Match report

An encouragingly determined and gritty performance today from the Swans as they ground out a win in East London. And there was a fair smattering of skill and passing football too, still intermingled with the plentiful 60-yard hoof (or is that long ball?). But even allowing for the fact that this was as poor an Orient side as I have ever seen, this was still a performance to be well pleased with and which may be the platform from which we can build.



It was a slightly makeshift Swans team that achieved this feat. Injuries to trundle, Britton and of course Robinson and Lawrence made this a team which surely would not have been Jackett’s first choice line-up (not that anyone knows what that is, of course). But there were still one or two surprises in the mix, with Williams getting the left midfield nod ahead of Butler, and McDonald starting on the right side of midfield. At the back, Tate partnered Izzy in the centre with Amankwaah and Austin holding the full back berths. Knight partnered Fallon up front with Willy holding out in goal, despite the various recent calls for his "tete".

From the off it was the visitors who held the balance of play, dominating the possession and reducing the home side to the occasional break. During this spell, there was encouraging wing play from Amankwaah and McDonald down our right side, both players seeking regularly to surge forward and deliver quality balls into the box. Knight was twisting and turning in the box creating all sorts of problems for the home defence, whilst Fallon was getting his head to many of the long balls which still flowed from Gueret’s boot. In the middle of the park, O’Leary was putting himself about whilst Pratley was orchestrating matters with some surging and energetic running and passing.

In fact, Orient only mustered one attempt on goal in the first half, a blocked shot on 22 minutes. The rest of their efforts comprised little more than angled high balls into the box which Willy and the centre halves dealt with comfortably. But despite our pressure during these early phases we could still not claim to have greatly threatened the home goal. The closest effort came on 7 minutes when an Amankwaah cross-shot zipped across the six-yard box evading both O’Leary and Knight when it seemed certain that one of them would convert.



On 17 minutes, Leon Knight, causing all sorts of problems for the home defence, burst past the full back to the bye-line, only to see his low cross cut out before it reached the oncoming Fallon. Then on 20 minutes, Fallon flicked a long ball on to Knight, who turned brilliantly before delivering a neat cross towards McDonald, who failed to connect properly. It was closing in on the half-hour when we finally appeared to have made our territorial advantage tell. A Fallon flick sent Pratley bursting towards goal. As he closed in on the keeper in a one on one situation, he was brought down from behind for a nailed-on penalty. The transgressor (Miller) was rightly dismissed, but sadly Knight’s penalty was weak and at save-able height, so we did not capitalise on the advantage.

Undeterred we continued to press forward in an attempt to gain the advantage before half time. Pratley had another surging run towards goal, this time foiled before he could get in a strike; Knight once again seemed to be fouled in the box, but this time he was harshly booked for diving; and just before the break McDonald produced a terrific turn and cross which again just evaded the touch of Knight.

The half time talk was of whether we could press home our advantage both in terms of numbers and quality. On recent evidence we wondered whether it would be yet another case of what might have been. However, we started the second half positively, with a neat move involving Fallon, McDonald and a cross from Amankwaah resulting in a header just wide from O'Leary. Shortly after this, the rampaging Amankwaah once again burst into the box and appeared to be brought down. Unfortunately, the referee once again judged that he had dived and booked him for the offence. A minute later Fallon mustered his only strike on goal, with a weak shot which was easily saved. Then finally the breakthrough came on 55 minutes which Knight evaded his marker to guide home a stooping header from a long Williams free kick. It was a strange goal for Knight to claim, and the home defence will not have been happy with it, but nonetheless just reward for the little man’s efforts during the game.



There followed the first real spell of pressure from the home side which led to a couple of corners but no real threat to Willy’s goal. In fact it was the Swans who came closest to the second goal when Knight headed just wide from a MacDonald cross. And then a few minutes later McDonald shot well over following a good Fallon flick. The home side had picked up a couple of bookings by now, for bad challenges and the game was developing an unnecessary edge. But it was a shock when, on 65 minutes, the numbers became evened up. Knight was given his marching orders for a second yellow for an offence which, frankly, was unfathomable from our vantage point. There was no contact with an opposition player so a foul or dive seemed unlikely. One report later suggested it may have been deliberate handball. Almost immediately after this, McDonald broke through on goal but shot well over.

We responded strongly to the 10 v 10 situation, by replacing Williams with Bayo, thus retaining the two men up front. Fallon seemed most surprised by this, and almost appeared to arguing with the bench that he should be taken off. Bizarre. Orient responded by introducing Paul Conner, who received more applause from the visiting fans than from the home crowd; equally bizarre.

The home side managed to exert a bit of pressure in these latter stages. They forced two corners and from the second of these, Barnard had a shot blocked. We responded immediately when Pratley carried the ball thirty yards before playing a perfect through ball for Fallon to set him in on goal, only to see the kiwi strike his shot over the bar with just the keeper to beat. This meant more chewed fingernails for the travelling jacks. Saah struck a shot well over the bar and another Orient effort was scuffed wide. The referee blatantly failed to book a home player for a dive (despite waving him to his feet) and strangely added on four minutes. But we held out reasonably comfortable to deservedly claim our first away win of the season.

A word on the travelling support - The result was greeted rapturously by 500 or so travelling Jacks, who filled the away seating and provided terrific positive support throughout. The singing was loud and constant, there were few anti Cardiff songs, and everything was thoroughly positive, the Swansea City Song featuring strongly. A great effort all round which surely must have lifted the team. Liberty-ites please note. (NB Still found time for the odd anti-English song though, which was odd considering that half our team could walk home from the stadium today!)

Leyton Orient 0 - 1 Swansea City - Match Report - Mark Arnold Pictures from Andrew Thomas

The pressure was on both sides at The Matchroom stadium, after indifferent starts to the season, and losses in midweek in the Carling Cup that saw both clubs struggling for confidence and form.

Jackett’s men were buoyed by a large and vociferous crowd, packed into the corner of Orient’s ground/housing complex.




And one part of the housing complex, which separated us visitors from our host’s ‘North Band’ , offered much amusement in the shape of a fat lad and an ample ‘lady’ – shouts of “keep your t***s in for the lads” even had the woman smiling back at the banter.

To the game itself. Jackett made four changes from the Wycombe match. Tate came in for the injured Lawrence. McDonald and Williams replaced the injured Britton and out-of-form McCleod, and Knight returned to partner Fallon.

Side – Gueret, Amankwaah, Iriekepen, Tate, Austin, McDonald, Pratley, O’Leary ,Williams, Fallon, Knight.

The match started well for the Swans, who looked in complete control, despite not having the smooth passing style that was so evident at the start of last season.


Unfortuately, an ever-fussy referee, who loved the sound of his own whistle, broke up play so much, with his penchant for giving free kicks that neither side we able to find any kind of rhythm.

Still, all was not lost for the Swans, as despite the lack of free-flowing football, they battled to keep most of the possession, and looked by the far the most likely team to score.

This aspect of the game will indeed give Kenny Jackett much pleasure, as it showed that the team he send out certainly had the character to get through this tough start to the season, and backed their manager, despite the criticism he has received of late.

Tate’s return was a welcome one, and he dominated a well marshalled defence. Austin was his no-nonsense sell, playing at his ‘home’ ground. Amankwaah and Izzy looked full of running and purpose.

I was lucky to be sat next to Kevin Amankwaah parents, who were seeing their son playing for the Swans for the first time. Whilst they were nervous for their boy, he was the epitome of calm, in an impressive performance.

Amankwaah seemed to link well with McDonald, who was very industrious, and full of running.



The same could not be said for Williams on the other flank. While Austin played deeper than Amankwaah, probably to ensure he wasn’t outpaced, Williams failed to beat his man, or even play any penetrative passes to the runs of Knight and Pratley, who both were the most dangerous attackers.

It was this combination that should have seen the Swans take a first half lead. Pratley made a determined run into the box, and was ‘leant’ on by the Orient defence.

The ref immediately pointed to the spot, to much derision from the home supporters, who were even more incensed when her sent off the offender, Justin Miller.

Miller was unfortunate, as Pratley did seem to go down quite easily – I’d have preferred to have seen him ride the challenge and shoot – but will defer too much criticism until I see the replay.

Knight then stepped up to hit his spot kick low and to the left of the home keeper, who clawed it away.

Not long after Knight took a tumble in the box, having squeezed himself between two defenders in the box. This time the ref didn’t point to the spot, but took out a yellow card for diving.

If anything, this challenge seemed more a penalty than the one given and missed, but the ref wasn’t up to much.

Half-time 0-0

No changes at half-time, the Swans looked to use the advantage of the extra man. However, they seldom used the width of the pitch to get behind the defence – especially on the left, which would have played to Fallon’s strength.



Fallon, himself, looked completely devoid of any confidence, summed up by a shot he blasted over the bar when put one-on-one with the keeper later in the match, which would have sealed the game.

Prior to that miss, the Swans took the lead, when a speculative ball was played into the area, and the slightest touch from Knight saw the ball trickle into the left hand corner of the net.

Then in another attacking move, Knight was late in another committed tackle, and received his second yellow, to depart to the dressing room to a standing ovation from the Swans supporters.



A former Swans striker also received a standing ovation from the Jack Amry, when Paul Connor arrived for the home side, and he certainly made a positive impact for Orient.

In fact Orient started getting the upper hand, but the Swans held firm, with Tate commanding the defence, and McDonald, O’Leary and Pratley running themselves into the ground to try and offer the back four extra protection.

The Swans looked dangerous on the break, particularly when substitute Akinfenwa (Williams) came on, and showed just how badly Jackett’s decision was to play Fallon from the start.

Their endeavour was worthwhile as the final whistle blew, much to the relief of Mrs Amankwaah, who was having kittens everytime Orient got near our box.

A 1-0 victory was no more than the Swans deserved. They were the better side on the day, if not always in slick footballing skills, but certainly in character and commitment.


Ratings:
Gueret – 7/10 – Good performance from Willy. Caught well, and distribution good
Amankwaah – 7/10 – This boy looks a great buy. Athletic going forward. Great throw, and assured defending.
Iriekepen – 6/10 – Made one near fatal error near the end, but was rescued by the linesman's (wrong) offside flag
Tate - 8/10 – MOM – non-nonsense defending. Commanding in the air. A Man U style performance
Austin – 7/10 – Uncompromising, using all of his experience to keep the left hand side shored up
McDonald – 7/10 – Kept looking for the ball, running at defenders and helped Amankwaah cover our right side
Pratley – 7/10 – another great buy by Jackett. Faded in the middle of the second half, but had run his socks off by then
O'Leary – 6/10 – Distribution still KOL weak spot, but commitment there for all to see
Williams – 4/10 – Crossing poor. Distribution and running just as bad. Poor perfromance
Fallon – 4/10 – Would have got a lower mark, but Jackett doesn't help the boy by playing the wrong system to get the best from the lad
Knight – 6/10 – Looses a mark for getting sent off, but he battled well and deserved a goal

Subs:
Akinfenwa – 7/10 – not long to impress, but looked dangerous from the word go. Must start next game
Jackett – 5/10 – again he set up the side to narrow too get the most out of Fallon, and needs to give the boy a rest from the starting line-up to boost his confidence. Regular run-outs as a sub, and in reserves can only help Fallon, as well as offering crosses from wide position enabling him to attack the ball, not playing with his back to goal like today’s tactics.


Butler , Way – both came on 90 mins
Not used: Oakes, Watt

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