Match report

Swansea City 1 v 0 Brighton Hove Albion

Report courtesy of John Burgum - Evening Post

IF Swansea can continue grinding out results when they are not playing well, there might just be a reasonably happy Christmas around the corner and a more prosperous outlook in 1997.

David Penney's superb early strike offered the promise of better things, but when they did not materialise Swansea settled for the main objective - winning. Three precious points from a third successive home League win has opened a 10-point gap between Swansea and rock bottom Brighton. Of equal importance is that Swansea up to l4th on a night when others were caught in winter's icy grip, have moved to within five points of the play-off contenders. While no-one is foolish enough to suggest that Swansea have the necessary qualities yet to reach that objective, the anxieties of a month ago have been replaced by the odd satisfied smile, or two.

"It was not a great game, and parts of our performance left a lot to be desired but it was important to get three points " insisted Jan Molby.

"I don't think the performance was ever going to be that important because when you are playing the bottom team it's always going to be tough. If you don't win you are left with egg on your face, but we got the three points. How we got them did not really matter. I know, and I'm sure the fans know, that we can play a lot better. There are teams that have played worse than us, and ground out results. Now it's our turn."

Molby's mixture of delight and disappointment was understandable. Swansea were hesitant in defence, particularly in the first half, the passing was often poor and a lack of thought in the final third allowed Brighton off the hook when the goals should have flowed. Goalkeeper Mark Ormerod was kept busy fending off Swansea's attempts to build on Penney's ffth goal of the season - driven in low from the edge of the area after the combined help of Linton Brown and Jonathan Coates.

Penney's strike relieved the pressure on top scorer Steve Torpey to keep delivering the goods and went some way towards answering Molby's continuing plea for goals from midfield. The Swansea captain also forced the first of three second-half saves from hard-pressed Brighton goalkeeper after a superb run and cross from the lively Kwame Ampadu.

Seven-goal Torpey and the steady Steve Jones were also denied, while Coates almost got through when he skipped between two defenders and watched his delicate lob sail over the advancing Ormerod and the bar. Crowd-pleaser Joao Moreira helped to set up that chance, and warmed the North Bank with a number of surging runs down the left flank. The improvement in his first two starts was there for all to see but more is expected, and needed, over 90 minutes.

Of course, it might have been different if Brighton had cashed in on their best spell in the first half when neat approach work twice released Craig Maskell who cracked the underside of the bar and drove another effort wide of the diving Roger Freestone and the far post.

The Swansea goalkeeper was virtually redundant after the interval when shot-shy Brighton, chasing Linton Brown themselves not so long ago, should really have been put to the sword.

Team: Freestone, Brown, Clode Moreira, Edwards, Jones, Jenkins, Penney, Torpey, Ampadu, Coates. Subs (not used) Thomas. O'Leary, King.