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Match report |
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Swansea City 1 Orient 0 | |
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Swansea City 1 Orient 0 - Match Report by Nigel Gigg
Saturday's defeat at Southend saw Swansea lose top spot. Tonight gave them an immediate opportunity to regain their place with a clash against leaders Leyton Orient.
A packed Vetch field for the game with around 200 making the trip from East London.  Swans made a couple of changes with Andy Gurney returning to the starting line up after missing a second game last Saturday with a recurrence of a back problem. He slotted back into the side at right back with Garry Monk moving back to his usual centre half role and Alan Tate unluckily stepping down to the bench again. Adrian Forbes with two goal scoring substitute appearances started ahead of Brad Maylett. Gueret
Gurney Monk Austin Ricketts Forbes Martinez O'Leary Robinson Connor Trundle Substitutes: Murphy Tate Maylett Britton Fitzgerald. Leyton Orient almost grabbed the lead after just two minutes as Swansea were once again slow out of the blocks. Sam Ricketts gave away a needless freekick at left back. The ball was floated across the six yards line and with the defence sleeping, Andrew Scott was given a free header, luckily for the Swans he inexplicably missed the ball with the goal at his mercy. The near miss didn't provide the wake up call we needed as Orient continued to look the better side in opening minutes. On seven minutes an Orient corner was weakly headed clear by Roberto Martinez and was fired back by Orient centre half Justin Muller. The ball flashed past the post with Willy Gueret well beaten. Swans had their first serious strike on twelve minutes when Andy Guerney shot on the turn from a corner which was well wide. Swansea battled hard to get into the game and show plenty of grip and determination. Orient for their part were trying to play football and passed the ball at every opportunity. On 28 minutes against the run of play Lee Trundle almost scored. He received an Andy Robinson pass with his back to goal and two defenders on him. He turned, leaving both defenders for dead and fired a shot past goalkeeper Lee Harrison which hit the far past and rebounded to safety. Two minutes later and Andy Robinson chased a lost cause and hit a left foot volley into the centre where Paul Connor made good ground but headed just over the bar. On 35 minutes a quickly taken free kick by Orient caught the defence sleeping again and presented Lee Steele with a golden opportunity. His shot from twelve yards rebounded off the post when he really should have scored. On the stroke of half time Swans grabbed the lead. A bit of Trundle magic, saw him getting behind his marker and his pass across goal seemed to have evaded everyone but Adrian Forbes slid in at the far post to drive the ball home.  Half time arrived with the Swans probably counting themselves lucky to be one up. But again the spirit shown by the players was commendable. The referee had done his best to spoil an entertaining first half with some dreadful decisions. He had been ably assisted by two linesmen who couldn't have done worse if they had worn blindfolds at times. Swans started the second half brightly and Lee Trundle put Adrian Forbes through as a result not of a through ball but the defender being so concerned in holding Trundle off, Forbes merely ran through on goal. His eventual cross/shot was cleared for a corner. On 52 minutes, Andy Robinson hobbled off to be replaced by Leon Britton. Orient continued trying to play football, but our defence now looked far more assured and was well supported by the midfield. Swans were now much the better side and creating by far the better chances. Adrian Forbes in particular caused his full back all sorts of problems and Lee Trundle weaved his magic time and time again. By the midway point in the half, Orient had used all three substitutes as they sought a way back into the game. On 70 minutes Scott Fitzgerald replaced Paul Connor who had run his socks off. Swans began to get a stranglehold on things with Kris O'leary breaking down Orient moves again and again, and forcing them into long ball tactics. With minutes left the referee saw a Swansea offense not seen by anyone else in the ground. Wayne Carlisle struck the free kick from 25 yards around the wall and hit the angle of post and bar with Willy rooted to the spot. The free kick seemed to give Orient hope as Swans sat back too deep. With the game in injury time Lee Trundle broke free with only the keeper to beat, but he shot straight at Harrison. Swans saw out the final few minutes without any mishaps, to record their sixth 1-0 win this season. This was an excellent hardworking team effort against a very useful Orient side. The will to win and fitness levels are fantastic, and were epitomised by the 40 yard runs made by Kris O'Leary to make bone crunching tackles 90 minutes into a hard fought battle. Gueret - 7 - Beaten three or four times, and saved by the woodwork twice. Gurney - 8 - Swans remain unbeaten in games he started, another fine no-nonsense performance. Monk - 8 - Commanding after a shaky start. Austin - 7- Missing in action several times in the first half but got better as the game went on. Ricketts - 7 - Started poorly again, but excellent second half. Forbes - 8 - Playing with confidence now, and will cause defences all sorts of problems on this form. Martinez - 7 - Gave the ball away a few times but invariably won it back. O'leary - 9 - Makes the difference at the moment between a good footballing side and a winning footballing side. Robinson - 7 - Couple of great runs. Connor - 7 - Ran his socks off, but again missed a great opportunity. Trundle - 8 - Ball control is unbelievable at the moment and at times his control is reminiscent of George Best. Again set up the goal and caused Orient all kinds of problems. Britton - 7 - Able deputy for Robinson on the left. Fitzgerald - 6 - Never got into things as Swans sat back by the time he came on. 
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