1. Freestone
2. Jones S
3. Howard @
4. Bound
5. Smith
6. Cusack
7. Thomas
8. Boyd
9. Watkin
10. Coates #
11. Price *

    ---

12. Jones J
13. Bird
14. Casey # (62)
15. O'Leary @ (72)
16. Appleby * (85)

 Orient

1. Bayes
2. Joseph M
3. Smith
4. Lockwood #
5. Walschaerts
6. Shorey @
7. Watts
8. Christie *
9. Brkovic
10. Downer
11. McGee

    ---

12. Joseph R #(46)
13. Beall @ (78)
14. Ibehre * (78)
15. Barrett
16. Parsons

• Individual player match details

Another large crowd (6330) turned up at the Vetch on a sunny but deceptively cold day to see Swans cement their position near the top of the table against lowly Orient.

It was disappointing to see that former Swans favourite Kwame Ampadu had been ruled out through injury, but welcome news was the return of in-form striker Steve Watkin who pushed Tony Bird onto the bench.

The Swans started brightly enough, but it was the Orient youngsters who had the more threatening chances. One such chance from 15 yards looked to be goalbound, but Mike Howard? bravely lunged in to block the shot and divert it for a corner.

The gusty wind blowing from the Mumbles end, favoured Orient and Swansea found it difficult to clear their area. The tactics employed were also causing concern - high balls up to the front line! This was not very effective as Julian Alsop had been ruled out through injury.

From another promising Orient position, Swans were indebted to Freestone who blocked a one on one where a lesser keeper may have been beaten.

Orient were playing the "Cockney wanquers" by repeatedly kicking the ball away whenever they conceded a free kick, but the referee was content to allow this (must have happened 7 or 8 times throughout the match as their time-wasting tactics went unpunished.

Despite playing against the wind first half, Orient's offside trap was too sophisticated for the Swans front line to spring and they repeatedly got caught in it. This contributed to the stop start effect which marred the match as a spectacle.

The subdued fans did find their voices when Price unleashed a cracker from 15 yards - but the keeper saved it. Even if he hadn't, the goal would not have counted as Orient's offside trap had done its job once again.

Despite some muted boos at the end of the first half, the expectation of better after the halftime teamtalk was there. Unfortunately, the second half was as stop start as the first - with several niggles going on in midfield. One late tackle by Howard saw him go in the book - but only because the victim rolled over 6 times and then came to a stop in writhing agony.

Martin Thomas got their youngsters to lose their rag on two occasions - and a playful headbutt on him could have seen sterner action than the actual talking to that ensued.

Casey came on for the ineffective Coates around the hour mark and was quickly involved in a few moves around the edge of the box - but all came to naught.

With the game entering its latter stages, Watkin and Boyd were finding more room to receive passes but Boyd's penchant for trapping the ball with his shins and then using his speed to recapture the ricohets, was proving to be less than succesful. O'Leary replaced the solid Howard and Appleby replaced the woeful Price - but to little effect.

With the game petering out into an obvious 0-0 draw, Steve Jones went down for his customary hospital scare after a smack to the head - but it was Orient who had the chance to claim all 3 points. One minute into injury time, Orient sub Ibehre was put clear of our back line with a superb through ball - but Freestone raced off his line to confront him just outside the area and use his shins to block the shot.

A very difficult report to write given that very little of note happened on the pitch. It seems that the management's main problem is getting the players to switch their style to suit the personnel selected. It's no good playing the same way without Alsop in the team as we do with. This may seem to be stating the obvious - but it's something the players obviously haven't realised

Jittery Swansea blasted blanks as an Orient blockade froze them out at The Vetch Field.

The Swans extended their unbeaten League run to ten matches, but three successive draws show nerves are biting as the wobbles increase.

Boss John Hollins was clearly unhappy. He moaned: "I am so disappointed, we didn't play well. I don't think we'll ever play that badly again." A delighted Orient chief Tommy Taylor was overjoyed with the result, though. He declared: "We knew it was going to be hard down here because of Swansea's position.But we were well-organised and deserved some reward. We could have even pinched it at the death." Swansea were boosted by the return of ex-Wrexham hero Steve Watkin before kick-off - the hit-man resuming after a two-match lay off with an ankle problem, Tony Bird dropping to the bench.

The O's, lying just above third division drop zone, installed Nicky Shorey into midfield in place of injured Swansea old-boy Kwarme Ampadu.

The atmosphere cracked with expectancy as The Swans strolled to confirm their promotion credentials. But it was the Eastenders who posed a threat after just 80 seconds. Skipper Dean Smith's raking free-kick was touched on by Steve Watts - Swansea's Matthew Bound bravely blocking Christie's rasping drive.

After spilling points to relegation-haunted Shrewsbury four days earlier, the Swans were clearly fired up for the clash and after four minutes they were foraging deep in the Orient box.

Nick Cusack's pinpoint delivery split the Londoners open - the rampaging Martin Thomas muscled out by keeper Ashley Bayes and teenager Simon Downer.

It was tense as the war centred in a congested midfield zone, but Jamaican Walter Boyd was weaving some Caribbean magic on 13 minutes.

The Jamaican turned Downer and Matthew Joseph inside out, but Jason Price's right-side blast was turned away by Bayes.

And the Swans were roaring forward again on 25 minutes. Watkin waltzed around Mathew Lockwood on the left byeline and Steve Jones' 25-yard shot whistled wide with Bayes scrambling to cover.

But white-shirted Swansea were so nearly breached with a stunning counter three minutes on. Shorey's ball drifted across Jones and only the left hand of Roger Freestone denied Christie at the near-post.

The Vetch had been splashed in bright sunshine most of the first half, but the increasingly grey skies were symbolic of the degenerating clash on the hour. The big Welsh crowd hushed as Orient attempted some smash and grab. Dutchman Wim Walschaerts sparked mayhem on the left side of the area, but Jason Smith smothered Christie's danger.

Swansea were desperately seeking some fluency and Michael Howard's rough challenge on Ahmet Brkovic earned him a yellow as frustration overflowed. Continuous errors were ruining too many Swansea raids and in stoppage-time the Swans almost paid for a scrappy performance. Brkovic's ball sliced the Swans open - substitute Jabo Ibehre's drive cannoning to sanctuary off the advancing Freestone.