Match report

A makeshift Swans team from an injury ravaged squad, so maybe a point was not all that bad. But this team will know that the three points were there for the taking, and but for negative second half tactics and an inability to retain possession after the break, the three points would have been won. But declare your innings at half time with just a one-goal lead and, frankly, you are asking for trouble. And in the end, deep into injury time, we got what we deserved.

Some would argue that even with the players available we still didn’t field out strongest starting line-up. The “surprises” were Tate and Britton in centre midfield (Martinez on the bench) and Akinfenwa selected ahead of Fallon to partner Knight up front. The left and right sided midfield positions were held by Robinson and Forbes, with a back four of Williams (left), Austin, Monk and Ricketts (right). The recent calls for the head of Geuret were fortunately not heeded, and we were to be thankful for that decision late in the game.

You always know what you are going to come up against at Scunthorpe – they always play the same way. They get the ball wide early and deliver quality crosses from wide positions. For the first 10 minutes you’d be forgiven for thinking that no Swans team had ever turned out at Glanford Park before, as we seemed bemused by their pacy front-running. Scunny came close twice in the first couple of minutes, before Billy Sharp glanced home unmarked from a corner on five minutes. Five minutes later, only an excellent cover tackle from Williams prevented Tommy Johnson from doubling the lead. At this point the omens were not good.

Picture courtesy of Phil Sumbler

But the game began to swing on 13 minutes when the lively Billy Sharp picked a nasty injury from a seemingly innocuous tangle of legs with Williams. Sharp was stretchered off and replaced by Steve Torpey whose presence forced a change of approach from Scunthorpe, and interrupted their flow sufficiently for the Swans to wrestle complete control away from them.

But credit also to the Swans players, who responded excellently, particularly attacking down our right side through some excellent interplay between Forbes, Britton and Knight. On 23 minutes just such a move led to a cross from Forbes which was flicked on by Bayo. The ball found its way to Robinson, who controlled before twisting and turning into a shooting position, drawing a clear trip from a hapless defender. Robinson himself took responsibility for the penalty and duly lashed it into the roof of the net. Suddenly we were on top, and roared on by 250 jacks in excellent voice, the team swarmed forward seeking another. First Britton slipped the ball to Robinson who fired wide when a cross to Knight might have been a better option; and then a few minutes later a through ball was missed by a defender allowing Knight to latch onto it and finish coolly from close range.

At this stage we were in complete control and looked much the better side. But for all our possession we failed to fashion another clear-cut chance in the first half. The half time chat though, was about how many we would win by, against a Scunthorpe side which had all the fight knocked out of it. But how disappointed were we to be! From the first whistle we contented ourselves with sitting back and attempting to hit Scunny on the break. Unfortunately, these breaks tended to involve optimistic hoofs up to an increasingly tiring Bayo, who failed to hold the ball up in the second half or get any meaningful flicks. We managed a couple of half chances – a low shot from Britton was easily saved, and a header from Bayo went just wide. But it was becoming increasingly obvious that we were defending deeper, and failing to hold the ball in midfield for more than two passes.

We knew that the pressure was going to come, and sure enough it began in earnest on 70 minutes when Willy made a fairly routine save. Two minutes later it was another intervention from Willy that saved us, tipping over a long-range effort from Baraclough which threatened to drop just under the bar. A series of Scunny corners followed, which we managed to repel. But then Willy was called upon again on 77 minutes, but this time with a world class one handed save to keep out an excellent drive from substitute Keogh.

Two more home corners followed soon after, and each of them resulted in manic goalmouth scrambles – at one point Britton blocked a shot whilst prostrate in the area. Two minutes later, a mistake from Austin allowed Torpey through with a one on one with Geuret – fortunately, as it was Torpey, - we knew Willy would triumph and he didn’t let us down. During this spell the ball had just kept coming back at us as we failed to retain any possession or hold the ball up in the opposition half. Whilst Forbes was defending like a terrier, only Robinson in the midfield seemed to want to put a foot on the ball – but Britton and Tate inside him offered him little support in this respect.

With the pressure now intense, and the defending increasingly desperate, it was a surprise when we managed a breakaway attempt. McLeod (on for Forbes) delivered a decent cross after being supplied by Tate. The cross appeared to be landing on the head of Fallon (who had replaced Knight), but the kiwi was denied by a late challenge from a defender when he seemed set to score. Shortly afterwards, Mcleod attempted an audacious 40 yarder after seeing the keeper out of position, but the home goalie was able to adjust his position and save easily. This effort, in the 90th minute, was only our fourth attempt on target in the whole game.

The pressure then mounted on us again, and in injury time an attempt from the excellent Cleveland Taylor was deflected just wide of Willy’s goal. But heartbreak arrived from the resulting corner. It was flicked on at the near post, and there was Torpey to head home from virtually on the goal line. This was no more than Scunthorpe deserved – and absolutely what we deserved. We managed to fling in a couple of late crosses, but to no avail. And at the final whistle it felt like a defeat.


Geuret – 8 One flap, but two fantastic saves

Ricketts – 6 Not particularly assured in defence today.

Austin – 6 Worked hard, but cumbersome

Monk – 7 Strong at centre half

Williams – 9 Terrific defensive performance; possibly our best recent signing

Forbes – 8 Great purple patch in the first half and defended really well

Britton – 6 Some penetrative running, but little composure or influence from midfield

Tate – 5 I am not convinced by Tate as a midfielder. He was absent for much of this one.

Robinson – 8 A terrier in defence, and dangerous going forward. Kept cool for the penalty

Akinfenwa – 6 Good physical presence in first half; dead on his feet after an hour.

Knight – 8 Very sharp and an excellent goal.



McLeod – not on for long but a couple of good moments

Fallon – Not on for long.



The Jack support was terrific today. Just 250 or so die-hards, but in sharp contrast to Forest last week the energies were directed towards the field of play and not the opposition fans. The singing was positive and vociferous throughout and I genuinely believe it lifted the players. Even the first Scunny goal brought a response of “Kenny Jackett’s barmy army” for a full twenty minutes from the travelling fans. Refreshing, and deserving of a more generous acknowledgement at the final whistle than we got from some of the players and management, who seemed to disappear down the tunnel faster than the proverbial rat and drainpipe. There also appeared some unfortunate on field arguing between several of the Swans players before they left the field – no doubt we will hear more about that. Can we lift ourselves for Friday. Well, you never know – perhaps the injury list will be kinder to us, and maybe we will see Martinez return to midfield and Tate return to the back four in place of Austin. That would be a start…


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Scunthorpe: Musselwhite, Stanton, Hinds, Foster, Williams, Taylor, Goodwin (Crosby 60), Baraclough, Sparrow, Sharp (Torpey 13), Johnson (Keogh 61).
Subs Not Used: Evans, MacKenzie.

Booked: Johnson.

Goals: Sharp 6, Torpey 90.

Swansea: Gueret, Ricketts, Austin, Monk, Williams, Forbes (McLeod 86), Britton, Tate, Robinson, Akinfenwa, Knight (Fallon 82).
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Martinez, MacDonald.

Booked: Akinfenwa.

Goals: Robinson 24 pen, Knight 28.

Att: 4,352



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