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Swansea City 6 Horsham 2
Match Report - Nigel Gigg Match Photos - Andrew Thomas
Swans eased their way into Round 3 of the FA Cup tonight but not before an early couple of scares that saw them trailing twice in the first half.
Roberto Martinez took no chances putting out a very strong line up for the replay against Ryman League side Horsham.
Side- De Vries, Rangel, Tate, Lawrence, Austin, Anderson, Britton, Bodde, Pratley, Robinson, Scotland. Subs- O'Leary, Butler, Orlandi, Feeney, Bauza.
Just 20 seconds into the game and Swans had their first scare when Kev Austin looked rather fortunate not to concede a penalty with a rash challenge in the box.
Horsham looked a different side to the first game 10 days ago and were looking to attack at every opportunity. They were being cheered on by a vociferous away support of just short of 400 but bearing in mind this was the biggest day in their clubs history that seemed a very poor support from a town with a population of 50,000.
Swans were guilty of over cooking things early on with too many players trying to set up the 'perfect goal'.
There were a couple of scares with Horsham sending over some great crosses that nobody was quite getting on the end of. Swans for their part had chances for Leon Britton, Jason Scotland and Andy Robinson but it all seemed a little lackadaisical.
If the Swans needed a wake up call it came on 19 minutes, Simon Austin thumped a long ball forward that Dennis Lawrence totally misread allowing the ball to bounce over his head and straight into the path of Lee Farrell who couldn't believe his luck being through on goal. The young lad showed a great deal of composure lifting the ball over Dorus de Vries to put his side ahead.
Swans then took just a minute to draw level, with Jason Scotland feeding Darren Pratley who finished coolly from 8 yards.
If Dennis Lawrence's slip up for Horsham's first goal was poor, Dorus de Vries's error for their second goal was inexcusable. The Dutch keeper with the ball at his feet and had the opportunity to thump the ball up field but instead tried to be clever and pass the ball out past Farrell. His awful pass was under hit and far too close to Farrell allowing the striker to stick a foot out control the ball and pass it into the corner of the net. Farrell must have felt he'd won the lottery.
The second goal really knocked the Swans and there was a great deal of panic in their play for the next 10 minutes or so. Nerves were eased on 37 minutes when Jason Scotland fed Leon Britton in the box. Leon took one touch to control the ball before firing in with a powerful right foot shot.
Horsham were cut apart twice more in the next four minutes to kill the game off. First Paul Anderson made a terrific run down the right and his inch perfect cross was turned in by Jason Scotland. Then 60 seconds later Angel Rangel had the freedom of the Liberty being allowed acres of space. His perfect cross was headed home by an unchallenged Ferrie Bodde.
Andy Robinson hit the post in the first minutes of the second half but Dennis Lawrence could only head the rebound into the arms of the grateful Seuke in the Horsham goal.
Swans got the fifth on 55 minutes with the simplest of goals. Dorus threw the ball out to Angel Rangel and his first time ball down the right flank was perfectly into the path of Darren Pratley who let the ball run to the bye line before crossing low and hard for Andy Robinson to add his name to the score sheet.
Leon Britton and Jason Scotland made way for Guillem Bauza and Warren Feeney and Bauza hit the post within a minute of coming on.
On 72 minutes Andrea Orlandi replaced Paul Anderson and six minutes later Swans got the sixth. Warren Feeney was given time and space and thundered a right foot shot straight through keeper Seuke.
There were further chances for Bauza, Feeney and Orlandi and the Swans had plenty of chances to beat the seven they scored against Bristol City two years ago. However, that probably would have been harsh on a plucky Horsham.
Ratings-
De Vries 6 - A rare howler.
Rangel 8 - Solid as a rock.
Tate 8 - Faultless.
Lawrence 6- Totally asleep for Horsham's first.
Austin 7 - Fortunate not to gift Horsham a dream start.
Anderson 8 - Worried the life out of Horsham's left back.
Britton 7 - Ran at the heart of defence time and again.
Pratley 9 - Covered every blade of grass again.
Bodde 7 - More wayward passes than normal.
Robinson 6 - Tried to hard to put on a show when hard work and simple football would have been a better option.
Scotland 7 - One goal, two assists but still short of his best.
Bauza 7 - Gets in some terrific positions but not clinical enough at the moment.
Feeney 6 - One goal but missed a couple of others.
Orlandi 8 - Looked classy.
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