Match report

At half time I was preparing a eulogy – the best I have seen from a Swans team in years. And this was no exaggeration. But as we trudged away from Valley Parade surrounded by suddenly up-beat Bantams fans, we were consoling ourselves with the fact the brilliance of Gueret had averted almost certain defeat. Two things for sure – we can be brilliant at times, but no way are we a 90 minute team.

It was certainly an enterprising Swans line up. Which looked like this:

Gueret

Tate Monk Austin Ricketts

Britton Martinez Robinson Williams

Akinfenwa Knight

The surprises were Robbo in the centre-midfield “creative ballwinner” role, which he achieved with mixed success. And Williams left midfield – leaving McLeod on the bench and Freezer thoroughly frozen out, but what a fine job he made of that role, particularly in the first half. Indeed the first half belonged entirely to the Swans, who played neat, constructive, patient and penetrating football from the off. The engine room was Martinez, who orchestrated proceedings excellently. But he was ably supported by Robinson, who bit into tackles, harassed the opposition and surged forward with energy, though unfortunately also suffering from occasional disorientation and the odd misplaced pass (jury still out on him in this position). On the right, Britton was excellent, dancing past hapless Bradford defenders and tormenting their full back. On the left, Williams supported the attack excellently and delivered several dangerous balls into the box. The two full backs also supported the wide men very effectively, often getting beyond them into overlap positions, creating all sort of problems for the home defence. And up front, Bayo put himself about, linking the play well, whilst Knight was just brilliant, showing excellent touch, movement vision and pace. When not in possession our defensive shape was disciplined, and our tackling sharp and aggressive.

And we sustained this for the entire half, creating eight decent attempts on goal. Bradford had little answer. Firstly Martinez fired in a low shot which went just wide on 4 minutes. On ten minutes, during a period of excellent controlled possession, we put together a move of some 20 passes, involving an array of players. The ball finally found Williams whose fierce shot was parried by Ricketts in the home goal. On 15 minutes the lively Knight went on a 40 yard run with the ball which took him past three defenders before firing in an angled shot which was blocked. 5 minutes later the same player attempted a swift turn and shot from 20 yards, which was brilliantly saved by the home keeper. On 26 minutes we should have grabbed the lead. A good through ball from Martinez was chested down in the area by Bay who turned and fired on goal from 10 yards. The keeper made an excellent save to deny him, and Knight came within a whisker of turning in the rebound. A minute later, Robinson surged forward from his midfield berth, and fired in a low shot which went just wide of the near post. Then in quick succession, our two Leons each came close to breaking through the heart of the defence with well-timed runs. Unfortunately, Knight just failed to control, and Britton was fractionally off side. Bayo headed just over from a corner on 37 minutes, and it began to look like our efforts would bring any reward before half time. Bradford’s only responses during this period had been a wayward effort from Windass, and a volley from the same player which was blocked by Tate. Surely we could not go in goal-less. But our reward finally came on 44 minutes. Some excellent interplay between Williams and Martinez resulted in Williams getting to the bye-line and producing en excellent cut-back across the six yard box. It evaded everyone in a crowded area, until it found Monk at the far post, who coolly fired into the top corner. A well deserved lead to cap an excellent performance. Indeed, it was some measure of our domination that the home goalie was ultimately named their man of the match. The only problem, of course, was that our lead should have been two or three.

And it was clear from the first few minutes of the second half that we were struggling to maintain the same tempo. Bradford got tighter to Leon Knight, and overweight Bayo began to struggle very early on. On 50 minutes we had our first scare, when a mistake by Ricketts allowed the ball to be crossed, and only a scrambling save from Willy prevented Claridge equalising from close range. A few minutes later we nearly sealed the game. Robbo ghosted past his marker before firing in a low drive which the keeper could only parry. Knight pounced on the rebound, swivelled and shot, but his effort was blocked. In the period that followed, we began to concede possession and ground whilst Bradford grew in confidence. They threw on a couple of substitutes and suddenly the game was looking far more even, with the home side having the slight edge. Still they did not really look threatening, and when the equaliser came on 80 minutes it was something of a shock. A free kick from wide in the right was curled in to a dangerous position, which fooled Willy and the centre halves. It allowed the always dangerous, if constantly mouthy, Windass to head home from close range. The Swans responded by introducing Forbes and McLeod for Bayo and Britton. In the minutes that followed we rallied and created some half chances – a low effort from Robbo which was well saved, and a long range effort from Knight which was blocked for a corner. Forbes also had one terrific run, culminating in a cross which flew across the six yard box with no-one to provide the finishing touch. But in the dying minutes Bradford surged forward seeking the winner. Our tired back four and midfield could no linger cope with their direct and aerial approach, and we came under considerable pressure. In injury time, Claridge (who was taking a slating from the Swans fans) twice came close to scoring, first with a header and latterly with a vicious volley. On both occasions he was denied by excellent flying saves from Willy; the first, in particular, was world class. From a position of absolute dominance and control, we now found ourselves hailing our goalie as the unlikely hero.

Gueret – 8 Possibly at fault for the goal, but three excellent saves

Ricketts – 7 Assured and supported the attack well
Tate – 7 As above
Austin – 7 Solid but not too mobile
Monk – 8 Dominated the penalty area
Britton – 8 Terrific for the first half, though he faded
Williams – 8 A real asset, delivering some great balls in and showing excellent movement and control
Martinez – 8 Orchestrated a very pleasing first half effort
Robinson – 6 Tenacious and threatening though he occasionally looked a little out place…clearly adjusting to a new position
Akinfenwa – 7 a good all round effort with his link play. Should have buried one chance.
Knight – 8 Brilliant in the first half, with excellent movement and touch, and showing a real goal threat. Like the rest, he faded.
Forbes – 7 Very threatening in his 15 minutes or so
McLeod – Only one run and cross, though not on for very long.

A point won or two dropped….still not sure. Shouldn’t blame any individual players for the lapse, because the team faded as whole. The players looked deflated and exhausted at the end, and they clearly felt they should have wrapped this one up. If we were more of a ninety minute team, we would have done so. Is it lack to depth, or lack of fitness? Not sure, but we only ever seem to play well for one half. But let’s look at the positives – some of the play was terrific and the two new guys were excellent. Trundle will soon return to go into the mix, and we still have everything to play for. Bring on the monkey-hangers.

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