central shooting position outside the area for, of all people, Michael Howard. Fully expecting his effort to end up in row 'Z', we were amazed instead to see a powerful shot arrowing for the top corner of the net until the Cambridge keeper got a despairing fingertip to it, deflecting it away for a corner. Even better was to come. The hard-driven corner was flicked on at the near post into a ruck of players on the six yard line. Izzy Iriekpen reacted quickest and poked the ball into the back of the net. After a moments' stunned silence all round the ground, the Jack contingent exploded with delight. Five minutes gone, and we were one up.

The goal put extra verve into the Swans attack for the next ten minutes, and they piled on the pressure. Two chances fell to Andy Robinson in quick succession; first a trade-mark free kick which he curled agonisingly wide of the post, then a scuffed shot which again rolled wide. It was clear we couldn't keep this pace up, and Cambridge gradually worked their way back into the game. They began to make progress down our right flank, with Jones having a torrid time trying to contain Cambridge's tricky winger Webb, not very well assisted by a strangely sluggish Alan Tate, who several times mis-timed clearances to a Cambridge player.

After fifteen minutes, one of these Webb runs gave Cambridge their best chance of the match, when he burst into the penalty area and hit a low centre which a colleague side-footed onto the post from four yards out. The ball re-bounded to a centrally placed forward, but he could only manage a half-hit shot which Izzy scrambled off the line. We began to think it was going to be our night.

The Swans weathered the storm, but failed to create any more clear openings in a first half in which neither side could get the upper hand. The ball was often fed up to Nugent to try and relieve the pressure on the defence but, in what has now become a very familiar pattern, he often found himself isolated and was quickly dispossessed. Just before the interval, Alan Tate was replaced by Kris O'Leary, presumably for an injury which he had tried unsuccessfully to shake off, which explained his lacklustre display.

We expected Cambridge to come out 'all guns blazing' in the second half, but once again it was the Swans who made the livelier start. A free kick awarded twenty five yards out again saw Robbo step up for one of his 'Beckham' specials but, as in the first half, his aim was slightly off, and it flew two yards wide. Then Stuart Roberts, who had been fairly anonymous in the first half, ran at the Cambridge defence with blistering pace which took him into the penalty area, only for a despairing foot to whip the ball off his toes. It broke to Andy Robinson, but his attempted cross was over-hit and cleared the bar.

Just as in the first half, the Swans' failure to capitalise on their possession gradually allowed Cambridge back into the game, and the home side began to pump high balls into the box at every opportunity, seemingly to put pressure on our rookie goalkeeper. After eleven minutes, one of these crosses found a Cambridge forward on the penalty spot, but his downward header was comfortably gathered by Murphy. Two minutes later, however, the young Irishman started to come for a cross, then hesitated, almost fatally. The ball found a Cambridge forward running in at the far post, but thankfully he poked it wide.

Now, it was all Cambridge, as they searched desperately for the equaliser. A break from their own area took them all the way up-field, where a last-ditch tackle won them a corner. Izzy headed away the resultant kick, only to see it pumped back in for another Cambridge header which cleared the bar.

On twenty minutes, Flynn substituted Stuart Roberts with Brad Maylett in an effort to freshen up a Swans attack which was dying on it's feet, but Cambridge continued to press, and a minute later Coates was booked for a trip in midfield as he tried to fend off another forward run.

A few minutes later, in a rare Swans attack, Nugent flicked on for Robbo to run into the penalty area, but he was dispossessed at the expense of a corner, which came to nothing. This was Nugent's final contribution as Flynn replaced him with James Thomas, the big target man receiving generous applause from the travelling fans for his hard work.

Although Thommo was more successful at holding the ball up, the Swans defence was still coming under sporadic pressure with high balls, and on thirty five minutes another Cambridge cross zipped dangerously across the area, just missing the attackers' outstretched feet. A minute later, they should have scored, when a header from eight yards rebounded off the cross-bar and the second chance was blasted over.

In the final ten minutes, with Cambridge having to leave gaps in their search for a goal, Maylett began to make his presence felt down the right, combining well with Britton, who began to make some good surging runs into the area but couldn't quite make his efforts tell.

On forty four minutes, Martinez was booked for a late challenge on the half-way line, and with the fourth official indicating three minutes extra time, this was the signal for a final onslaught by Cambridge, who threw the kitchen sink at the Swans goal. First, a cross was met by a forward who shot over the bar, then a low shot from the edge of the area appeared goal bound until Murphy acrobatically got a hand to it and turned it around the post. The corner was headed wide, but amazingly the Swans lost possession immediately from the goal-kick, and Murphy had to race out of his goal to intercept and concede yet another corner.

With the Swans fans thinking the ref's watch had developed battery failure, the corner was headed out by a majestic Izzy, only to see the ball pumped back in to the crowded area. A frantic scrum developed as twelve or fourteen players dived in for the ball, with feet, legs and fists flying. The referee blew for a Swans free kick, and Izzy emerged from the ruckus, arms swinging, and apparently incandescent with rage. Two Swansea players tried to restrain him, Murphy almost receiving a right hook for his trouble. The ref pulled the big defender to one side and the only question on our lips was "yellow or red?". It turned out to be yellow, and to our great relief that was the final action, as the ref put the card back in his pocket and blew for full time.

Player ratings:
Murphy (8) - shame he's not a couple of inches taller but dealt well with most of what they threw at him, noticeably quicker thinking in his distribution than Roger, great save in the last minute.
Jones (7) - still learning his trade but won his fair share of tackles
Ireikpen (9) - majestic in defence, won every ball he challenged for, scored the winner, would have got a '10' if he hadn't lost his rag in the final seconds
Tate (6) - very subdued, must have taken a knock early on which eventually saw him subbed
Howard (6) - backed off his man too often for my liking, looks short on confidence
Britton (8) - good all-round performance, great fitness, never stooped running for ninety minutes, just wish he could make his final shot or pass more telling
Martinez (8) - got through a lot of defensive tackling in midfield and sprayed the ball around well
Robinson (6) - tried too hard, nothing came off, frustratingly wasted two good attacking positions in final minutes by carelessly straying off-side
Coates (6) - got through a lot of work, but very lightweight in the tackle tonight, easily pushed off the ball
Roberts (7) - showed some lovely touches of pace, becoming more match fit
Nugent (7) - gave one hundred per cent, but was really flagging after sixty minutes

Subs:
O'Leary (8) - another gutsy display by the Port Talbot boy, built like the Aberavon No. 5 blast furnace; you don't push HIM off the ball
Maylet (7) - started badly but got stronger, caused a few problems down the right wing
Thomas (7) - not on very long, but looked livelier than of late

In conclusion, we rode our luck and were probably fortunate to get all three points, but the team really fought hard and gave everything against a lively, if not particularly creative, Cambridge side. A word of praise for Brian Flynn, who has often been criticised for not using his subs effectively - tonight he brought on Maylett and Thommo at just the right times to give Cambridge something else to think about when they looked like getting the upper hand. So, bring on Donny, and let's hope those stay-away fans return to the Vetch in droves on Friday night!

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