Match report

Scunthorpe United 1 v 0 Swansea City

Report courtesy of John Burgum - Evening Post

Despite losing from a late Jamie Forester goal Swansea claimed their place in the Third Division play-offs because results elsewhere went their way.

Swansea made one change from the side which came back strongly to beat Mansfield last week, Keith Walker being preferred to Thomas Willer in his first senior game since breaking his arm against Cardiff seven weeks ago. Striker Carl Heggs, two-goal hero against Mansfield retained his place on the bench.

Former Swansea defender Alan Knill was missing from the Scunthorpe side having failed a fitness test on ankle and knee injuries picked up at Lincoln last week. Scunthorpe did include another old Vetch favourite, midfielder David'D'Auria in a side which showed two changes, manager Brian Laws recalling Steve Housham and Alex Calvo Garcia.

Swansea went straight onto the offensive with Torpey and Ampadu carving out an opening for Molby whose shot from 20 yards skidded on the greasy surface straight to the keeper. Swansea stayed on the front foot and, from their first corner, Penney delivered an inch perfect cross to the far post. The ball was cleared as far as Edwards but he mis-hit his shot which went high and wide.

When Scunthorpe finally got into their stride they quickly exploited a gap in the middle of the Swansea defence, Justin Walker releasing Ayre who seemed set to test Freestone before Jenkins produced a timely tackle. Scunthorpe came again, this time through Forrester down the left. The striker side-stepped two defenders before driving a shot from 25 yards only to see Freestone well placed at his near post.

Swansea quickly regained their composure and, with Molby probing intelligently from midfield, came close to snatching the lead on 14 minutes. The player-manager cleverly dodged two opponents before Penney took up the running to release Jenkins who shot straight at Clarke from 15 yards.

Penney then needed treatment for a leg injury which referee Laws decided had been sustained in an illegal challenge from D'Auria, deputising as captain for the injured Knill. D'Auria was cautioned and Swansea were soon back on the offensive with an Ampadu free-kick setting up an opening for Jones whose diving header went just wide. Scunthorpe kept pressurising and, when McCauley delivered a corner, Freestone misjudged the flight and was fortunate to see it run behind.

Walsh then delivered a free-kick into the box. Freestone appeared to gather cleanly only to drop the ball under pressure from Hope. Again a hurried clearance got Swansea out of trouble. Just before the break Swansea might have snatched the lead. Thomas squared a pass across the goalmouth but Torpey showed a lack of composure and sliced wide from I5 yards.

Torpey was in the thick of it again on half time when he was booked for a foul on Sertori. The incident could have turned ugly until the referee signalled for the interval.

Half time: Scunthorpe Utd O, Swansea City 0

Swansea resumed full of vitality, quickly winning two corners and almost profiting when Molby delivered the free-kick into the heart of the goalmouth. Scoring opportunities, however, con tinued to be few and far between although Penney did work himself into a good position just inside the area only to see his effort from 15 yards blocked by a defender.

Swansea gained another useful platform when MaCauly conceded a free-kick for a foul on Jones to become the third player to be cautianed. Again Molby delivered a superb free-kick into the goalmouth and the ball brushed Thomas's head before being played to safety.

Scunthorpe weathered the pressure and came back strongly with Walker driving wide of the target after Ayre had set up the opening.

Next D'Auria shot wide after a free-kick before Walker burst through from midfield and drove a shot which skidded straight into the arms of Freestone.

Despite their neat approach work Swansea continued to struggle to create clear-cut openings. One looked likely to fall to Thomas when a kindly bounce appeared to offer the Swansea striker some hope - but Clarke was alert to the danger, racing out of his area to clear. Swansea tried a different route when Ampadu joined the attack and produced a cross which Thomas headed just over with Clarke scrambling to cover.

Despite needing only a point to be sure of qualifying for the play-offs, Swansea continued to probe and Molby tried to find Torpey who lost his footing as he raced in to meet the pass.

The deadlock was broken on 75 minutes when FORRESTER raced through to score his sixth goal in nine games. McAuley started the move but Forrester still had a lot to do when he raced past Walker and Ampadu before driving a low shot under the keeper.

It left Swansea with an uphill fight and 10 minutes from time Swansea assistant manager Billy Ayre sent on Carl Heggs who Scored twice in five minutes last week to turn a losing performance into a crucial win over Mansfield. Molby went off in a last ditch gamble to salvage something from the game. Swansea threw everyone forward but Thomas, Jones and Heggs were all denied.