Now then where do I start??

The weather was never going to make for an attractive entertaining game of football BUT this was only a major issue in the second half.

First half we again appeared tactically naive. Watkin wasted one good chance when (almost) through on goal (I say almost as he started to run towards the corner before realising his position) but apart from that I really can't remember a shot on target first half.

Hull seemed content (to use JH's words) to sit back and settle for a point but they did break quickly and looked potentially dangerous in attack despite never really testing Freestone.

Second half was a lottery, the Vetch was cutting up badly and the ball stuck in the mud most of the time. However, this is where we are TOO NAIVE for my liking. If you watched the game closely, Hull gave the ball a little extra when passing it to make sure it got there and we didn't. Steve Jones was very guilty of this as was Cusack and Price (take nothing away from Steve Jones though he played well in defence and probably saved a goal with a tackle in the second half)

Casey came on for Coates much to the relief of the ground and fair play he almost set one up from a corner which the players claimed was in (I'm not commenting here as I couldn't see properly) and Thomas has a good free kick saved by the keeper.

It's hard to be too judgemental on today's game due to the weather but there are a still two players who are impressing me less and less each week.

Coates - needs to be dropped for his own good now. His confidence is next to nil and as a result we (as a team) are suffering. Casey has a point to prove and should be given a chance. Cusack - as a holding midfield player he couldn't hold a fruit machine reel. When he sees it he leathers the bloody hell out of the ball and 9 times out of 10 it goes to the opposition. I never thought I'd say this but I am missing Damien Lacey or even the Lee Jenkins that played against Lincoln (that game only)

All in all an uneventful game but I am in agreement with the lister that said that on current form we will not stay in the top 3. As I said, today was a lottery but lets face it people we are not playing well and need to step up a gear or two for the next few games.

Our only saving grace is that Barnet are faltering and beating them next week would see us 8 points clear of them. However, Peterborough and Northampton are capable of putting a run together to worry us.

Now onto the minutes silence - that was pure embarrassing. Sure, as Gaz said, it was not helped by their bloody mascot but (and it's a big but) there is NO EXCUSE for the behaviour of some of our 'fans'. Personally, I would love to have seen the troublemakers ejected but realise that it would have just inflamed the situation. There was no excuse for this behaviour maybe we'll be lucky enough not to see these people at the Vetch again.

On the subject of twats, why didn't the Hull fan who took the ball get ejected for that. With the reputation some of our idiots have it was not a situation that should have been allowed and he should have been ejected for it.

A poor day all round really - lets hope for a step up in gear for the game at Barnet and please please please please please Hollins - make one decision and drop Coates for Casey its for his own good.

Two points dropped in the promotion hunt, and a performance which left much to be desired, but at the end of the day a game played in conditions so appalling that the players deserve some credit for just getting through it, and it has to be said that the result was always going to be a lottery. Indeed, if we end up missing out on promotion by a point or two, we might look to this game and genuinely question whether it should ever have been allowed to be completed.

The Swans persisted with the rather narrow 4-3-3 formation which we have now come to expect, but in a game where the only flat surface was likely to be on the flanks, it was rather surprising that both sides elected to squeeze the game into the middle with packed midfields and little width. This made for a rather tentative first half hour, with neither side finding any fluency and clear attempts on goal few and far between.

Our first opportunity came in the second minute when Watkin found himself with a clear run on goal after a misjudgment in the Hull defence, but his mis-control drove him wide and his shot was wayward. Hull's first attack should have produced a goal, when a cross from the left was met by Brown, who headed over from 6 yards. A couple of minutes later, Hull's Wilson rushed from his goal towards the corner flag allowing Watkin to cross from the right towards Boyd, whose sidefooted attempt went wide of an open goal. Shortly after a scramble in the Hull area almost saw Coates break free, but Wilson gathered the ball well.

There followed a completely benign spell when the continuous driving rain and increasingly perilous conditions began to assert themselves. Hull produced a couple of dangerous attacks, the first leading to Howard making a timely goal line interception to deny Brown. A similar cross from the right was well cleared by the excellent Jason Smith, whose return the heart of the defence was very welcome (and credit is due to the management for NOT rushing him back for Cheltenham/ Chester and risking further injury). The impressive Jason Harris almost broke through for a shot on goal but was stopped by a terrific block from Bound.

Our attacks were infrequent - a moment of sublime skill from Boyd set up Watkin for a speculative shot, and some neat play on our right led to a low shot from Thomas which did not trouble Wilson. Alsop had the ball in the net from a powerful header, but the whistle had long gone for a foul,and a 25 yard drive from Howard was blocked for a corner, from which Alsop headed wide. The half time whistle came as a relief to all!

The Swans began the second half brightly, clearly having received something of a rocket in the dressing room. An early goalmouth scramble nearly broke for Smith to shoot, and a long range effort from Coates cleared the bar. There was a lot more determination in our midfield now and Thomas began to assert some significant influence, whilst Coates probed creatively from the left. However, the smartest moment of the entire half came from Hull's Brabin, whose 40 yard lob had Freestone running smartly to his left to block.

Unsurprisingly, the formation was changed to a 4-4-2 when Price replaced the out of sorts Boyd, but JH could not have been too pleased with JJ, who continuously found himself sucked into the midfield melee rather than holding his position wide on the right. However, we remained the more likely scorers, and Smith could easily have given us the lead, heading over from four yards from a Coates corner. From a corner on the left, Cusack stole in and drove a header towards the Hull goal line, which was cleared with a strong suspicion of hand ball. A little later a corner from our right was drilled low to Alsop, who turned well and hit a good low shot which was well saved by Wilson. By this stage, Hull were concentrating entirely on protecting their point, but they almost hit us on the break when a long ball out of defence set Harris free, but he was foiled by a superb sliding tackle from Steve Jones. Hull's other second half efforts were also on the break, with Freestone denying Harris with a low save and Brown shooting over after some good approach play.

By the final third of the game the conditions underfoot had degenerated to farcical levels. The entire centre of the field, and much of the flanks, was reduced to mud, and pools of water covered the entire field. Passes were sticking in the mud just a few feet away from the player that delivered it, players were dribbling the ball and finding it sticking between their legs, and a number of players spent more time on their backsides than on their feet, the sliding tackle becoming a power-assisted art form! The teams battled on gamely, but surely it should have been abandoned at this stage.

In a late attempt to steal all three points Coates made way for Casey, whose enterprising running gave us a further dimension on our left, but whose skills were frustrated by the terrible conditions. Surprisingly, Alsop, whose aerial ability was creating all sorts of problems for Hull, was substituted and replaced by Bird, thus removing our robustness in attack. Our best late effort was a fierce free kick from Martin Thomas, which seemed bound for the top corner but was well saved by Wilson. In the final moment a cross from Jones was attacked by Smith, whose physical but fair challenge brought a ridiculously exaggerated over-reaction from the Hull players who seemed intent on getting him booked, and succeeded. In injury time, a flick from Bird to Casey led to an excellent low cross which Price almost turned in. In the end, the draw was a fair result, in a game which could easily have slipped away from us completely.

Player ratings:
Freestone - 7 A couple of good saves but relatively untested.
Jones - 9 Extremely commanding performance
Howard - 7 Tidy in defence but made little impact going forward.
Smith - 9 Glad to see him back.
Bound - 8 Solid as ever.
Thomas - 8 Really gave it a go, particularly second half.
Cusack - 6 Assisted the defence, but not enough composure.
Coates - 6 Some creative midfield prompting, but didn't get past
anyone.
Watkin - 6 Control let him down again but his running was intelligent
Alsop - 7 Good battling but he struggled against the tall Hull centre halves
Boyd - 5 Out of sorts in the rain and cold I'm afraid (but he DID jump....twice!)
Price (for Boyd) - 6 Little impression, but nearly stole it at the last.(only man left with a clean shirt!)
Casey (for Coates) - 7 A couple of good crosses and some intelligent running - pressing for a starting place.
Bird (for Alsop) - 5 A couple of flicks, but nothing else! (LOW...please)
Referee - OK, but why did he let the Hull players intimidate him into booking Smith?
Crowd - Good vocal support... but the idiots who chanted during the minute's silence should be banned.
Rory the Tiger - For goading the home fans with his English flag...not clever...stay at home next time pussy cat.
Cyril - Got very dirty.

All in all a disappointing day, but in 25 years of watching football I have rarely seen playing conditions this bad. But inevitably we were going to drop some points at home eventually - Rotherham, Darlo, Barnet etc will all do the same before the end of the season. Out form is going through a bit of rough patch, but we are still on a four match unbeaten run and still second in the table. Any reports of our death which might be published are very premature....promotion is very much on if we keep battling. Let's get behind them.....Come on you Jacks!