Match report

After their recent run of poor results Kenny Jackett has brought in his own knight in shining armour in the guise of Leon Knight.

Not the warmest of welcomes for Knight or anyone else on a cold, damp, blustery evening for the visit of bottom placed MK Dons.

Swans rang the changes with Kevin Austin replacing Izzy Iriekepen, who had failed to recover from his ankle injury, in defence. Our other recent recruit, Tom Williams made his debut on the left of midfield replacing Kevin McLeod , who had problems with his wisdom teeth, but was deemed fit enough for the bench. Up front Bayo Akinfenwa was restored to the starting line-up to partner Leon Knight.

MK Dons included former Swans transfer target Izzy McLeod who seems destined for a £1.5 M move to Wolves later this month.

Side- Gueret, Tate, Monk, Austin, Ricketts, Britton, Martinez, Robinson, Williams, Akinfenwa, Knight.
Subs- Murphy, Forbes, Goodfellow, McLeod, Connor.

The game kicked off in dreadful conditions with heavy drizzle. Thankfully, the pitch was looking superb despite it raining all day long.

Tom Williams made a good start with an excellent run and cross in the first 2 minutes, but he was soon upstaged by Leon Knight.

A cross from the left saw Bayo Akinfenwa beaten in an aerial challenge but the defender's headed clearance dropped invitingly to Leon Knight 15 yards out. He struck a first time volley superbly just inside the post to put Swans one up.

MK Dons responded well and tried in vain to put Swans defence under pressure but Garry Monk and Kevin Austin dealt comfortably with the threat of Platt and McLeod. After a period of Dons pressure, on 11 minutes a clearance from the Swans defence found Bayo Akinfenwa on the half way line. He controlled well and found the perfect pass to free Leon Knight. He ran straight at Matthew Baker in the Dons goal and with aplomb put the ball through Baker's legs for his second.

Swans were looking much the likelier scorers again with Bayo and Knight linking really well.

On 26 minutes Leon Knight completed a remarkable hat trick. Andy Robinson and Bayo Akinfenwa linked really well before Robinson found Tom Williams out wide on the left. Williams's cross was perfection itself and Baker was guilty of ball watching as the cross was met by Leon Knight who had a free header and made no mistake to put the Swans 3-0 up.

With 2 debutants in the side it was great to see the Swans playing with such fluidity. The new lads had obviously worked hard in the last few days to get to know their colleagues.

Swans had a cast iron penalty turned aside by referee Mr Mathieson who was probably taking sympathy on the beleaguered Dons defence.

Swans went in 3-0 up. Dons had had an equal share of possession but whereas Swans looked capable of scoring on every attack, Dons had failed to test Willy or put a single shot on target.

Leon Britton could and perhaps should have scored just 5 minutes into the second half after being put through by Bayo, but he delayed his shot which was well saved by Baker.

MK Dons finally brought a save from Willy after 53 minutes with a Gareth Edds free kick which Willy easily turned behind for a corner.

Swans were now unable to retain possession and Dons were having much the better of things. Substitute Nicky Rizzo was causing problems for Swans defence and he brought the best out of Willy with an excellent shot.

Paul Connor replaced Bayo Akinfenwa with 20 minutes to go and Swans sought a way to regain the ascendancy. Swans did finally create an opening when Leon Knight turned Ben Chorley and was away with a clear run on goal. Chorley pulled Knight back and it was hard to fathom how Mr Mathieson only deemed the offence worthy of a yellow card.

Mr Mathieson continued in his attempts to get Dons back into the game in awarding them a penalty with 10 minutes left. A cross from the right seemed to just have been missed by everyone but without any appeals from an MK Dons player Mr Mathieson blew up for a push by Alan Tate.

Willy saved Izzy McLeod's penalty down low to his right brilliantly but Mr Mathieson was not to be denied and ordered the kick to be retaken for encroachment. McLeod made no mistake the second time sending Willy the wrong way.

Swans spent the last 10 minutes under further pressure and what should have been a jaunt in the second half turned into a very poor 45 minutes for the Swans.

However, it could be argued the game had been won in the first half and Swans once again sit proudly at the top of Division One.

Ratings-

Gueret - 8 - Excellent penalty save counted for nothing thanks to an over fussy referee.

Tate 8 - Excellent throughout but especially in the first half when he got forward time and again.
Monk 8 - Came out on top in his personal battle with McLeod.
Austin 7- Never gave an inch.
Ricketts 6- Fell asleep a couple of times.

Britton 8 - Committed display. Should have scored with nearly 12,000 people holding their breath and willing him on.
Robinson 7 - An enigma tonight. Brilliant in patches, but guilty of gifting the ball away to easily, too often.
Martinez 6 - Poor game by his high standards.
Williams 7 - Very good first half but drifted out of things after the break.

Akinfenwa 8 -Superb for 45 minutes.
Knight 9 - Took his 3 goals brilliantly. A real livewire.

Subs -
Connor 6 - Added nothing.
McLeod - Only on a couple of minutes.

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