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Match report |
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Bridgewater 1 Swansea City 3 | |
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Bridgewater 1 Swansea City 3 - Match Report Clive Alabaster and Photos by Dai Smith/Clive Alabaster
 After their customary group hug the Swans lined up for the first half as follows: Gueret Tate Austin Iriekpen Ricketts Britton O'Leary Bond Forbes Akinfenwa Goodfellow Akinfenwa (Bayo from now on) is a huge, muscle-bound fellow who pushed fully forward and was ably supported by Forbes and Goodie who adopted wider positions. However, Bayo did not have it all his own way as he was marked by any even taller, though lankier, full back. Understandably, the Swans had the majority of the play and an early shot from Forbes crashed off the post and back into play. However, he wasn't to be denied for long as in the tenth minute an attack through the centre was finished from 12 yards by Bayo stroking the ball calmly into the goal low to the keeper's right. Tate was having a good game and overlapped well with Forbes in setting up several good assaults down the right hand side. From one such play Forbes was played through and had a diagonal run in on goal from the right. He hit a firm shot straight through the goalkeeper's legs and into the net. I'm sure he intended that shot to go anywhere other than where it did but nevertheless after 13 minutes Swansea were two goals to the good.  Swansea continued to dominate and in the 30th minute there was more mayhem in the Bridgwater defence which resulted in a penalty awarded for handball. The players looked at each other quizzically as there was no Mr T or Robinson to oblige. Then the looks all round changed to one of shock and disbelief as Izzie placed the ball on the spot. His shot ricocheted back off the post. Swansea continued the attacking play with good work on both sides of the field and the defence rarely being pressured. The only other noteworthy incident was a late tackle on Forbes (having now swapped wings with Goodfellow) for which the Bridgwater captain received a yellow card. The half-time whistle brought much relief as I was desperate to surrender the tenancy of the two pints I had downed before kick-off. It was all-change at half time as new teams were announced. The Swans personnel for the second half were: Letheran Fiskin MacDonald Edwards Anderson Tudor-Jones Martinez Goran (unpronoucable surname) Pepperell Connor Pritchard In the 47th minute Bridgwater played a long ball forward which was nodded down for the on-coming attacker to crash a powerful volley past Latheren. It was an excellent finish and probably the pick of the goals which drew polite applause from all round the ground. Swansea made heavy weather of it for much of the second half. Special mention must go to MacDonald who tidied up well at the back. Anderson pushed forward on many occasions and Swansea started to look more dangerous down the flanks. Connor lead the line well and Pepperell received lots of encouragement from Jackett. Chances came and went. On 70 minutes Connor got to the by-line and played a neat chip/cross to Pritchard who was unmarked at the far side of the 6 yard box. He placed a firm and deliberate header past the goalkeeper. It was touch and go as to whether the ball had crossed the line before the retreating defender got to it, however, all he succeeded in doing was to smash the ball into the roof of the net.  4 minutes later the Swans defence was robbed of the ball (again) which left the Bridgwater forward one-on-one with Latheren in the Swansea goal. Latheren came out but then brought the forward crashing down as he attempted to go round him. No-one could dispute the penalty but Latheren was lucky to stay on the pitch, which in any competitive match would have been a red card offence. The pen was fiercely struck straight at Latheren's legs and ballooned up and over the bar as he fell to his right. Late on, Goran (sorry, can't remember your surname, but you know the Yugoslavian lad we got from Dundee) came off with a twisted knee and was replaced by Chad Bond. Late on Swansea were awarded two long range free kicks, the first of which bounced off the bar. I'm not really sure what we can learn from tonight. We saw encouraging performances from Bayo, Goodfellow and Tate (1st half) and MacDonald and Pritchard (2nd half). We were such a different team in the second half but I'm sure Kenny would have had a good look at a few of the lesser known players. Finally, the quote of the night must go to Kenny Jackett, who complimented the linesman on his turn of speed as he sprinted down the touch line to act as master of ceremonies at a substitution Bridgwater were making…”Well done, lino! You're quicker than my forwards right now”. Clive Alabaster (Wiltshire Jacks) Bridgewater 1 Swansea City 3 - Match Report Dave Williams and Photos by Dai Smith
 With the news that Trundle & Gurney were nursing slight knocks, the Swans started with a 4-3-3 of: Gueret
Tate Izzy Austin Ricketts Britton O'Leary Bond Forbes Akinfenwa Goodfellow Most noticeable feature early on was Tate who seemed to be playing as a right winger for most of the time and was frequently taking on players and putting in some decent crosses. Swans clearly had the better players and it wasn't long before the difference in class told. O'Leary dispossessed a Bridgwater defender in a central position and slipped the ball forward to Akinfenwa who picked his spot just inside the keeper's left hand post from about 18 yards out for 1-0. A couple of minutes later and Swans were two up, Britton running at the centre of the defence and feeding Forbes coming in from the right to fire into the far corner. I was sitting only about 10 yards from the away dug-out and KJ was constantly getting the front three to swap positions and I wondered if this was a tactic he will try to introduce in League 1 matches.  Tate continued his raiding down the right, while Goodfellow illuminated the entire first half with some sublime touches, dribbles and body swerves which frequently left opponents chasing and kicking at fresh air. He also had several good attempts at goal and seems able to create room to shoot with his quick feet just like Trundle does. Akinfenwa played the target man role well laying off some good touches with his back to goal and with nippy players like Britton, Forbes & Goodfellow around him to take advantage, we were always dangerous around the edge of the box. We were awarded a penalty for handball and Izzy stepped up waving all other interested parties away but unfortunately, his shot hit the post. The Bridgwater team worked extremely hard and none more so than their number 9 who gave 110% and had a real battle with Izzy and Austin although Bridgwater had very few clear chances in the first half. As expected, the second half saw a completely new Swans team take the field which left a few scratching their heads, myself included. From what I can gather the team was: Letheran
Fisken McDonald Edwards Anderson (Goran Zujovic) ???? Martinez Jones Peverall Connor Pritchard Never did find out who the right midfielder was but he got a knee injury late on and was replaced by Bond and as he came off, it sounded like they called him 'Goran' so maybe he's a trialist from one of the many Balkan states. He definitely wasn't British though. (Yugoslav who was previously playing for Aberdeen) With a completely new and less experienced team to play against, Bridgwater started to look more threatening and with only a few minutes of the second half played, they broke clear and their diminutive striker lashed a 20 yard volley past a helpless Kyle Letheran. The senior players, Anderson, Martinez and Connor looked a cut above the rest but centre back Shaun McDonald looked a good prospect, reading the game well and looking comfortable bringing the ball out of defence and although he gets a lot of criticism, Gary Fisken also had a very assured game at right back.  Although most of the play was a bit scrappy, Swans eventually extended their lead when Martinez fed Connor wide right and with plenty of time and space, he picked out Pritchard at the far post whose bullet header from 10 yards was helped in by a defender, Could have been his or an own goal but it was a good move nevertheless. A couple of minutes later, the Swans defence was split open with Letheran bringing down their player as he tried to go round him. Another penalty, another miss, this time Letheran rather fortunately saving with his trailing leg having gone the wrong way. Our right midfielder struck a good shot against the bar and Ijah Anderson had a good 25 yard free kick headed off the line and as the match slowly petered out Sam Ricketts came an sat in one of the empty seats just to my left to watch his team mates. Without Monk, Robinson, Trundle and Gurney in contention, I think this match was more about individual performances than the team performance.  Tate has had his run-ins with Jackett and seemed out of favour last season and possibly destined to leave in the summer but he seems rejuvenated at right back and with more performances like this could well make the position his own. He certainly offers more in attack than any of our other options in this position. Bond didn't look out of place in this company and has a nice chipped forward pass which he used to good effect and kept doing the simple things. Needs to get stuck in more but a good prospect. Akinfenwa will be a very effective addition but probably not in every game. Horses for courses I think, but as strong as an ox and is sure to make an impression. Goodfellow was class and well worth the entrance fee.  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. |
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