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Swansea City 2 Preston North End1

Saturday 24th January 2004-01-24
F A Cup 4th Round

The attraction of higher division opponents, rather than a clear blue sky, is usually the starting gun for an influx of the often unfairly tagged fair weather supporters, but today with the threat of inclement climatic conditions holding off a superb crowd of 10,201 arrived at Vetch Field to witness the first FA Cup meeting between these two teams since the historic 1964 encounter.

One part of the pre-match entertainment involved the presentation to the crowd of four surviving members of the 1964 Swans team, namely Keith Todd, Herbie Williams, Barrie Jones and Jimmy McLaughlin, who had travelled from Ireland for the game.

The other part of the pre-match fun, for those who watched, was provided by the stewards and First Aid men folding up the very large circular Bergoni advert that lay in the centre of the pitch - not a bunch of people I'd want to see packing a parachute for me - but anything amusing is welcome after an hour long wait in the cold.

With a great noisy atmosphere in the ground, the Swans lined up as follows

Freestone blocked a Preston shot just on 10 minutes, which was followed by an Izzy header which went over the Preston bar. There was a strong westerly wind which made clean distribution difficult on times, but Roger only sailed one into touch throughout the first half - not sure if anyone had a sweep running on that.

Our central defenders seemed nervous, and we were giving the ball away at almost every opportunity which placed us under un-necessary pressure. We played some neat football in situations where a hefty swing at the ball is what was needed.

Iriekpen never real settled the whole game, but O'Leary did as the game went on and in addition to making some fine blocks in the centre, created several openings, including one superb headed through ball at just above waist height for Maylett.

On 20 minutes Freestone produced an acrobatic tip over the bar from Healy, which won Preston the first of their 12 corners of the game. This did reflect their dominance, but in the end it didn't reflect the outcome.

The only real scare, as opposed to nervous moments, for the Swans in the first half was when Maylett had to head off the line following a corner, despite the high percentage of possession that Preston enjoyed.

Martinez seemed quite assured but still looked one or two games short of full match fitness, but both Robinson and Connolly were having a quiet time. Britton ran everywhere without having a great influence and probably the pick of the midfield first half was Maylett who did take on his marker on a couple of occasions and beat him. A few times we were probably guilty of over complicating things in the middle as well as at the back, and lost the ball in the process.

Up front Trundle was having a hard time, and on the occasions he got the ball past his man, he was the only one there to chase after it. He is at his best when he plays off others and is not as influential or creative when left alone up front.

The half slipped by, with plenty of action but no goals. Preston were physical and we needed to be on top of our game to make sure that we contained them either side of the break.

There were a couple of decisions that the referee could have made which might have quelled the Preston appetite for the over physical challenge but he chose not to, and seemed to penalise for far lesser offences which did nothing more than stir the crowd and annoy the players. Stuart Jones particularly was having a rough time, but stood up well and never shied away from a challenge when it was needed, although he did struggle on occasions againt Lewis on the left.

Despite the defensive shortcomings, they had done well to restrain Ricardo Fuller and this would have to continue into the 2nd half to give us a chance of success or a replay.

Within 2 minutes of the restart, Stuart Jones was replaced by Leon Hylton, with Howard moving over to the right back position.

Preston continued to dominate, but Hylton did offer an attacking option down the left more than Howard had shown in the first half.

On 57 minutes, the almost inevitable happened when Etuhu score with a close range header from another Preston corner. This could have been flood gates opening, but it seemed to have a kick start effect on the Swans' game. On 62 minutes Thomas came on to replace Connolly who had spent an hour running as if his boot laces had been tied together, and with him moving up alongside Trundle, the attacking options were increased. To take advantage of this we had to step up our game, and didn't we just do that - eventually.

For the last quarter of an hour we only went in one direction, and that was forward. There was a determination in our game that hadn't been there before, and we were looking to create from every angle.

With just 10 minutes remaining, Britton won a free kick, and Robinson hit it superbly into the top of the net to the keeper's right - what a goal. What effect would this have on the game? Well it just drove us on, and two minutes later, a good header from Thomas down to Trundle, in the 6 yard box, saw him control it on his chest and turn to shoot past Gould.

Preston looked more than a little shell shocked at this dramatic fight back, but with 8 minutes left, nothing was certain.

We carried on attacking instead of sitting back, which was the right decision, we played around a bit and stalled where we could get away with it. The 3 minutes added at the end was not welcome, but we survived, and a gutsy performance had seen us dispose of a very competent 1st division team. We were very much 2nd best against a very good, fit and physical Preston side for 75 minutes. However, goals win games.

We questioned the decision to start with Connolly, feeling Thomas could fit a role wide left and supporting both midfield and attack. We also felt the decision to play Howard right back and Hylton on the left, when Stuart Jones went off, strange. O'Leary moving to the right and Hylton fitting in at centre half seemed more sensible at the time, but having said that Hylton was superb down the left and O'Leary snuffed out ball after ball through the middle more than making up for his nervous start.

After the recent run of disappointing, and sometimes plainly poor, performances, this result is a great boost to the players, the fans and the club - at the time of writing it is THE upset of the 4th round. Over the past weeks fans from everywhere have been saying we'll be OK when our injured players return, and offering a variety of excuses for our results. Only Giggsy got it right, as this fine win and fighting 2nd half performance was clearly inspired by the return of Kevin Johns, and just possibly by the re-grouping of the Famous Five!!

Freestone - 8 - Excellent. Kept us in the game more than once.

Jones - 7 - Seemed to be targetted by Preston for some awful challenges.
O'leary - 8 - Some poor touches early on but a collosus at times.
Iriekpen - 6 - A few slips but never gave up.
Howard - 7 - Super first half and did well in an uncustomary role 2nd half.

Maylett - 7 - Great first half but drifted out of things.
Britton - 7 - A match for anything they had in midfield on the ball.
Martinez - 7- No suprise he already looks as if he's back at his best.
Robinson - 6 - A quiet game by his excellent standards, but what a free-kick.
Connolly - 5 - Some nice touches but not sure if he was there to bolster the midfield or support Trundle up front, and I don't think he did either.
Trundle - 7 - Never gave up and was past the defender like a flash when JT won the ball in the air for the goal. Superb!
Hylton - 8- Looked like an England U20 international and Premiership player for 45 minutes.
Thomas - 8 - Gave their defenders plenty to think about.
Coates - 7 - Solid and did the holding job for last 5 minutes.

We have a 1 in 5 chance of playing Chelsea, Arsenal or Man Utd (assuming they win tomorrow - and if they don't then we won't have provided the biggest upset either!!).

We await the 5th round draw on Monday with more interest and anticipation than we have done for 24 years, get your radios ready.

Swansea City 2 Preston North End1

With the rain in the week and the promised cold weather next week, it was a bright fresh day at the Vetch, for the FA Cup 4th Round game against Preston. With nearly a home sell out and about 1,000 visiting fans, the Vetch looked the part for the game. Old Vetch favourites Barrie Jones, Keith Todd, Jimmy McLaughlin and Herbie Williams being paraded before the game

The Swans lined up 4-5-1 with Nugent dropping to the bench leaving Trundle the loan front-runner, as for a change we looked to bolster our defensive play. Well that may have been the idea, but it was at the opposite end where we started the brighter with Trundle having a chance within the first minute. The chance came a little to early in the game as he took a couple of seconds too long allowing Gould the chance to block. It was a frantic end-to-end opening as both teams had half chances, with Britton sliding in only for the ball to go wide. After the opening 10 mins it was Preston who got the upper hand going close on a few occasions with Roger coming to the rescue. One world class save saw him diving to turn a blistering shot from outside the area over the bar. More Preston pressure came with Maylett heading off the line. The team battled but all the football and chances were from Preston as the looked confidant on the ball and solid in defence. As well as Roger’s saves and some last gasp defending, the game stayed goalless due to Preston’s lack of a cutting edge. Jones was clattered by a Preston player will watching the ball go out for a goal kick and needed lengthy treatment for a shoulder injury. Trundle was also in the wars receiving a kick in the face in a challenge. A few minutes later Preston’s Davis went to ground in what seemed to be an off the ball incident not seen by either ref or assistant. The fourth official although had seen something and Trundle was booked.

So an entertaining half came to a close at 0-0. A half dominated by Preston but a battling performance by the Swans. The pace had dropped a bit for the start of the second half, but an early booking for Preston for a foul on Martinez and Jones being replaced by Hylton with Howard moving to right back. The change seemed to affect the Swans as again Preston took control. No clear-cut chances but the pressure was mounting. On the hour Preston got the goal their play deserved with a near post header by Etuhu from a corner. Reality said that Preston should go on to win the game, a change after a further 5 mins saw Thomas replace Connolly as the Swans reverted to 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 with Maylett playing wide.

The change did spur the Swans as Thomas added a bit more up front with Trundle tiring in his lone role. With 10mins to go the game changed dramatically when a perfect free kick from Robinson cleared the wall from 25yards nestling perfectly in the top corner. As you’d expect the Vetch erupted. We had clawed ourselves back into the game and a replay could be on the cards. But no 2 mins later a move started by Trundle saw a cross headed back across the area by Thomas for Trundle to kill the ball in one movement on his chest and volley the ball past Gould.

A volcano could not have erupted with more power that met the goal. From going out, then a replay, the Swans were staring the 5th round in the face. Robinson went down with cramp and was replaced by Coates. Preston now upped the pace, where they had looked to waste some time every second became precious. It was a frantic rearguard action for a few minutes with Rog again pulling off a point blank save with the rebound off a Preston player going wide, until the last 2 mins saw the Swans take control using the corner flag areas as the outlet. More ecstatic scenes met the final whistle, as the noise around the vetch was deafening.

The team had battled against a useful Preston side around 50 league placing above them. With a bit more sharpness in front of goal Preston should have been in a position not to let the Swans back into the game. This is the magic of the cup and the fans added to the atmosphere that allowed the victory to happen.

As already stated the team battled well. The defence started shakily with Izzy slicing quite a few clearances, but grew in stature as the game progressed. Special mention to Krys O’ Leary (Man of the Match as well as becoming a dad in the week). Martinez started slowly but came more influential as the game went on. There have over the last couple of weeks been calls for Rog to have a rest. The answer today – he was awesome.

Some players more than others can be mentioned but they all did their bit.

Whilst not being overly critical of the referee’s performance, a few decisions did seem to favour Preston.

Those last 10mins will become part of cup folklore let’s hope we can take the performance into our league games and get back into play-off contention.

We left the ground to ‘What a Beautiful Day’

Says it all.

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