Brentford 4 v 1 Swansea City

As soon as the PA announcer declared before the kick-off that Brentford would be doing a lap of honour after the game, you wondered whether Brentford’s millionaire owner and manager Ron Noades knew something Swansea didn’t.

It may have been to confirm the fact that Brentford had already secured promotion, but it also confirmed the huge gap between the Third Division leaders and a club still fighting for a play-off lifeline.

Swansea were totally outplayed and totally outclassed in every part of the pitch as Brentford ran riot right to the top of the table.

’’We were second all over the field,’’ confirmed Swansea manager John Hollins. ’’We were second best for most of the game.’’

While Swansea were shocking, Brentford were awesome.

’’You can see why Brentford are top. They are a very good side,’’ added Hollins.

True, but the hordes of Swansea fans who made the trek up the M4 certainly hoped for a better showing than the one they got.

Shortly after the kick-off it became blatantly obvious that Swansea had their work cut out. They were just not good enough.

Defensively, Swansea were too slow to deal with the pace of Lloyd Owuso and Scott Partridge. In a midfield without the rested Martin Thomas they were too pedestrian, sloppy and weak, while up front there was never enough nous to get the better of Icelandic international Herman Hreidarsson and his partner Darren Powell.

Sad reading it may be, but it was plain to see.

Swansea did restrict the home side early on to a Partridge drive which Roger Freestone did extremely well to stop, but from the moment Owuso latched onto a flick-on from Powell in the 27th minute to beat him with an overhead kick, any hopes they had of snatching something from the London club had gone.

Even Hollins seemed to sense it as Michael Howard came off the substitutes bench eight minutes from the interval to replace Jason Price - the benefits of the full-back gaining an hour of competitive action following an ankle injury earning some consolation.

Matthew Bound forced Andy Woodman into a crucial save before the interval with a powerful free-kick from 30 yards, but Swansea were always living on borrowed time.

No sooner had they lost Kristian O’Leary at the start of the second half with a recurring back injury than their time was up.

Within a minute and 15 seconds of the restart their time had run out as former Welsh Under-21 international Paul Evans, a deadline-day signing from Shrewsbury, unleashed an unstoppable shot from 25 yards into the top corner - a strike that would have graced any goal of the season competition.

Swansea offered some resistance as the arrival of Stuart Roberts for O’Leary gave them an outlet down the right. But, apart from a Tony Bird shot which was blocked, they thumped hopeful balls forward in a desperate attempt to salvage something from a contest they had no right to be in.

And when the outstanding Hreidarsson headed home an inswinging free-kick from Andy Scott in the 76th minute, it was all over bar the lap of honour and a fourth from Partridge - the former Cardiff midfielder belying his unproductive days at Ninian Park with an impressive display - with a final minute finish which gave Freestone little chance.

By the time Bird had rifled in a consolation effort a minute into injury time, latching onto a Steve Watkin flick from a Steve Jones throw, Swansea supporters were already in shock. So much so, it took them a good 30 seconds to realise their side had scored.

Not that it mattered, thoughts were already focussed on tomorrow’s home game against second-placed Cambridge and the visit of struggling Hull.

Two wins will guarantee them a play-off place. One may be enough. But whatever happens now, Swansea will have to bounce back yet again while keeping one eye focused on Halifax, Peterborough and Mansfield for a favour.

Whether they deserve it after this latest showing is another matter.

One thing is for certain, they will never play as badly again against Third Division opposition - hopefully anyway.

Brentford: Woodman, Boxall, Anderson, Hreidarsson, Powell, Mahon, Scott, Quinn, Owusu, Partridge, Evans,
Oatway, Rowlands,

Swansea City: Freestone, Jones, S, Coates, O'Leary, Smith, Bound, Appleby, Price, Alsop, Bird, Cusack,

Scorers:
Brentford: Owusu (27), Evans (46), Hreidarsson (75), Partridge (87)
Swansea City: Bird (89)

Substitutions:
Brentford: Bryan, for Scott (80)
Swansea City: Roberts, for O'Leary (46), Howard, for Price (37), Watkin, for Alsop (58)

Bookings:
Brentford: None.
Swansea City: Howard (50)

Referee: M. D. Messias (York)

Attendance: 7,156