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Match report |
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Swansea City 0 Oxford 0 | |
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Swansea City 0 v 0 Oxford UnitedMatch report by the Hereford & Worcester Jack Pack (Stuart & Gareth Manser, Brian Nugent, Phil Smith and Mike Thomas) Another bumper crowd of 8,896 packed into the Vetch on this un-seasonally mild Tuesday evening in January to see if the Swans could keep their excellent winning roll going, and put a dent in high-flying Oxford's Championship ambitions. The audience included over 300 visiting fans on the West Terrace, and the H&W Jack Pack snugly seated in the Centre Stand after a misty journey over the Brecon Beacons.  Swans Line-up: Freestone Duffy Ireikpen O'Leary Howard Maylett Britton Johnrose Robinson Nugent Trundle Subs: Murphy, Hylton, Coates, Connelly, Thomas The game started at a frenetic pace, but neither team could carve out any clear chances in the first ten minutes. Oxford are a big, mean, physical side and their game plan is plain for all to see - don't give goals away under any circumstances, draws away from home are good, and we could always snatch a winner on the break. They soon had nine or ten men behind the ball and began cynically wasting time at every opportunity, even with the game barely started. They were also determined to stop the Swans playing their passing game by fair means or foul, resulting in an early booking for McCarthy for chopping down Robinson in midfield. Manager Ian Atkins was directing his team of robots very vocally from the touchline, even to the extent of instructing players what to do on free kicks and throw-ins. The Swans gradually began to settle into their rhythm and put together a sustained period of attack, with two successive crosses being desperately cleared from the Oxford penalty area, before an inviting ball was laid square to Lenny Johnrose 20 yards out in front of goal, only to see him hit a powerful rising shot clear of the bar. Oxford's no-nonsense style continued unabated and after 20 minutes McNiven found himself in the book for diving into a tackle against Leon Britton, studs showing, followed soon afterwards by Hunt for a trip on Duffy. Five minutes later, it was the turn of Matt Robinson to see yellow for another trip on Leon, and the Vetch crowd's anger at the visitors' cynical approach began to reach boiling point. Surely someone was going to earn an early bath before long? To their credit, the Swans kept trying to play football, but could make little headway, with Trundle twisting and turning at every opportunity but always finding his way blocked by two or three defenders. The Swansea back four contained the sporadic Oxford attacks comfortably, and Roger was a virtual spectator. In the dying minutes of the half, the Swans again piled on the pressure, and a low shot from Johnrose was turned away for a corner. Nugent got his head to the resultant kick, only to see it flash wide. Just as we were anticipating our half-time cuppa, Oxford keeper Woodman over-stepped his area while making a routine clearance, and eagle-eyed Hereford linesman Andy Williams had his flag up in a flash - the Swans had been gifted a free kick for handball directly in front of goal, eighteen yards out. Excitement rose as the wall formed, and Trundle sized up his chances of repeating last Saturday's winning goal against Macclesfield. Rather than lifting it over the wall, however, Magic Daps could only blast it waist-high, and instead of turning the resulting ricochet to the unmarked Robinson on his left, he attempted to dribble through four or five onrushing defenders, who hacked the ball clear. We found ourselves in the half-time queue for coffee next to Roberto Martinez, and overheard him saying he hopes to make a comeback in a reserve game this week. Watching this match, we couldn't help thinking that his midfield influence is the biggest missing factor in the Swans armoury at present. The second half started much the same as the first, lots of probing by both sides, sustained bouts of head tennis in midfield, but no goalmouth action. On 10 minutes, however, Duffy carelessly lost the ball on the wing. It was quickly fed to the breaking Wanless in the centre, and Roger, at full stretch, gratefully watched his curving shot from twenty yards evade the far post by inches. Back came the Swans, and after 20 minutes carved out their best chance of the night. Britton stole the ball from an Oxford attack, and powered forward with from his own half with Andy Robinson at his side. For the first time all evening Oxford had extended themselves, and as their defence desperately back-pedalled, Britton switched the ball to Robinson, who surged into the penalty area and hit a low shot destined for the corner of the net until Woodman, diving at full stretch, just managed to fingertip the ball around the post for a corner. Nothing came of the resultant kick. As the half wore on, the Swans were clearly tiring, and Hylton was introduced to replace a limping Howard, followed soon afterwards by Connelly in place of Nugent. The changes had little effect, however, and Hylton soon found himself in the book for an outrageously late tackle in midfield. Oxford introduced two subs of their own and, seemingly still fresh from their weekend off, thanks to no FA Cup involvement, ominously began to get the upper hand in midfield. Roger had to be alert on several occasions to snuff out crosses as they began to make progress down the right wing at the expense of Hylton. Duffy also visibly tired, and gave several balls away in dangerous areas, thankfully none of which Oxford capitalised on. The last few minutes of the game fizzled out with both teams anxious not to give away their hard-won point. The final moment of excitement was generated by the booking of Matthew Bound for a trip on Leon Britton, who by this time was beginning to resemble a well-used punch bag. Trundle put the resulting free kick on the edge of the area tamely into the waiting arms of Woodman, to cap a poor night for him. At the final whistle the crowd gave both teams generous applause, on a night when defences clearly enjoyed the upper hand. Player ratings: Freestone (8) - little to do in the first half, but was rock solid when called on, and also kicked well for a change Howard (8) - another good defensive performance after his mid-season dip in form O'Leary (9) - my MOTM. Up against some powerful attackers, but always strong and committed in the tackle, and dominant in the air. Hardly put a foot wrong all night. Iriekpen (8) - a worthy partner for O'Leary, very solid in all departments. Duffy (7) - some classy tackles to dispossess forwards and some good surging runs, but dropped a couple of second half clangers, which nearly cost us dear Robinson (8) - another tireless performance, never stopped running, but took some big hits and was limping at the end Britton (6) - didn't relish Oxford's over-physical approach and was not as lively as usual Johnrose (7) - sat back to cover the defence most of the time and got through a lot of work Maylett (6) - kept trying, but rarely got the better of his markers, and failed to deliver any really telling crosses Trundle (6) - heavily marked and virtually anonymous for much of the game Nugent (6) - won his share of headers and battled hard, but his lack of pace continues to embarrass him Subs : Connolly (5) - hardly involved, looked completely out of touch. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but surely James Thomas would have been a better option against the muscle-bound Oxford defence? Hylton (5) - found it hard to get started, looks to be lacking confidence and match fitness In conclusion, it was disappointing not to take all three points, but although we battled hard, the creative spark was missing against a very tough, ruthless and efficient Oxford side that, on this performance, look destined to top the table come May. Swansea City 0 Oxford 0
By Paul Smith
8,896 fans were at the Vetch to see the Swans take on top of the league Oxford United. A significant increase on Saturday considering the divisions top side brought only 331 supporters down the M4 for this encounter.
The first real chance for the Swans came on the eleventh minute when Maylett passed a clever ball from the right hand side to Johnrose who shot just over the bar from outside the area. An Andy Robinson shot that was fired from outside the box was deflected over for a corner shortly afterwards.
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