Match report

A beautiful clear day for the short Yuletide trip to the League's bottom club.

Kiddie had two new players featuring including former Swans trialist Blair Sturrock who started on the bench. Former Swan Lee Jenkins started in midfield.

Prior to the start, a surreal moment, as new Kiddie manager Stuart Watkiss was interviewed on the pitch explaining the difficulties he was having in getting players in and describing the desperate blight the club was facing. Hardly rousing stuff for the natives!

Swans came into the game with Kris O'Leary still sidelined and Sam Ricketts sitting out his one match suspension. Garry Monk was still missing courtesy of the FAW. Ijah Anderson stepped in at left back and Alan Tate continued in midfield.

Side- Gueret, Gurney, Iriekpen, Austin, Anderson, Forbes, Tate, Martinez, Goodfellow, Connor, Trundle. Subs- Murphy, Jones, Maylett, Robinson, Nugent.

Swansea kicked off and attacked down the right immediately. Kidderminster looked desperate to get in a few early challenges and they only managed to bring Trundle down near the touchline. From the resultant free kick, Adrian Forbes knocked the ball to Andy Gurney and his low cross bounced up off the ground to Paul Connor at the far post about chest height. He stooped to head home virtually unchallenged and the first of many inquests began in the Kidderminster defence. Only 36 seconds gone and Kidderminster provide Swansea with a great Christmas present.

It couldn't have been a better start for the Swans and they continued to look dominant for the opening minutes. After just 8 minutes Swans made it two. For the second time, Lee Trundle was fouled out wide, this time on the left. Roberto Martinez's inswinging freekick dropped into a crowd of players including Gurney, Iriekpen and Austin and also Kiddie keeper Ryan Clarke. The ball emerged from the huddle of players heading goalward and trickled across the line. Judging from his party piece celebration it seemed Izzy Iriekpen was claiming the goal.

Clarke in the Kiddie goal looked distraught in this his third game against the Swans this season having previously played for Bristol Rovers reserves at the Vetch on Lee Trundle's comeback game from injury and also for Southend, on loan, in their 4-2 victory over the Swans a couple of months back.

His defence had done him no favours in the opening minutes and the rest of his team were little better giving up possession to easily.

After three or four awful challenges Kiddie's Tom Bennett, the man who nearly finished Roberto Martinez's career with a reckless challenge last season, was finally booked for a dreadful lunge at Ijah Anderson.

At this stage Swans looked in total control although they sat deep and allowed Kidderminster to come at them. The game was looking easy and 3 points seemed there for the taking. It really seemed just a question how many we were going to win by.

However, Andy Gurney had other ideas. On 29 minutes he attempted to juggle with the ball on the half way line and was dispossessed by 2 Kidderminster players. With the ball long gone he childishly kicked out at one under the nose of referee Mr Cowburn. A red card was totally justified. It will probably go down as a red card for violent conduct, but was really a red card for stupidity.

Gurney's actions were inexcusable and few will have sympathy with any action Kenny Jackett deems suitable. Gurney has been a fantastic addition to a strong Swansea squad this season and has looked a player that is more than capable of playing at a higher level, as indeed he did with Swindon last year. However, he has a nasty and childish streak that he needs to sort out if he isn't to become a liability.

Thankfully, Kidderminster looked incapable of taking advantage of the man advantage Gurney had so kindly offered them. Swans continued to sit back and trying to catch Kiddie on the break. On one such break Paul Connor was put through on goal by a defence splitting pass from Roberto Martinez. Connor's first touch was terrible however, and the defence was able to clear.

For the remainder of the half Swans had next to no scares and Adrian Forbes had deputised well for Gurney.

For the second half Swansea needed do no more than defend as they had in the first half and look to grab one more goal that would certainly finish any ideas Kiddie may have had about getting back into the game.

Ten minutes in the second half and Plan A. seemed to be working as Martinez and Connor linked well to free Lee Trundle. Trundle burst into the penalty area and seemed to be preparing to shoot when he was bundled over. There was absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind about the penalty. My immediate thought was whether the defender would stay on the field. Incredibly Mr Cowburn saw no infringement and waved play on.

Having been denied the penalty Lee Trundle did little else in the second half and was substituted on 72 minutes by Andy Robinson who went to right side midfield leaving Paul Connor on his own upfront. Being 2-0 up and down to minutes this was understandable, as we were under very little pressure from a poor Kiddie strike- force.

With the game drifting towards a rather tame 0-2 scoreline, with ten minutes remaining Paul Connor was replaced by Kevin Nugent and Kiddie replaced their one decent defender Sall with Burns who was making his debut.

At this stage Willy had still not made single save in the game and it came as a huge shock when Kiddie got back into the game. Left full back Beswetherick, who had come the brunt of many fans cheers for his constant over hitting of passes, send over a pinpoint cross which Birch met with a glancing near post header that flew past Willy into the far corner of the net.

Swans dominance was now challenged and the thought of a 2-2 draw seemed to bring out the best for the remaining minutes. The large travelling contingent of Swans fans played their part in urging the players forward.

With just 3 minutes remaining, great interplay between Andy Robinson and Marc Goodfellow ended with Goodfellow dancing past one defender and in attempting to go round substitute Burns, he was upended leaving Mr Cowburn with little option other than to give Swans the penalty. Burns was booked, when he should probably have walked.

Robinson made no mistake from the spot sending Clarke the wrong way.

With the fans still celebrating and the Kidderminster end of the ground rapidly emptying Swans made it four. Kevin Nugent and Andy Robinson linked and freed Marc Goodfellow, he ran at the keeper and fired a terrific shot from around 12 yards that gave Clarke no chance.

With around 60 seconds of injury time remaining Kevin Nugent and Andy Robinson seemed to be running the clock down in the corner, only for Robinson to start a run infield. He struck a shot from the edge of the box with his left foot which beat Clarke on his near post and rounded off the first stage of our Xmas campaign perfectly.

A good performance marred only by Gurney's petulance. Kiddie were probably about the worst League outfit we have seen in the last few years and we will have much tougher games ahead of us. Of that there is no doubt. But a 5-1 win with 10 men isn't bad for starters.

Player ratings-

Gueret 7 - Very little to do and made his one and only save in injury time.

Gurney 4 - Was having a good game until the red mist descended.
Iriekpen 7 - Commanding in the air. Not sure about his celebration.
Austin 7 - Usual dependable game.
Anderson 7 - Kiddie seemed to do all their attacking down our left but he stood up well to the challenge.

Forbes 9 - Superb performance. Totally committed.
Tate 7 - Usual couple of giveaways but that apart very solid.
Martinez 8 - Captain Fantastic at his best.
Goodfellow 7 - Looked excellent on the ball. Won us a penalty and scored another cracking goal.

Connor 7- If only his first touch matched his workrate. Good all round performance.
Trundle 6 - His reputation led to the two freekicks that led to our first two goals and earned a penalty which the referee missed. That apart a very quiet game for Mr T.

Subs -
Robinson 7 - Scored two, made one, in just 15 minutes.
Nugent 7 - Didn't seem to do much, but had a hand in 3 goals!
Jones - Only on for two minutes.

Kidderminster 1 Swansea City 5
Match Report by Clive Gareth & David Hughes

After the Shrewsbury game we commented, where on earth did that game come from? Well today's game can have the same comment.

On a very cold day three quarters of the pitch was bathed in sunlight apart from the area in front of the goal that that Kidderminster defended in the first half. This area still showed signs of frost being in shadow for all the game.

More enforced changes saw the Swans line-up.

Luckily so poor were Kidderminster in the final third that the Swans goal was not threatened. Kidderminster were putting in many frustrating tackles, which until the 20th minute had been allowed unpunished by the referee. One foul too many saw Bennett booked. While Kidderminster were being so were the Swans fans as the team were offering very little in attack. As the half-hour mark neared, Gurney got involved in a few exchanged tackles on the half way line in front of the dug- outs. He kicked out at Russell and received a straight red. This gave Kidderminster a slight boost as the Swans went 4-3-2 with Forbes dropping back to the right back position. The game lost much as it drifted to halt time with only an Iriekpen attempt on goal going wide.

Half time still had us thinking we only had to step up a gear to kill the game off. This was still not the case, as the game continued with Kidderminster being the more dominant team but with no real threat on our goal. Birch having three attempts that didn't worry Gueret in the slightest. After 10mins ex Swans trialist Sturrock replaced top scorer Foster. With 20mins to go Robinson replaced Trundle and within 5 mins Nugent replaced Connor. At this stage it looked as if the Swans had settled for a 2-0 win. Kidderminster hadn't as they mounted more and more pressure with some of our defending becoming more and more desperate. Their breakthrough came on 82 minutes when a deep cross into the area saw Sturrock send a glancing header into the net with Gueret rooted to the spot. The next 5mins were unnerving to say the least. Kidderminster sent long balls forward at every occasion. Our normally solid defence did look ragged at this stage although still did just enough. We were put at ease on 85mins when Goodfellow went on a run down the left beating two men he cut into the area along and was brought down by Burns who was booked. With Trundle already replaced Robinson tool the spot kick sending it mid height inside the keeper's right hand post. Relief at last as the game was won at 3-1.

On 90mins a long ball forward was helped on by Nugent to Goodfellow who took a few steps forward and from just inside the corner of the area sent a cross shot into the far corner. 4-1. It was still not over as with 1 minute of added time to go Robinson cut in from the right along the penalty area, shooting and beating the keeper at his near post. 5-1 and this time it was all over.

Players Comments.

Gueret - Not one of his best performances. Many poor kicks that went for throw-ins. Although strong, wanted to punch balls where catches were possible.

Gurney - His performances have deteriorated and the red card has been coming. Was not in the game, but letting teammates and fans down in this way was very unprofessional.
Iriekpen - Solid performance and another game under his belt as he looks for match fitness.
Austin - Solid, but not up to his very high standards.
Anderson - Very match rusty, seemed very unsure of which option to take. Did however put in a couple of good tackles in the worrying 80-85 period.
Forbes - Man of the match. While in midfield played a good defensive role but at right back was awesome. Here there and everywhere. Not recommending he revert to full back but could be an option while Gurney serves his suspension.
Martinez - Much the same from him, a captain's role but also loose passes.
Tate - An average game, but not one that puts him above O'Leary in the pecking order.
Goodfellow. - Offered us a get out with his pace but does shirk tackles. Took his goal well and a good run into the box for the penalty.
Connor - Worked well in the first half and took his goal well. Invisible in the second.
Trundle. - What can you say? After last weeks 3 goals we should have seen an on-fire performance. Never got out of first gear.
Subs
Robinson - Not in the game. Took the penalty well and a good run for his goal.
Nugent - As Robinson not in the game but a good lay-off for Goodfellow's goal.

Final Comments.
How can we be critical after winning 5-1 away from home? After the dream start this result was there for the taking and not by three very late goals. We sat back, maybe seeing that Kidderminster offered very little, but we were nearly caught out. The result should never have been in doubt, and for most part it was a very jaded performance from a team that was doing just enough. Hopefully it was conserving energy, for the bust period we are in. An excellent result but not a 5 star performance. On the positive side we could say we took everything that Kidderminster had to offer, had a shock and then killed them off.

To the fans that did the good natured pitch invasion at the final whistle. Even though it was in celebration it can still give you a ban from football and even more importantly if at the Vetch a fine for the club
Stats suplied by Soccernet.com

Would you like your match report printed here? Email it to the site straight after the match.
Click here to return to the main page.