Match report

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Listers' view - Andrew Thomas

Hollins kept faith with the same team that beat Rotherham on Tuesday evening.

The crowd was swelled by a large Swansea contingent that had travelled in expectation of seeing Walter Boyd add to his goal tally - they were to be disappointed.

On a slippery and soft surface both sides struggled to come to terms with the conditions and as a result failed to string any passes together. Torquay were first to press but throughout the first half neither keeper had a save to make.

Torquay looked to threaten the Swansea goal with several telling crosses mainly from their right wing - although Bedeau and Eifion Williams failed to capitalise on these.

Swansea's sole effort of note came from none other than Walter Boyd who turned and shot from the edge of the area only to see his shot skid wide of Southall's right post.

The half dwindled into a battle of the midfields with neither side looking likely to concede.

Second half saw Swansea step up a gear with Thomas being pushed forward to partner Boyd, and Cusack dropping back into a holding position in midfield. Cusack tested Southall with a 20 yard half-volley when a corner kick found him unmarked on the corner of the box.

Thomas did seem to add more urgency to the attack and may have done better when he fired high from 8 yards after tricky work by Boyd in a very crowded box.

Immediately from the goal kick, Torquay scored. Price, who was not looking comfortable defensively as right back, underhit a back pass to Roger Freestone when under no pressure. Bedeau beat the advancing Freestone to score what proved to be the winner.

Hollins tried to change things by introducing Appleby for Roberts and later Watkin for Jenkins, but despite some late Swansea pressure, Southall was never really troubled.

The players and management walked off to chants of "What a load of rubbish" from the disappointed Jack Army.

Player ratings:
Freestone 6 - never troubled. Price 5 - okay going forward, defensively very weak.
Coates 6 - another quiet game, did not get forward much.
Smith 7 - solid and commited as usual Bound 7 - must not be allowed to leave
Roberts 6 - very quiet game but made some decent runs before being subbed.
Thomas 7 - starting to regain his form.
Jenkins 5 - tries hard but accomplishes little.
O' Leary 6 - battled well but below his best.
Boyd 6 - some nice touches but contributed little.
Cusack 6 - played out of position, did his best.
Appleby 6 - huffed and puffed to no effect.
Watkin 8 - team shape looked far better when he came on.

Summary: Too many players out of position and not all giving 100%. Some fans were calling for Hollins' head late in the second half - he appears to be a spectator at the games rather than a motivator.

Price Blunder So Costly For Swans

A MISTAKE bordering on schoolboy proportions cost Swansea City dearly at Plainmoor on Saturday.

It led to the only goal of the game to hoist goals striker Tony Bedeau’s tally for the season so far to seven.

And it will have destroyed Jason Price’s weekend as the Swans right-back plays it over and over in his thoughts as to how he ever came to hit such a weak reverse pass to goal-keeper Roger Freestone.

It left Freestone in no-man’s land without a prayer.

All Bedeau had to do was push the ball to one side before skipping past Freestone on the other, and slanting his shot from left to right.

To add salt to the wound, the decider came within a minute of Martin Thomas spurning the best chance of the game after the ball arrived at his feet eight yards from the Torquay goal.

In the way Price unquestionably under hit his back pass, so Thomas opted for blasting instead of placing his golden opportunity, with the result the ball was still rising when it orbited past Swansea fans behind the Babbacombe end of the goal.

The game, then, was effectively won and lost in the space of those 60 seconds, for neither Freestone or 92-cap former Welsh international Neville Southall, between the Torquay sticks, were seriously tested.

Indeed, it was three minutes into the second half before the crowd saw its first shot of note on target - a low drive from Swans striker Nick Cus-sack which Southall clawed to his mighty chest while sprawling to the left.

Southall, was otherwise well protected by a line of five defenders immediately in front of him in the same way that Freestone was given excellent cover by his defenders with the exception of that one moment’s aberration on Price’s part.

Swansea, were so in control, in fact, that they forced Torquay to substitute former Welsh B international Eifion Williams in the 64th minute. He received no change whatsoever from Jason Smith or Matt Bound, and the longer he was on the field the more the former Barry Town striker’s confidence drained.

Swans’ manager John Hollins found defeat hard to take.

“Torquay never hurt us, yet we are punished for one mistake when our full-back knocks the ball back short.

“They had more of the ball, but Roger (Freestone) had only one shot to save. We had nothing coming from our forwards, but it should still have been a draw,” said Hollins.