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Swansea 1-2 Torquay - Nigel Gigg
Swans first league outing for three weeks and after a succession of players leaving the club, two new faces to welcome, well one new and one old.
Shaun Byrne arrived on loan from West Ham, and came in at right-back, and Alan Tate made the move we'd all hoped for. However following a bout of flu he took a seat on the bench.
Without the mercurial Lee Trundle, Swansea started with James Thomas and Kevin Nugent up-front. The midfield lacked Leon Britton who had a groin strain. Andy Robinson lined up to play a more central role with Karl Connolly on the left side of midfield.
Freestone
Byrne - O'Leary - Iriekpen - Howard
Maylett - Martinez - Robinson - Connolly
Thomas - Nugent
Subs: Murphy, Hylton, Tate, Coates, Pritchard
After all the rain over the last 7 days, the pitch was in excellent condition which is testament to the hard work of the ground staff and vitally important as Lee Trundle is now clear to play next week.
After a lacklustre opening twenty minutes in which Torquay just about had the better of things, a dreadful mix up between Roberto Martinez and Kris O'Leary which presented Torquay with tha ball and one man over. They took full advantage, and David Graham left Roger with no chance from ten yards out.
Just three minutes later and Izzy Iriekpen played a woeful pass across the back-line which Gritton intercepted - thankfully his chip sailed safely over the bar when he really should have at least hit the target.
On thirty-eight minutes Swansea had their first real shot at goal with a left foot effort from Roberto Martinez from twenty-five yards easily caught by Dearden, the Torquay goalkeeper. They continued to have the better of things especially in midfield, with Karl Connolly in particular losing out far too often. On forty-minutes came the game's first booking, with Torquay centre-half Craig Taylor booked for a late challenge.
The Swans were fortunate to be only 1-0 down at the break, after an inept display.
Izzy Iriekpen took the field for the second half in his white books replacing the bright blue boots in which he slipped up again and again in during the first half.
 Swansea almost levelled things with thirty seconds of the restart with successive shots from Nugent, Robinson and Maylett all blocked.
Four minutes into the second half and a golden opportunity with Maylett fed through. He chose to shoot early and he tried unsuccessfully to place the ball under the body of the advancing keeper.
On fifty minutes big striker Martin Gritton was replaced by Sky TV's Helen Chamberlain's former lodger, the lively Jo Kuffour. Swansea followed suit with a substitution and on fifty-five minutes Jonathan Coates replaced the bitterly disappointing Karl Connolly.
On sixty-five minutes a great cross from Coates and a left footed volley from James Thomas was tipped over by Dearden. Swansea whilst, by no means dominant, were at least creating opportunities.
Brian Flynn tried one more throw of the dice replacing James Thomas with Mark Pritchard.
However, Torquay were spurning chance after chance, and the Swans continued to look shaky in defence. Only Kris O'Leary was having a good game, with Byrne, Iriekpen and Howard all presenting Torquay with chances.
The defence performance was typified by a Michael Howard back pass which was nowhere near Roger, and everyone watched as the ball slipped past the far post.
On eighty minutes with the game seemingly slipping away, Swansea were thrown a lifeline when a shot from Kevin Nugent, from virtually the by-line, seemed to go in off keeper Kevin Dearden.
In many ways the game had mirrored the Preston match, with Swans clawing their way back into a game in which they were clearly second best.
Could the Preston result be replicated? Within four minutes we had the answer when Jo Kuffour skipped through a static defence before drilling a shot past Roger Freestone. Today there was no coming back.
With just sixty seconds to go the Swans forced a corner for which Roger Freestone joined the attack. With everyone waiting for a cross we take a short one, and Roger ends up running back to his own half. So another poor League performance, Brian Flynn can count himself lucky as our cup run is keeping people from calling for his head. Promotion looks a million miles away.
Today the team seemed to have more than just one eye on next week's Cup match. Come May we'll not be in the Cup but we'll still be in the League - the management and players need to remember that.
Freestone - 5 - No chance with the goals but poor distribution again, and another moment of madness charging out of the box and missing the ball.
Byrne - 6 - Didn't look comfortable, but there should be better to come.
Iriekpen - 4 - Worst game I've seen him play. Far too casual and caught in possession too often.
O'Leary - 7 - At fault for the first goal but otherwise had a good game
Howard - 4 - Back at his worst
Maylett - 5 - Disappointing again
Martinez - 5 - Joint responsibility for Torquay's first - chasing shadows for much of the game
Robinson - 7 - Started poorly but got better. Never say die attitude.
Connolly - 3 - Great with the ball at his feet but really doesn't look as if he can move freely. Didn't contribute anything
Thomas - 5 - Little support and certainly not the threat in front of goal, that Lee Trundle is.
Nugent - 6 - Worked hard but starved of crosses from either flank.
Subs:
Coates - 6 - Vast improvement on Connolly but that doesn't say much
Pritchard - 5 - Never really got into the game
Tate - Not on long enough, but will have a place next week after Izzy's performance today.
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Swansea City 1 Torquay 2
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