|
| Swansea 1 v 0 Stoke |
by Phil Blanche - Western Mail
Nick Cusack (4) causes havoc among the Stoke City defence Picture: HUW EVANS
IN football management you can warn some of the players some of the time. But it is impossible to warn all of the players all of the time And Brian Little’s pre-match fears that Stoke City could be undone by a set-piece tactic came back to haunt him as Richard Appleby sent Swansea into the third round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1995.
The Second Division leaders had spent their week working on corners and free-kicks and trying to negate the aerial threat of Swans target man Julian Alsop
But those hours on the training ground counted for nothing in the end as Alsop and Appleby combined from Michael Howard’s free-kick to produce the tie’s defining moment.
Grim Swansea defence and a fair dollop of luck did the rest as Stoke’s five-game winning streak was brought to an end before a 7,000-plus Vetch Field crowd.
Funnily enough, we actually defended the set piece quite well,” said Stoke manager Little, who thought referee Ken Lynch’s decision to award the free-kick on the right-hand edge of the area was harsh.
But we went to sleep on the second ball and could have defended that better. We made one mistake and were punished for it.”
Appropriately, the Swansea programme editor had chosen to feature Middlesbrough-born Appleby, a former England Under-18 international, in his player-profile column.
Given that Appleby was sent off three times in four matches last season the assessment that “he’s a time-bomb waiting to explode” might have been considered a trifle unfortunate.
But, having scored a spectacular first goal of the campaign during the midweek FAW Premier Cup tie against Wrexham, Appleby provided a far healthier interpretation of that sentiment four minutes before the interval.
Alsop, who again made himself good nuisance value throughout despite limited service, battled at the far post to claim contact on Howard’s flighted kick
Stoke fatally allowed the ball to drop inside the area, and Appleby’s half-volley beat Carl Muggleton from 10 yards with the aid of a slight deflection off defender Steve Woods.
There had been half-openings for Alsop and Tony Bird, but with Jason Price and Appleby pressed back to cope with Stoke’s wing-backs Swansea often lacked width in the final third. But, for all their crisp passing, Stoke failed to stretch Roger Freestone in the first half, and Appleby’s goal gave Swansea something tangible to hold on to when the going got tough.
The pressure mounted after Bird’s skimmer was clutched by Muggleton, and Peter Thorne and substitute Simon Sturridge almost profited from Kevin Keen's delivery into the box.
Thorne also struck the Swansea crossbar for the second time when his header, from yet another Keen cross 20 minutes from the final whistle, looped agonisingly over Freestone.
Earlier, Jason Smith had almost produced an unforgettable own-goal when he diverted Keen’s centre on to the underside of the bar.
Smith, however, deserved his slice of good fortune – he and Matthew Bound were colossal at the heart of the defence, the pair denying Stoke countless times with last-gasp tackles.
Swansea manager John Hollins said, “We had a lot of problems in the second half when we played in fits and starts. We probably wondered how long was left. You could see us sitting back.
We tried to string as many across the middle as we could and leave Julian or Richard up at any one time.
It looks a bit desperate when you are defending a one-nil lead and just whacking it in the corners.
But it’s the FA Cup, and the only thing of importance is getting through to the next round.
Full credit to Stoke. They moved the ball intelligently and kept trying to prise us open.
That’s why they are top of the division. They’re very patient, well organised and well coached, and it was a great test for the players.
But our defensive qualities and endeavour not to let a goal in was wonderful. People like Bound, Smith, Howard and Steve Jones were magnificent – solid as rocks.”
Those names might not roll off the tongue like Dwyer, Evans, Johnson, Hughes and Purcell from the 1964 team that beat Stanley Matthews’s Stoke on the way to the FA Cup semi-finals.
But, for the time being, Swansea has another bit of FA Cup glory to savour.