Match report

Match Report - Nigel Gigg

Swansea City 4 Notts County 0

Swans return to action 4 days after the FA Cup win over Stockport and welcomed Notts County to the Vetch for the last game before Christmas.

Notts County would have been many peoples favourites for a return to Coca Cola League division One this year following their relegation in May. However, they have struggled to come to terms with life in Division Two and came into today's game lying in 20th place. They will have been boosted however, following Wednesday's FA Cup win over Swindon Town, when ex Cardiff City striker Gavin Gordon bagged a brace to sink the Robins.

For today's game, Kristian O'Leary failed to recover from injury and as expected Alan Tate deputised in central midfield. Andy Robinson missed out through suspension giving a start to Tuesday's hero Marc Goodfellow.

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

Swansea almost grabbed the lead in 30 seconds. Trundle was bought down outside the area and the resultant free kick found the head of Andy Gurney, and his header from just 6 yards was headed down but bounced up and struck the bar. From the resultant scramble Swans appeared to have a penalty claim when a Notts County defender handled the ball. As was to become a recurring theme, referee Mr Andy Woolmer didn't see any offence.

Swans looked the better side in the opening minutes and Goodfellow tested County keeper Deeney from 30 yards which the keeper did well to hold in the wet conditions.

Notts County after their slow start soon got into the game and were passing the ball well. They were helped by a couple of misunderstandings in defence between Willy Gueret and his back four.

Notts County were very physical and meted out some over zealous challenges on Paul Connor and Lee Trundle in particular. Mr Woolmer was letting for too much go by when an early yellow card may well have curbed some of the poor challenges.

Notts County should have taken the lead on half hour when an excellent move down the right caught several Swans players out of position. The far post cross eluded our defenders and fell for Shaun Harrad. He blasted over from 10 yards, when he really should, at least, have hit the target.

The game, like so many others this season was getting into a rut with Swans seeming unable to break down a packed defence. Mr Woolmer didn't help matters with his soft referring towards the Notts County defence.

With half time approaching Lee Trundle was fouled for the umpteenth time on the edge of the box. He stepped up himself and hit his shot through the wall, which seemed to break up as the kick was being taken. The ball went just inside the post comfortably beating the despairing dive of Deeney.
On the stroke of half-time Mr Woolmer found his cards and booked Alan Tate for a poor challenge. Several County players overreacted and both linesmen got involved as several players squared up to one another. Mr Woolmer had originally given the freekick and sent Alan Tate away. He then decided to book him, taking no action against the Notts County players who had started the melee.

On the balance of play 1-0 probably was a little unfair to Notts County but once again a piece of Trundle magic had given Swansea the much needed edge.

Within five minutes of the restart, once again Trundle was pulled down just outside the box. Again he took the kick himself, but his shot sailed meekly over the bar.

With Notts County now forced forward in search of the equaliser, the game opened up and chances were coming at both ends.

Swans were looking threatening and on 60 minutes an excellent move was thwarted just outside the box by Mr Woolmer. Mr Woolmer had stopped a goal scoring opportunity to book County's Matthew Gill who had spoken out of turn. Why he couldn't wait for a break in play only he will know. Predictably the freekick he awarded us came to nothing.

As the rain fell heavier mistakes were becoming more frequent and more goals looked inevitable. The one player to master the deteriorating conditions was Lee Trundle, whose control was superb. This was typified on 70 minutes when he received a freekick from the Swansea half inside the County area. He controlled the ball to perfection and let the ball fall to his feet, he then turned his marker and fired a left foot shot into the corner of the net. It was classic Trundle and the sort of quality we have not seen at the Vetch in a generation.

Five minutes later and with Swans playing the best football of the game Paul Connor made it 3-0 and killed the game off. A short corner was returned to Marc Goodfellow. His well floated cross was met at the far post by Andy Gurney and he picked out Paul Connor perfectly. Connor made no mistake with the header from 6 yards.

With 10 minutes left Lee Trundle was bought down yet again on the edge of the box and he took the option of taking a quick freekick which forced Deeney into an excellent save and denying Trundle his hat-trick.

County having been Trundlised showed spirit and went close on several occasions.

With 8 minutes left Swans looked to have scored a fourth through Paul Connor. A fierce shot from Andy Gurney was spilled by Deeney and Paul Connor reacted well and lashed the ball into the roof of the net only to be flagged dubiously for offside by the linesman.

Sam Ricketts then fired a piledriver which Deeney did well to tip over.

As the game was going into injury time Ricketts again beat the full back and raced into the area. As he was about to pull the ball back, he was upended, giving Mr Woolmer no choice other than to award a penalty. Lee Trundle stepped up and to no surprise smashed the ball into the roof of the net for his hat-trick.

Just to round off Deeney's day, after throwing the ball away for the second time in two minutes, he got involved in a scuffle with one of his own players. Surprise, surprise no booking for throwing the ball away (twice) or the scuffle.

So, a great second half performance from a rampant Swans who gave out the thumping to County that they have been threatening for months.

Gueret 7 - Poor understanding with defenders early on, but settled and pulled off one great save second half.
Gurney 6 - Still some way off his best, but thankfully stayed out of trouble today.
Iriekpen 7 - First game back and looked as if he'd never been away.
Austin 7 - Like Willy, a little uncertain early on, but got better and better as the game went on.
Ricketts 9 - Excellent game. Robbed of MOM by the scouser who ran off with the match ball.

Forbes 8 - Wholehearted display and deserving of a goal for his efforts.
Tate 8 - Fitted in well in midfield, always made himself available and excellent in winning the ball all over the field.
Martinez 7 - Quiet game.
Goodfellow 6 - Pushed off the ball too easily, too often first half. After the second goal went in he was given time and space and showed what he is capable of.

Connor 7 - Nice to see him score and as usual gave 100% effort.
Trundle 9.5 - Quiet for 40 minutes but outstanding for the rest of the game. His second goal will live in the memory for some time and many VCR's will be set to record it when the highlights are shown .

Match Report - Clive, Gareth and David Hughes

Swansea City 4 Notts County 0
Every club must dread the fixture list that gives them a home game on the last Saturday before Christmas. It normally means a low crowd. Whilst the crowd of 6,609 is down on the average it was a creditable turn out with the performances we have witnessed lately. With what has become the norm lately, the team had changes due to suspensions. It was good to see Izzy back as replacement for Monk. Tate moved into midfield to replace the injured O'Leary. Britton still injured and Robinson serving another match ban.

Anyway to the game. It was a frantic opening and it looked like we would be celebrating a goal within the first minute as a downward header from Gurney/Connor bounced up and rebounded off the bar and cleared through a mad scramble. It was a good start that had everyone on their feet, but it was a false dawn as the play deteriorated dramatically.

Neither team put in any moves of note, and the keepers could have taken some light reading as neither were brought into play bar from the odd long range effort that offered nothing. On 15mins our talk was that County were a poor side that were there for the taking, but on the balance of play could quite easily snatch a goal. It really was dire, as first touches were poor, passes went astray. On the half hour mark, Notts County created a chance with a flowing move as the ball was fed out from the centre spot to the right wing. A deep cross to the far post was met on the half volley by Harrod near the six yard line.

It had goal written all over it, but he managed to miss the goal completely. A very lucky let off. The game again drifted, with a few unwarranted tackles being made, although not threatening to boil over, a stronger display from the ref was needed. Our attack lacked cohesion with Trundle wanting a shot on goal every time he received the ball, but was crowded out by defenders. With only a couple of minutes to go to half time he did win a free kick outside the box slightly to the right of goal. As players lined up he took a quick pot shot, putting the ball just inside the post before the keeper could react. The relief was plain to see among the players as they celebrated. With only a few seconds left to play Tate lost the ball, chased the County player catching him late and getting a yellow card. Another needless one adding to our collection.

The second half started with the Swans looking more positive, but again things weren't working in attack. Plenty of effort, but again were not hurting a County defence that seemed more and more shaky. On the hour mark with mounting Swansea pressure the County defence was split and as Gurney shaped to shoot from the edge of the box the ref blew to talk to a County player. Advantage lost. The game was crying out for a second Swans goal that their play deserved. It came on 70mins in true Trundle style, controlling a ball into his chest, turning a defender and shooting low into the net. At 2-0 the game was over. The Swans were now in total control and playing football at the other end of the spectrum from the first half. Within 5mins we were 3-0 up as a deep cross from the right by Goodfellow was headed back across goal by Gurney for Connor to plant a header into the net.

We were now rampant as County became more and more ragged. The ball moved from player to player in what was the best period of play we have seen for a while. Shots were now raining in on goal, a fourth looked on the cards as a shot by Forbes was blocked by the keeper, Connor putting the rebound into the net before being given offside. In the last minute Ricketts went on a strong run from the halfway line cutting into the area, and as he was about to cross was brought down. A penalty and no-one was in any doubt who would take it. Trundle kept his cool 4-0. There was still time for two more attacks, the last one resulting with keeper and defender having a push and shove match, surprisingly no cards shown although both had raised their hands.
Well something was in that Welsh rain. The first half showed two teams playing out the season. The second half especially after the second goal saw a championship display from the Swans. Admittedly we did have a period around 75-80 when County put us under pressure, but the half was well and truly ours.
Player Comments
Gueret - Very uncertain start but back to his usual self after the opening 15mins.
Gurney - Not quiet involved , the weakness in defence today.
Iriekpen - Good performance but understandably match rusty.
Austin - A defensive wall on his own.
Ricketts - Another good performance with freedom to attack in the second half.
Forbes - Full of running and commitment. Only criticism is that he needs to make decisions a second earlier.
Martinez - A very poor first half with wayward passes. Much better second half defensively
Tate - A good performance with a couple of forward runs. Understandably tended to drift back to centre half, at least can fill in if needed.
Goodfellow - Not involved in the first half but much brighter in the second.
Connor - Battled and took his goal well, unfortunate not to get a second.
Trundle - Both sides of him today. Frustrating in the first half and match winner in the second.

Other Comments.
A great result that could have been a higher score.
The first half performance was bad with no-one looking for the ball.
Can we take this into the Christmas period? County were poor, but the second half performance, well from the hour mark, was impressive.
Let's not let one great result cloud the issue, that we are still short on firepower. We should have killed this game off in the first half.
An early Christmas present but we have some tricky matches over the next 2 weeks which should set us up for a promotion run-in.
Final Comment
The club has made great financial strides, but yet again some moron thinks it clever to threaten a fine from the FAW for yet another object thrown. Someone must know who is doing it, it comes from the same area every time. A quiet word is needed, your £6 or £11 will take a long time repaying £X, 000's in fines.

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