Hull City 0 v 2 Swansea City

There was a couple of changes in the swans line-up - Freestone, Jones, Howard, Smith and Bound at the back, Coates being recalled to left midfield with Appleby switching to the right, Cusack and Thomas in the centre, with Watkin returning to partner Alsop up front. Subs were Bird, Jenkins, Roberts.

The first half began fairly evenly, with both sides stringing some neat passes together, and creating a few chances. Bound had a shot from a free-kick charged down, while Alsop cracked a header against the angle of bar and post from a good Watkin cross. A good run from Coates ended when he tried to take on one player too many instead of passing the ball.

Hull should also have scored at least once from the three chances Roger offered them in the first half. He spilled two fairly innocuous crosses straight to the feet of Hull attackers. He managed to scramble one of the subsequent shots round the post for a corner, with the other being hacked off the line by Smith. Then he managed to totally miskick a back-pass clearing the ball a distance of all of five yards, again straight to a Hull player who somehow contrived to shoot wide.

The home crowd were also incensed after they felt Steve Jones had brought down one of their players in the box, but the referee (who had an excellent game) waved play on.

All this was soon forgiven though, as shortly after the Swans were two up.

Following a neat through ball from Watkin, Appleby rounded a Hull defender before floating a delightful chip over the stranded keeper from about 25 yards out for a stunning goal.

We had hardly stopped celebrating that goal, when Swansea won a free kick on the the left wing. Howard whipped in a low cross, and with three or four Hull defenders marking Alsop, Watkin was able to sneak in unchallenged to power a header into the back of the net giving their keeper no chance.

Within a minute of the restart it could have been 3-0 after an almighty scramble in the Hull area with Alsop and Thomas going close, before the keeper grabbed the ball at about the fourth attempt. That was the nearest the Swans came to scoring in the second half as they concentrated on their defensive duties.

The Swansea defence was excellent, particulary from set pieces as Hull pressed forward and won a series of corners. Bound and Smith were outstanding, and Roger made up for the first half with a commanding performance catching or punching away every Hull cross he came for.

Hull mostly resorted to shooting from outside the box, largely off-target with Roger comfortably dealing with any that came his way. The only danger came on a couple of occasions where Swansea players collided with each other, and the ball ran free to a Hull player, but they showed no composure at all in front of goal.

Hull never looked like scoring and for the last ten minutes of the match the home fans were streaming out of the ground. Roberts came on as sub for the injured Appleby during stoppage time.

All in all this was an encouraging result, with the Swans winning comfortably away from home, despite never really firing on all cylinders. Also pleasing that they managed to convert two goals from only four or five decent opportunities.

Heroes:
Smith - outstanding at the back, our man of the match
Bound - solid as a rock
Appleby - what a goal, best we've seen for quite a while
Alsop - tower of strength, had Hull players quaking everytime he got near the ball
Watkin - never stopped running, set up several chances
Freestone - superb second half display, collected everything safely

Zeroes:
Freestone - terrible first half, lucky not to give at least one goal a way
Coates - faded badly in second half, gave the ball away far too often

Swans fans: 80-100

Now for Orient.

Hull: Oakes, Hocking, Swales, Whittle, Perry, Whitney, Joyce, Hawes (McGinty 68), Brown, Faulconbridge (Morley 69), Dudley. Unused: Edwards. Booked: Swales, Joyce, Brown.

Swansea: Freestone, Jones, Howard, Cusack, Smith, Bound, Coates, Thomas, Alsop, Watkin, Appleby (Roberts 90). Unused: Bird, Jenkins. Booked: Coates, Alsop, Appleby.
Goals: Appleby 35, Watkin 40.

Yellow Cards
Hull City Swales 11 mins (foul); Joyce 64 mins (foul); Brown, David 72 mins (foul)
Swansea Appleby 19 mins (foul); Coates 68 mins (foul); Alsop 73 mins (foul)