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Match report


Friday, March 16, 2007
Swansea City 2 Chesterfield 0
Swansea City 2 Chesterfield 0 - Nigel Gigg


After picking up an excellent three points at Tranmere last weekend Roberto Martinez would have wanted a further three tonight as Swans took on struggling Chesterfield who parted company with manager Roy McFarlane earlier in the week.

Swans are still racked by injury problems and the loss of Lee Trundle through suspension merely added to Roberto's selection problems.

Side – Gueret, Amankwaah, Lawrence, Iriekepen, Painter, Britton, Craney, Tate, Robinson, Butler, Abbott. Subs – Oakes, Duffy, Williams, MacDonald, Jones.

Despite dominating the early possession Swans again were producing very little in front of goal. Pawel Abbott was often isolated in attack and despite Leon Britton, Andy Robinson and Tom Butler taking up forward positions Swans were not gelling in attack.

It was fully twenty minutes before there was any sort of action in front of goal. The opportunity fell to Dennis Lawrence from an Ian Craney cross but despite jumping unchallenged big Dennis headed well wide.

At least the miss sparked Swans into life and Andy Robinson went close after a mix up in the Chesterfield area and was only denied by a last ditch challenge. Tom Butler also went close with a right foot drive that Barry Roche in the Chesterfield goal turned around the post for a corner.

Swans almost took the lead from the corner when Dennis Lawrence fired his shot goalward but into the ground. The Chesterfield defence seemed transfixed and watched the ball fly to safety off the bar.

The remaining twenty minutes up to half time saw Swans produce very little and it was Chesterfield that were looking the more likely scorers towards half time.

Roberto Martinez must have been tempted to make a change or two at half time but he resisted the temptation.

The second half once more saw Swans having the better of things but failing to put the Chesterfield goal under any threat.

Roberto Martinez made two changes bringing on Tom Williams and Richard Duffy for Tom Butler and Kevin Amankwaah. Swans switched to three at the back with Duffy and Williams in wide midfield roles. It is a sign of our injury problem at the moment that despite our failings up front the two substitutes brought on are essentially full backs.

The closest Swans came to breaking the deadlock was a poor clearance from Chesterfield defender Phil Picken that just missed the far post and went for a corner.

On 71 minutes Chesterfield, who looked more than happy to sit back and look for the 0-0 result, almost grabbed a surprise lead. Alex Bailey's shot from 20 yards should have been easily collected by Willy Gueret but he spilled the ball straight into the path of Paul Shaw who fired over from just 8 yards out.

With the crowd starting to become agitated Swans finally got the breakthrough. Pawel Abbott played a nice one two with Ian Craney and with the ball returned to Abbott inside the box Rueben Hazell dived in and referee Mr Lewis immediately blew up for the penalty, perhaps a little harshly.

Andy Robinson made no mistake from the spot with an excellent shot to the keepers right to put the Swans 1-0 up.

Immediately Swans reverted to a back four as Swans looked to ensure there was no way back for Chesterfield.

Just three minutes after taking the lead Swans scored a second. Andy Robinson's cross from the left wing was met by the head of Izzy Iriekepen and his powerful header beat Roche in the Chesterfield goal.

At 2-0 down there was no way back for a Chesterfield side who offered very little going forward.

Chris Jones replaced Pawel Abbott for the final four minutes and had a great chance to score his first senior goal after being put through by Tom Williams but instead of placing the ball low past the keeper to chose to try an audacious chip that Roche was easily able to collect.

Despite this being a far from convincing performance Swans picked up a very valuable three points and are back in one of the play off spots.

Ratings -

Gueret 5 – Hardly anything to do and still manages to give everyone near heart attacks.

Amankwaah 6 - Did get forward but to little effect.
Lawrence 6 – A couple of chances and should really have scored at least one.
Iriekepen 8 – Apart from one poor defensive error in the first half had an excellent game capped off with a rare goal.
Painter 7 – Solid in defence but could have done more going forward.

Britton 6 – Not at his best.
Craney 6 – Asked to play deeper than he normally would and did his job well.
Tate 6 – Solid enough in front of the back line.
Robinson 6 – Ran down too many blind alleys again.

Abbott 6 – Not really suited to playing up front alone but never stopped trying.
Butler 5 – Poor game and never really got into the game.

Subs-

Williams 7 – Offered far more on the left than Tom Butler had.
Duffy 6 – Did OK but hardly troubled by a poor Chesterfield attack.
Jones 6 – A goal would have done his confidence the world of good.

Swansea City 2 Chesterfield 0 - Peter and Bethan Charles



Make no mistake about it, for the first 70 minutes or so this was a pretty abject performance. We tried to play a patient, passing style, but for the most part made very little headway against a reasonably well drilled opposition. For long periods, it appeared that our season was about to die with a whimper, before a slice of luck, combined with some tactical acumen from the boss, kept it alive for another week at least.

Initially, we tried to make up for our lack of available strikers by packing the midfield. Butler and Britton were in there, nominally in wide positions but rarely staying there, whilst Robinson, Craney and Tate all occupied central roles. At the back, Lawrence and Iriekpen were in the middle with Painter and Amankwaah occupying the left and right back positions respectively. Abbot ploughed a lone furrow up front whilst Gueret retained his place in goal.

Most of the first half was a fairly non-descript affair, with few chances at either end. Robinson and Craney seemed to occupying the same space in midfield and neither Butler nor Britton created any serious width. Tate made a few well timed tackles and Abbot looked to find space, but we never managed to maintain and real pressure on the visitors’ goal. Indeed our most potent attacking threat came from Amankwaah who seemed to have a mandate to get forward more, and briefly revelled in this.

In the early exchanges a couple of decent crosses from Butler and Amakwaah both sought out the willing movement of Abbot in the box, but neither found its target. On 24 minutes we got our first serious glimpse of goal, when a low cross from Abbot seemed to find Robinson in space in the box. As Robbo set himself for a certain goal, he found his shot blocked by a last ditch tackle. This initiated our best spell of the half. Two minutes later a low Amankwaah cross found its way across to Butler, who cut inside one defender before unleashing a fierce goal-bound strike, only to be denied by a splendid one handed save from Roche in the visitors’ goal. From the resulting corner, a scuffed shot from Lawrence skimmed the bar.

This was as good as it got for us in the first half, as we continued to be frustrated by Chesterfield’s routine shape and organisation. In fact, they had a few attempts themselves – one low shot was saved by Gueret’s legs on
21 minutes, whilst another snap shot from Daniels also brought a smart save from Willy on 29 minutes. The half time whistle left us feeling that surely something would have to change if we were to get the much needed win from this one.

Initially, nothing did change, and the first 15 minutes of the second half disappeared without troubling my note pad. It was on the hour mark that Martinez/Jones decided to make a tactical change which ultimately changed the course of the game. First, the ineffective Butler was withdrawn for Williams, and then Duffy replaced Amankwaah, whose attacking thrust had long since faded. In between, Chesterfield’s Picken had caused us a flutter with a decent long range effort – the first of note in the half from either side.

Our formation now changed markedly. Williams and Duffy took up wing back positions, whilst Britton and Robinson pushed forward to support Abbott.

Lawrence. Izzy and Painter condensed into a back three, leaving us in a fluid 3-4-3 formation (with Robbo and Britton slightly behind Abbot, so arguably a 3-4-2-1 (I am sure others will have their own views). Whatever it was, it enabled us to players into forward positions, and to get the ball forward with greater urgency without resorting to pumping it towards Abbot (who frankly had no chance of winning anything in the air). The change in formation enabled us to exert more pressure. On 65 minutes Britton shot wide after a neat move involving Williams. A couple of minutes later, a neat turn and cross from Robinson found Abbot in the box; the striker’s ungainly effort off his knee nearly found the net, only to be foiled by a
goalmouth clearance. We had the bit between our teeth now – and the
impressive Williams cut inside on 71 minutes, and drew a save with a weak shot, when a cross would have been the better option.

There followed a brief heart-in-mouth moment when Gueret fumbled a low shot from a Chesterfield player and was grateful to see the rebound skied from close range. A key moment which was quickly followed by another – the ball was for once played through to Abbott’s feet, and as he pursued the ball into the area, he was blatantly tripped. It was a clear, if somewhat fortunate, penalty. Robinson stepped up, and tucked it away confidently.
Two minutes later, we wrapped the game up when Williams played a short corner to Robinson who drifted in an excellent cross. Izzy’s run was well timed, and he directed his header low and into the corner. There was little response from the hapless Chesterfield, who seemed resigned to their fate.
Only one more incident of note followed. Deep into injury time Williams played a neat ball over the top to set substitute Jones clear on goal with just the keeper to beat. Sadly, the youngster panicked and attempted a lob, which was easily saved. A pity, as a goal would have done wonders for his confidence.

Gueret – 6 little to do, a couple of good punches and smart saves; one fumble.
Painter – 7 A decent and versatile performance Amankwaah – 6 Supported the attack well in the first half and rather unfairly drew the ire of the boo-boys after the break.
Lawrence – 7 Cool and solid
Iriekpen – 7 Had one dodgy moment but largely untroubled.
Butler – 5 One good effort, but otherwise largely ineffective
Britton – 6 Worked hard but added no width when he was in a wide position; was more effective when pushed inside.
Craney – 6 Started well, but faded
Tate – 7 Did well in the centre of midfield and tracked back excellently.
Robinson – 6 Not at his best and struggled to make an impact (though maybe I am being harsh – a goal and assist is a reasonable return for a poor game).
Abbott – 5 Perhaps being asked to perform a role which he is not comfortable with, but he didn’t win a header all day. Did OK to win the penalty.

Williams – 8 Added a whole new dimension to the game and stretched the opposition with his raids down the left. Our only player who attacked the bye-line.
Duffy – 6 A Steady effort which added balance to the right side.
Jones – Came on in the 90th minute.

Given the injury and suspension situation, a win was always going to be the most important element of this game; and to be honest, it didn’t really matter how it came. It was encouraging that we never panicked, even though we struggled badly to get any sort of passing game going. It was also very pleasing that a bold and positive tactical move, utilising the strengths of the players available, was taken on the hour mark allowing ample time for it to take effect. Ultimately, this won us the game as Chesterfield’s previously water-tight defence suddenly became too stretched to cope (allied, of course, to a stroke of luck for the penalty). Martinez and Jones will know that they can’t fly too many flags over a win against a poor Chesterfield side. But at least it keeps us in the hunt, and given the season we have had, we can be glad it’s still alive. Bring on those Cobblers, but lets keep looking for a loan striker!

Swansea: Gueret, Amankwaah (Duffy 64), Iriekpen, Lawrence, Painter, Britton, Tate, Robinson, Butler (Williams 59), Craney, Abbott (Jones 90).
Subs Not Used: Oakes, MacDonald.

Booked: Abbott, Williams.

Goals: Robinson 76 pen, Iriekpen 78.

Chesterfield: Roche, Critchell (Jackson 79), Downes, Hazell, Picken, Niven, Allott, Daniels (Davies 38), Bailey, Hall, Larkin, Davies (Shaw 46).
Subs Not Used: Lowry, Grimaldi.

Booked: Hazell, Niven, Allott.

Att: 11,384

Ref: R Lewis (Shropshire).

 

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