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Cheltenham 1 Swansea City 3 | |
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Cheltenham 1 Swansea City 3 More Match Pictures online Match Report - Dave Williams
Swans took the field with the expected starting lineup with Tate in for Gurney at right back. Gueret
Tate Monk Austin Ricketts Forbes Martrinez O'Leary Robinson Connor Trundle Bench: Murphy, Britton, Nugent, Fisken, Jones Swans were first to go on the attack and were in the Robins box within two of minutes of the start with Tate joining in the attack in a surprisingly forward role but Cheltenham also forced an early corner which was only half cleared and resulted in a shot over the bar from about 25 yards out.Almost immediately a long ball out of the Swans defence found Trundle near the penalty spot and he juggled the ball onto his left foot only to sky his shot high into the wire netting behind the goal. A minute or so later, he hit a fierce cross from the right which nearly surprised the Cheltenham keeper at his near post as he scrambled it away. At least I think it was a cross, you never know with Trundle. Meanwhile, Robinson got involved in his first of a number of petulant scuffles with the Robins right back. Martinez was quite involved at this stage but had already misplaced a couple of cushion headers when he tried an overambitious 40 yard crossfield pass which was intercepted and set up a Cheltenham attack which fortunately came to nothing. 
Swans were playing a high tempo game with both Tate and Ricketts effectively joining the attack at every opportunity. Robinson found Trundle with a long ball but he didn't have the pace to beat his marker. The resulting corner was poorly cleared and fell to O'Leary only 12 yards out presenting him with the best chance of the game so far but he completely missed the ball when he should at least have got a clear shot on target. Fortunately for him and the Swans, he got an immediate chance to atone. A lovely angled pass in from Tate wide right found Connor near the penalty spot with his back to goal. As he tried to turn his marker the ball broke to O'Leary following up and this time he smashed the ball inside the keeper's right hand post from the edge of the box for 1-0. 
There were probably a few hundred fans still in the snackbar queues and toilets when the first notable event of the second half occurred. After only about 20 seconds of the restart, Ricketts appeared down the left just outside the Cheltenham area, sidestepped one player, then another, then floated a right foot cross to the far post. It looked like an easy keeper's ball but Trundle jumped with him and somehow squeezed the ball in for 2-0 to shell-shock the Cheltenham players and fans. 
Just as Swansea had been in the first half, Cheltenham were now spurred on by the goal and they at last got their game together and started knocking the ball around with more confidence and were looking dangerous with Spencer getting a clear header in front of goal which he put over. It was now 'game on' with the Robins looking capable of forcing their way back into the game. The Swans were still breaking dangerously and a typical Trundle shimmy worked some space for a right foot shot but unfortunately he shot over. The Cheltenham pressure was beginning to tell and Monk uncharacteristically knocked a soft backpass to Willy which went for a corner. There was another brawl in the Swans goalmouth which saw the Robins' Vincent booked before Swans again zipped down the other end where Connor appeared to shoot over the bar from about 1 yard out and Forbes blasted a 20 yarder over the bar. 
So a good result against a battling Cheltenham side although we looked the more accomplished side for most of the game and deserved the win. It was nice to score three goals too.
Match Report - Clive Gareth & David A very crisp autumn day saw the Swans win 3-1 at Cheltenham and now face Stockport away in the next round. A bigger than average crowd of 4551 saw the game due mostly to the 1,600 Swans fans that travelled to the game. With Gurney suspended it was Alan Tate who came in to play at right back with Andy Robinson returning to midfield after missing three games.
 Swans Line-Up
Gueret
The game started off very slowly, with neither team taking control. It was a case of each team taking wrong options and giving the ball back to the opposition. There was one very early scare for the Swans as a corner was cleared out of the area and with no-one going to close down Bird sent a powerful shot high and wide. Not to be outdone at the other end Trundle shot very, very high over the bar clearing the netting at the back of the terrace. Ricketts was caught late by Devaney who came one of many players booked. Just over 15mins had gone when it looked as if the Swans were to go ahead. A clearance to the edge of the box, came to O'Leary who totally missed the ball, Martinez stretched to put the ball back into the area but it was deflected for a goal-kick. Tate Monk Austin Ricketts Forbes Martinez O'Leary and Robinson Trundle & Connor Subs Murphy Jones Britton Fiskin and Nugent We only had to wait a couple of minutes when a repeat performance from O'Leary this time saw the ball hit the back of the net before keeper Higgs could move. A sweet shot and sheer power. The Swans were now bossing the game with Cheltenham restricted to long range shots that were in most cases blocked without troubling Gueret. So much was the domination that with 5mins to go to half-time we went to sleep at the back allowing a deep cross reach 2 players on the Cheltenham left inside the six yard box. Devaney headed for the near corner only to see Gueret clear with his legs. The corner also caused problems with Austin having to clear.
 Half time saw us deservedly in the lead, but those scares towards the end of the first half were a little worrying. Within 2mins of the restart that worry had gone as a deep cross from the left by Ricketts was headed in at the far post by Trundle to double the lead. Cheltenham used subs now and became more attacking minded, but although the change in attack was causing the defence more problems than the first half, they were holding well and again there was no real threat on the Swans goal. What was needed was a third to kill the game off. As the game came towards the mid point of the second half, what had been at best a niggly game, came close to boiling over, as some late tackles and off the ball pushing and shoving crept into the game. On 70mins Cheltenham got a goal that they hadn't looked like scoring A free kick into the area saw players from both sides hack away at the ball as it bounced around in the area with Spencer getting the final touch to put the ball over the line. A bit of pushing and shoving on the goal line then resulted in most players getting involved in 'hand bags'. The result was a booking for Trundle. A surprise as many others could easily have followed. The next 10mins saw a different game as Cheltenham played the direct approach, getting the ball high into our area as soon as they could. There were some close shaves as the defence for the first time came under concerted pressure.
There were some heroic last ditch blocks by the team who weren't going to give the game away. Around the 80th minute mark the Swans had seemed to have taken all Cheltenham could throw at them and were now back in the game. Connor put the ball over from close range and Robinson sent a shot wide. A double substitution saw Britton replace Forbes and Nugent replace Trundle. A couple of half hearted attempts on goal by Cheltenham, before Fiskin replaced Robinson for the last few minutes. With us looking as if we were to hold out for a 2-1 win Britton put a ball through to Connor on the left of goal. With the keeper advancing he coolly lifted over him into the net. 3-1 and it was all over. 4minutes of added time, but nothing much was going to stop a well earned win. Player Comments
Gueret - Not much to do in the first half, solid when called on Match Report - Dai Smith
The lure of the FA Cup coupled with the reasonable short trip to Cheltenham saw the full allocation of 1,600 tickets being sold. The quantity of Swans fans certainly gave the tie the feel of a home game. The Swans lined up with Alan Tate replacing the suspended Gurney.
Gueret,
Tate, Austin, Monk, Ricketts, Forbes , Martinez, O'Leary, Robinson Trundle , Connor. Subs: (Britton 80),(Nugent 79),(Fisken 88), Murphy, Jones.  The Swans dominated the opening exchanges with early shots for both Trundle and Robinson and the visiting fans did not have to wait long to for the first goal. A fine right footed drive into the corner from Kristian O'Leary sent the visiting fans into rapture. Cheltenham came back into the game in the latter stages of the half and went close on two occasions before half time. Martin Devaney ghosting in at the far post unmarked went close with a diving header and Jamie Victory had an effort cleared off the line on the stroke of half-time. The second half couldn't have started better. A few seconds after the restart the ball broke down the left hand side for Sam Ricketts. He cut back onto his right foot and delivered a cross to the back post for Trundle to finish of with a rare header.
The Swans appeared to be coasting with their two goal lead until a 70th minute goal mouth scramble allowed the home side to peg one back. The goal provoked a 20 man handbags at 5 paces exchange as the Cheltenham players wanted to retrieve the ball from the net quickly and the Swans were unwilling to release the ball. Cheltenham's goal seemed to spark them to life and they enjoyed their best spell of the game with a number of dangerous crosses being delivered into the penalty area. However it was the Swans who were to have the final say with substitute Leon Britton delivering an excellent ball for Connor who burst through the home defence and lifted the ball over the advancing keeper.  Player Ratings
Gueret - One nice save, one good punch clear. Little to do for large parts of the game.
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