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| MATCH REPORTS |
Report by Jeremy Kivell - Mailing list
A winner 10 minutes from time by Tony Bird capped an impressive Swansea performance to deliver a deserved three points.
Swansea lined up in fairly standard 4-4-2 formation:
Freestone
Price Walker Edwards Moreira
Lacey Ampadu Coates
Puttnam
O'Gorman Bird
After a minute's silence in memory of Ivor Allchurch, the game kicked off,
but produced very little in the first half hour, as Swansea struggled to
adapt to not having a tall target man up front. Our only real chance came
from a cross from Puttnam on the left which Ampadu just failed to get his
head to. Brighton had a couple of corners and a shot well over the bar, and
that was it until on the half hour, Jason Price ran on to a through ball
wide on the right and delivered a pacey first-time cross which flashed
across the goal.
That seemed to be the spark that Swansea needed. Coates and Price came more into the game and we created several chances before the break, with Bird twice going close from right wing crosses from O'Gorman. Ampadu also had a long range effort saved at the second attempt.
The second half started pretty much in the same vein, with Coates and Price particularly impressive, and Bird and O'Gorman looking quick and sharp up front. At times we suffered from a lack of height, as neither striker won much in the air, but they made up for it with something I can't remember seeing from any forward at The Vetch recently - pace.
It wasn't plain sailing though, as Brighton were getting back into the game. After about an hour, they should have taken the lead when their striker found himself only a few yards out with just Freestone to beat, but Roger pulled off a terrific save to deflect the ball over the bar. That wasn't the only time the Swansea keeper was called upon to make a contribution during the afternoon, as Brighton started to cause problems on the break. We could easily have conceded a couple on another day.
In the end, after we'd had a couple of very presentable penalty shouts turned down, it was settled by Bird, who headed in a deep cross from Lacey after a short corner routine on the left.
Brighton may feel a bit aggrieved that they didn't take at least one of their chances, but they couldn't complain about the result. We played by far the better football, and dominated posession for most of the game.
Man of the match was the obvoius choice, Tony Bird, but Coates or Price could just have easily have been named.
I was very impressed with Price at right wing-back. I haven't seen him play much before today, but he's very useful going forward, and delivered a couple of terrific crosses. He's also quite tall, so can get in the box and make up for our lack of height elsewhere. In fact, he had a couple of excellent chances today which he'll be disappointed he didn't take. Who knows, Steve Jones might have trouble getting back in the first team at this rate.
Jon Coates was excellent in his new central midfield position, but Puttnam was a bit quiet on the left wing. He had a couple of good touches, but his delivery was erratic and frequently too deep. It's a case of "watch this space" for him, I think. O'Gorman has a lot of pace, and he and Bird gave 110%. The two new strikers work well together (as they should, both coming from the same club) and both were willing to come deep to get the ball.
Bird, as a former Cardiff player, was making an extra effort to endear himself to the crowd, as he seemed to spend most of the pre-match warm up kissing his shirt and applauding the North Bank. He looks like he's genuinely motivated to make the most of his second chance of League football, and if he keeps this attitude up, he won't go far wrong. He also proved one thing with his goal celebration today - he's got bigger pecs than Dai Thomas.
| Result | Swansea (0) 1 | Brighton (0) 0 |
| Scorers | Bird 80 | - |
| Teams | Freestone, Price, Moreira, Walker, Edwards, Coates, Lacey, O'Gorman, Bird, Ampadu, Puttnam. | Ormerod, Humphrey, Hobson, Minton, Morris, Johnson, Storer, Mayo, Reinelt, Maskell, McDonald (Westcott 81) |
| Subs Not Used: | Chapple, Casey, Jones | Allan, Armstrong. |
| Booked: | Ampadu | Hobson, Morris, Reinelt. |
| Att: | 7,500 | Ref: A G Wiley (Burntwood). |
This report was brought to you via the Sunshine State! Enjoy and have a nice day - Gary.
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