Match report

Swansea City 2 Wycombe 3 (AET) - Match Report Nigel Gigg, Pictures Andrew Thomas

After the boost of the first win of the season on Saturday, Kenny Jackett kept much the same side tonight for the visit of League 2 Wycombe.

Kris O’Leary started in central midfield in place of Tom Butler and Leon Britton started on the right of midfield.

Side – Gueret, Amankwaah, Iriekepen, Lawrence, Austin, Britton, Pratley, O’Leary , McLeod, Fallon, Trundle.

Subs – Oakes, Williams, Butler, Akinfenwa, Knight.

Rory Fallon almost gave the Swans a dream start with a header just wide of the post from a Darren Pratley cross.

After the early scare it was Wycombe that soon gained the upper hand. Willy Gueret made several saves in the opening quarter of an hour to deny the League 2 outfit.

Dennis Lawrence was replaced by Tom Williams on 15 minutes after suffering what appeared to be a groin strain. Tom Williams went to left back with Kevin Austin moving to centre half.

Swans seemed to want to play football but their passing was often wayward and Wycombe were quick to close them down. All Swans moves were through Darren Pratley but with Kevin McLeod not looking for the ball, Kris O’Leary in no- mans land and Leon Britton having a howler, Pratley was often left with hoofing the ball forward or playing the ball back to one of the back four.

Swans had only one or two chances and Willy was much the busier of the 2 keepers.

Kenny Jackett would have been relieved to hear the half time whistle with the scores level.

Kevin McLeod, who once more had looked totally out of sorts, was replaced at half time by Bayo Akinfenwa with Lee Trundle now playing just behind the front two of Fallon and Bayo.

On 50 minutes a dreadful left clearance by Izzy Iriekepen fell straight to Cardiff born Jermaine Easter. He took one touch to control the ball and with Kevin Austin seemingly inviting him to shoot, he fired a right foot shot into the corner of the net from 25 yards.

Bayo forced Wycombe keeper Jamie Young into his first save with a near post header as Swans tried to get into a game that was fast passing them by.

With no player on the left of midfield it seemed somewhat perverse that Leon Britton had now been sent central, so with two target men up front we now had no width in midfield whatsoever.

Things went from bad to worse on 63 minutes when a speculative shot from Stefan Oakes took a deflection off Kevin Amankwaah’s thigh and went past Willy Gueret who really should have reacted more quickly.

If Swans had looked disjointed in the first half they were now at sixes and sevens. There was little or no shape. Of the three midfield players, all still playing centrally, Kris O’Leary was invariably the furthest forward. Whatever Kris O’Leary’s strengths are, playing a forward role is not one of them.

Everything continued to go through Darren Pratley, who at least was taking responsibility and looking for the ball when many others made it obvious they didn’t want the ball anywhere near them.

Out of the blue Swans pulled a goal back on 70 minutes. Kris O’Leary hit a shot from 20 yards out that would have been closer to the corner flag than the goal, but Mike Williamson stuck a foot out and the ball flew into the top corner past a shell shocked Jamie Young.

An own goal was probably the only way we were going to get back into the game and despite the goal, the quality of our play barely improved. However, at least we were now on the offensive as Wycombe seemed to be starting to panic at the back.

With 13 minutes left Butler replaced Fallon and a minute or so later Swans grabbed the equaliser. Out of nothing, Darren Pratley hit a volley from outside of the box which was nestling in the back of the net before Young had moved.

For the remainder of the game both sides had half chances but Kenny Jackett would have been the happier of the two managers to see the game go to extra time.

Lee Trundle and Darren Pratley had a couple of blocked efforts early in extra time but as time went on it seemed Swans were almost settling for penalties and then paid the penalty when Wycombe grabbed the winner with 7 minutes to go.

The defence failed to deal with a cross and after what seemed an eternity Mike Williamson headed in from a yard or so surrounded by defenders and Willy all playing statues again.

To see Wycombe playing the ball around and running the clock down in the final minutes merely added insult to injury.

Tonight’s performance was very poor. Kenny Jackett and more importantly the players do not seem to know what system to play and it was unforgivable to play two target men with no width.

Huw Jenkins dream of promotion is exactly that at the moment…. a dream.

Ratings

Gueret 5 – Again very poor command of the box, slow reactions.
Amankwaah 7- Pick of a poor defence.
Iriekepen 5 – Again lapse in concentration cost us dear.
Lawrence  - Only played 15 minutes and spared criticism.
Austin 4 – Beaten all ends up late on by their left back!
Britton 3- Probably his worst game in a Swansea shirt.
Pratley 7 – Never stopped running, showed desire and commitment.
O’Leary 4 – Playing him and Pratley in centre midfield leaves us short of creativity and against League 2 opposition is nonsensical.
McLeod 3 -  His career seems to be on a downward spiral and it’s painful to watch.
Fallon 4- A long way off his best.
Trundle 5- Got no change from defenders and starved of the ball.

Subs-

Williams 5 – Managed at least to get both Jackett and Nugent shouting by ducking out of heading challenge.
Akinfenwa 5- Offered a little more than Fallon.
Butler 6- Added some much needed width but again guilty of losing possession in dangerous areas.