Swansea City 2 Swindon Town 1 - Nigel Gigg
After the disappointment of Port Vale, Kenny Jackett would once again have been mightily relieved to have seen the other results on Saturday.
Swans really don't deserve to still be in with a shout of automatic promotion after such a poor run but it is still a reality if only Swans could put a run together that all the fans know this team is capable of.
Just two changes to Saturday's starting line up and neither much of a surprise. Kris O'Leary failed to recover from injury and was replaced by Roberto Martinez and Andy Robinson replaced Leon Knight.
Side- Gueret, Tate, Monk, Lowe, Ricketts, Britton, Martinez, Jones, Robinson, Akinfenwa, Trundle. Subs – Murphy, Williams, Forbes, Knight, Fallon.
Swans had the game's first opportunity when an intricate move involving Lee Trundle, Owain Jones and Roberto Martinez ended with Lee Trundle's shot being well saved by Rhys Evans in the Swindon goal. It was to be Swans one and only shot on target in the first half.
Keith Lowe perhaps could have done better with a header from a corner just failing to keep the ball under the bar from just 5 yards out.
Swans forced corner after corner and were doing the bulk of the attacking but there was little end product all too often.
After having much the better of the opening 20 minutes Swans then lost their way again. After nothing going right for 20 minutes or so Swans perked up in the last few minutes of the first half with a Roberto Martinez shot going just wide and a Lee Trundle cross/shot just evading Bayo and also the far post.
Swans would have felt their domination deserved more than the 0-0 score line but just one shot on target and probably between 10 and 12 off target told the story of the first half.
Swans spent the opening 5 minutes of the second half encamped in the Swindon half but once again there was little threat on the Swindon goal.
On 56 minutes an Andy Robinson corner caught everyone out. All bar Garry Monk had gathered at the near post and Garry Monk looked to have the goal at his mercy at the far post but failed to connect with the ball.
On the hour Kenny Jackett made a double substitution replacing Bayo Akinfenwa and Leon Britton with Rory Fallon and Adrian Forbes.
Rory Fallon made an immediate impact pulling down a high ball and finding Lee Trundle. Trunds rolled the ball through the legs of a defender into the path of Andy Robinson who had a glorious opportunity with just the keeper to beat but he scuffed his shot.
Seconds later and Swindon were one up. There seemed little danger as Swindon played a long ball forward and Keith Lowe had time and little pressure. He tried to head back to Willy Gueret but his header lacked power and Ricky Shakes must have thought it was Christmas as he picked up the loose ball and placed the ball past Willy.
Swindon tried to repay Swans generosity when the otherwise excellent Toumani Diagouraga played a suicidal back pass into the path of Lee Trundle. With just the keeper to beat Trunds fired wide of the post. It didn't seem Swans's day.
After making another blunder at the back which thankfully didn't prove costly Kenny Jackett pulled Keith Lowe off and replaced him with Tom Williams. Williams went left back with Sam Ricketts going to the right and Alan Tate going centre half.
On 72 minutes Swans grabbed the equaliser. Lee Trundle collected the ball outside the box. He slid the ball through to Owain Jones who passed to Fallon who in turn put the ball through to Andy Robinson who was in space. From 12 yards out this time Robbo made no mistake placing the ball just inside the far post and giving Evans no chance.
A minute later and a quickly taken corner by Tom Williams found Roberto Martinez on the edge of the box. His deep cross was headed against the bar by Lee Trundle.
It was all Swansea now and the second seemed inevitable. With 10 minutes to go the second duly arrived. A long hopeful ball forward from Roberto Martinez was collected by Adrian Forbes. He did look offside and all the Swindon defenders stood with the arms aloft waiting for the flag. Adrian Forbes did what all good strikers do and played on and finished with aplomb firing a left foot shot into the top corner to put Swans 2-1 up.
The last 10 minutes saw Swans dominate possession professionally. Lee Trundle had a chance to kill the game off but was denied by an excellent save by Evans.
So Swans consolidate their position for the play offs and stay in the hunt for the second automatic promotion spot.
Ratings –
Gueret 7 – Little to do and no chance for the goal.
Tate 8- Another excellent game.
Monk 7 – Solid game.
Lowe 5- Awful mistake to gift Swindon the lead and confidence looked to ebb away after that.
Ricketts 7 – Much better game than of late.
Britton 5– Nothing like his best.
Jones 6- Supported attack well, but for such a big guy hardly won a header tonight.
Martinez 7 – Started poorly, losing possession far too much but his influence on the game grew and grew.
Robinson 7 – Missed a couple of chances he would normally put away but came good again.
Akinfenwa 5 – Not at his best again and won very little in the air.
Trundle 7 – Like Robinson missed a chance he would normally bury and also guilty of not feeding Rory Fallon when he was in a far better position. That said he had a major influence on the game.
Subs-
Forbes 7- Took his goal really well and again helped turn the game Swans way.
Fallon 7- Made a big difference with his aerial prowess and touch.
Williams 7- May well start for the remaining games.
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