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| Swansea 1 v 0 West Ham |
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| SO, YOU believed in the line that romance had dried up in the FA Cup as early as the third round in the first month of 1999? You should have been in South Wales last night, where Swansea City - to quote Dylan Thomas "that ugly, lovely town" - became the romantics of the round, eliminating West Ham United, who, in the words of Harry Redknapp, their manager, "have been going out to supposed lesser sides, for all the 35 years that I've been involved with the club". |
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Aside from the roar and impassioned emotions that swirled in the wind around the Vetch Field, it is as well for Kevin Keegan that his side, Fulham, also squeezed into the fourth round. The goalscorer in Swansea last night was Martin Thomas, a 25-year-old hand-me-down, a player who became surplus to requirements when Keegan was buying players who are more Harrods than corner shop.
Indeed, Thomas and Swansea are the defiant evidence that, in the lowest division of English professional football, there stirs still the belief in persevering with players whom others think do not have the potential to play against the likes of Eyal Berkovic, Stan Lazaridis, Rio Ferdinand and all in a West Ham team that may be heading for Europe. | 
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When John Hollins became the manager of Swansea last summer, he saw a player who, that day, was poised to sign for the club. Thomas, born in Lymington, near Southampton, was nervous. "Should I sign?" he asked of the new manager.
"I had never seen Martin, but I remember telling him nobody signs a bad player. If they [Swansea] thought you have something, then sign and we'll see."
Hollins, himself rejected in West London when he was dismissed by Queens Park Rangers, had a point to make. "I haven't bought a player, I haven't sold a player and I haven't loaned a player," he said with evident pride.
"At Swansea, we look after them, we talk to the players and all we ask is that they improve. It's marvellous, this kind of night in the Cup, but they'll be in again in the morning and I'll be saying we've enjoyed it, it's terrific, but forget Derby County in the next round, concentrate on being good professionals against Cambridge United this Saturday."
So much for the talk, enlightening though it was. Swansea's players, when they train, include a stint running along the beach and their playing field last night, heavy and sapping, was daunting enough for Redknapp, a manager who had just signed another £1 million player in the shape of Scott Minto to leave out two of his finest touch players. Joe Cole, the boy wonder, was not even dressed for the bench, while Berkovic was left out until half-time.
By then, Thomas had done his thing. Yet it came after a moment of despair for the underdogs. In the 21st minute, Julian Dicks was remarkably lucky to receive only a yellow card after using his forearm into the face of his teenaged opponent, Stuart Roberts. West Ham had a double escape, because the 25-yard free kick by Michael Howard, curled into the wind, beat Hislop and cannoned out off the far post.
The atmosphere became even more febrile. The ground is reduced now to 12,000 spectators, a third of its heyday, but 12,000 people can make an enormous, rousing noise and it erupted in the 28th minute when Swansea effectively won the game. They had boldly attacked with a 4-3-3 formation and, when it came, the goal was reward for Swansea's self- belief. Nick Cusack began to bear down on a defence strangely retreating. From his pass, Jonathan Coates had the courage to cushion the ball at his feet and then to invite Thomas to strike the shot.
Strike it? He wellied the ball and, though it appeared to take a deflection, though it was reached by the despairing fingertips of Hislop, it found its place inside the far post.
West Ham toiled, they gave everything, they lacked, undoubtedly, a finisher such as the injured Ian Wright, but Swansea were defiant to the end, Jason Smith and Matthew Bound, their central defenders, throwing their bodies in the way of things, Roger Freestone, their goalkeeper, rising supremely to clutch a shot from Berkovic - putting behind, perhaps, the memory of his mistake in the first game that gave West Ham their equaliser and the lifeline of this replay.
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In the end, there were no complaints, only the cursing of West Ham's ill-fated Cup history. Swansea, with an almost compelling brand of force and running, are ready now for Derby County. And they gave us just a hint of what the Cup is all about.
SWANSEA CITY (4-3-3): R Freestone - S Jones, J Smith, M Bound, M Howard - N Cusack, M Thomas, J Coates - S Roberts, J Alsop, S Watkin. WEST HAM UNITED (4-4-2): S Hislop - T Breacker (sub: R Hall, 46min), N Ruddock, R Ferdinand, J Dicks - E Omoyinmi (sub: E Berkovic, 46), F Lampard, S Lomas, S Lazaridis - T Sinclair, J Hartson. Referee: S Lodge. |
Swansea manager John Hollins hailed his team of FA Cup heroes after their shock 1-0 victory over Premiership West Ham in a thrilling clash at the Vetch Field.
Martin Thomas' 29th minute goal meant the Welsh club became the first Third Division side to knock Premiership opposition out of the competition since the new-look top flight was formed in 1992.
The visitors threw everything at the home side in a desperate attempt to find the equaliser but Hollins' side held out for a famous victory with goalkeeper Roger Freestone pulling off a breathtaking save in the dying minutes to deny Neil Ruddock.
Hollins said: "The team have answered a lot of questions.
"Last week we lost 4-0 and that hurt us badly but the response was tremendous.
"How Roger Freestone got to that shot I'll never know, I thought 'here we go again', but what a save.
"Full credit to our boys, they have done us proud even though we were flying on the seat of our pants a bit at the end.
"There was some great defending when you consider when we are playing against top players like Rio Ferdinand and John Hartson, they threw everyone forward but we still managed to get the ball away.
"We had a great release through Stuart Roberts, I don't know where he gets his energy from but it was a good breather for us.
"Full credit to West Ham.
"We know the kind of football they can play, they kept us under pressure and the two games have both been extremely exciting."
West Ham manager Harry Redknapp praised the efforts of his players despite their defeat, with Swansea now going forward to face Derby County at home in the next round.
However, Redknapp did say that he thought it was time to make a few changes at Upton Park and confirmed the signing of Scott Minto from Benfica for £1million, the former Chelsea player going straight into contention for Saturday's game against Sheffield Wednesday.
Redknapp said; "We just could not stick the ball away.
"All credit to Swansea, they played well over both legs and it was a great Cup tie.
"I couldn't fault the effort of my players.
"They attacked and ran and worked hard but the keeper pulled off a fantastic save at the end. There was no lack of effort tonight.
"We now have to push on and try and get a place in Europe.
"I may change one or two things around and it may be time to bring in one or two new faces.
"But you couldn't say my players didn't try tonight.
"I'm the first one to go into the dressing room and complain if I don't think they've been trying but everyone worked hard and it was just one of those nights."
Redknapp was left to bemoan the absence of injured strikers Paul Kitson and particularly England forward Ian Wright who will be out for eight weeks after an operation on his injured cartilage.
Redknapp added: "I'm not taking anything away from Swansea but I did feel someone like Wrighty would have scored, I needed somebody who could get in there and stick the ball away.
"It's been disappointing because I was hoping for a good Cup run like we had last year in both competitions.
"I felt we had enough chances that we should have scored tonight."