Match report

Rochdale 0 Swansea 2

Match report by Mike Thomas

Only the second game of the season, but the sparse Spotlands Stadium crowd already seemed to be anticipating a long relegation struggle, judging by the luke-warm reception they gave their favourites on this balmy, almost tropical August evening in Lancashire. In contrast, the 350 or so travelling Jacks enthusiastically cheered the Swans onto the pitch, clad in their unfamiliar but striking away strip of red shirts, black shorts and matching socks.
Kenny Jackett had obviously decided to show Rochdale less respect than he afforded Northampton on Saturday, playing a more attacking formation and naming three forwards amongst the subs. Controversially, there was no place for club captain Roberto Martinez in the squad. The Swans lined up:

Five minutes gone, and an innocuous challenge in midfield left Rochdale defender Burgess down injured. He was unable to continue and was replaced by Gareth Griffiths. After two more minutes of lively midfield skirmishing, Leon Britton rose for a header on the half-way line right in front of the Jack contingent, only to find Scott Warner clattering into his back with a clear foul challenge. Remarkably, in what was seen by the angry Jacks as poetic justice, the diminutive Swansea midfielder dusted himself off and walked away without a bruise, but the burly Rochdale forward remained prone on the ground, clutching his back in some distress. A stretcher was called for, and Warner was carried off, accompanied by a chorus of catcalls, to be replaced by Jamie Clarke.

No sooner had the game restarted than a low ball was pushed into the Rochdale box for Connor to chase. The Swansea forward and Rochdale full-back Wayne Evans slid in simultaneously to win the ball, which was deflected over the goal-line, but as Connor rose from the floor, Evans remained horizontal, rolling around in agony! This was getting ridiculous - the Rochdale team were going down faster than Sven's trousers in the F.A. broom cupboard. Richie Evans had to come on to treat the Rochdale man because their trainer was still busy attending to Scott Warner in the dressing room. After a lengthy delay, and the obligatory hobble to the touch-line while the game re-started, Evans was able to continue.

These disruptions clearly upset Rochdale, and when Alan Goodall received the yellow card for tripping the lively Forbes in midfield after he had been skinned, the Swans began to dominate play. They pressed forward with purpose, and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring in the twenty- first minute. A high ball pumped up to the edge of the area was flicked inside by Connor. A Rochdale central defender let the ball slip under his foot and it flashed across the path of an unmarked Forbes who, taken by surprise, missed the opportunity to shoot. To his credit, however, he quickly chased after the ball, turned and crossed it back to the middle, where it was met by Nugent on the six yard line with a thumping header into the top corner.

Swansea continued to press forward and almost earned a second when Andy Robinson again broke down the left, only to slightly over-hit his cross from the edge of the area. Forbes managed to get on the end of it and send it goalwards, but from too acute an angle, giving a Rochdale full-back enough time to scamper back and clear off the line. A minute later, Rochdale managed their first goal attempt of the evening, a twenty yard shot which screamed harmlessly over the bar.

Rochdale worked hard to get back into the game and the Swans midfield became a little ragged, with O'Leary particularly wasting good possession by over-hitting passes and being too casual with lay-offs. In contrast, the back four looked rock solid, while Nugent and Connor were getting through a tremendous amount of work up front. The Swans' Assistant Manager in particular looking like a spring chicken compared to his performances late last season.

A Rochdale free kick from just outside the area on the half hour forced Gueret to punch away, but the ball was floated back to the far post, only to see Austin head clear, deflecting off a forward for a goal kick. Gueret was called into action again two minutes later, getting down smartly to smother a low shot from 20 yards.

The game was now swinging from end to end, and a Swansea free kick on the right was cleared to the edge of the penalty area, where it was met on the volley by Leon Britton, only for the shot to flash just wide of the post. Back up the other end, a Rochdale man weaved into the penalty area and brought out a great low reaction save from Gueret from six yards.

Thanks to the endless stoppages earlier in the game, a full six minutes of injury time was announced. Swans almost profited two minutes before the break, when Forbes broke through in the centre only for his low shot to be parried away. Andy Robinson got the ball back in to the ex-Luton man but he shot over.

Swansea continued the second half where they left off the first, with Forbes going on a mazy run from his own half, right up to the edge of the Rochdale area before passing wide to Andy Robinson, whose shot was blocked. Rochdale had obviously had a rocket from their manager at half-time, however, and gradually began to turn up the heat in the search for an equaliser. First a header flashed over the bar, then Tate conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area with a mis-timed tackle. The kick was cleared for the first of a succession of four or five Rochdale corners, some of which led to heart-stopping moments as headers flashed wide or over the bar, but the Swans held firm.

On the hour mark and against the run of play, Swansea increased their lead with a stunning goal. First Andy Robinson won a throw-in with a determined tackle on the left touch-line in the Rochdale half. As the Dale defenders were still organising themselves, Robinson received the quick throw, cut inside and unleashed a right footed thunderbolt from the angle of the penalty area. Neil Edwards in the Rochdale goal was so surprised by the power of the shot that all he could do was parry the ball against the post and into the net. Cue delirium from the Jack contingent.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of Rochdale and boosted Swansea's confidence one hundred percent. The Welshmen won two corners in quick succession, both of which resulted goal attempts flashing just wide. After 25 minutes, Tate finally received the booking which one felt the ref had in store for him, after a fifty-fifty clash in midfield which led to handbags at ten paces.

This briefly revived Rochdale, and Gueret was forced into another great reaction save from eight yards after a penetrating Rochdale run. However, a few minutes later, the Frenchman turned from hero to villain as he bizarrely repeated his opening day mistake against Northampton, attracting the linesman's flag as he carried the ball outside the area during a clearance kick. The looks he received from his defenders as they marched back for the free kick would have turned milk sour. Fortunately, the end result was the same, a shot deflected for a corner, which was cleared to safety.

Kenny Jackett ate up the minutes with two substitutions, James Thomas replaced the tiring Connor, and Gary Fisken coming on for Andy Robinson, who received a standing ovation from the Swans fans as he left the field. Rochdale applied more half-hearted pressure in the final minutes, but the solid Swans defence held on comfortably to earn the first three points of this season's campaign.

Player ratings:
Gueret (9) - safe handling under pressure and some great reaction saves, a performance only marred by another hand ball fiasco. Somebody needs to explain to him in French that an extra yard in a clearance isn't worth conceding a dangerous free kick for.
Austin (8) - a great debut. This guy is SERIOUSLY big and strong, and while the lightweight Rochdale winger wasn't much of a challenge, he dominated his man completely and still found time to make forward runs.
Monk (8) - another class act, played his captain's role to perfection, marshalling the defence very well.
Tate (8) - a solid performance and appears to be forming a good partnership with Monk. Just a slight question-mark about his timing in the tackle once or twice tonight.
Ricketts (8) - got through a lot of unspectacular but valuable defensive work.
Robinson (9) - MOTM, back to his bubbly best, always lively and aggressive, and what a goal to kill the game as a contest.
Britton (8) - given more space than on Saturday and revelled in it, always probing and also did a lot of tackling back when required.
O'Leary (6) - got through a lot of hard work in midfield but distribution was very poor, sometimes losing possession carelessly and sometimes over-hitting passes. If we could weld together his strength and Martinez' skill on the ball, we'd have a hell of a player.
Forbes (7) - very lively, ran his socks off, needs to be a little more composed in front of goal.
Connor (7) - good front man performance, holding the ball up, running at defenders and flicking the ball on to colleagues. Very much a Jackett style of player, suited to the long ball game.
Nugent (8) - worked really hard all over the pitch, has got a new lease of life from somewhere.

Subs:
Thomas (7) - did well enough but saw little of the ball as most of the play was in the Swansea half in the last fifteen minutes.
Fisken - not on long enough

In conclusion, we shouldn't read too much into this result since Rochdale were very poor and look like prime relegation candidates, even at this early stage. Having said that, all you can ask against poor teams is to take the three points, which we did. Jackett will be pleased with the way his first choice back four shaped up. They were very solid, particularly Monk and Austin. However, the midfield isn't quite gelling, we still need a midfield general to dictate play, and O'Leary isn't the answer. Up front, it will be interesting to see if Trundle regains his place after injury and, if so, who partners him.

Stats supplied by Soccernet.com

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