Planet Swans ArchivesAt another windswept and wet match at the Vetch, John Hollins once again re-jigged his starting line-up for the visit of Bristol City.
Out went Martin Thomas and Kris O’Leary to be replaced by David Romo and Giovanni Savarese.
Swans lined up in a 3-5-2 formation as follows:-
Freestone
Smith Bound Howard Price
Romo Cusack Jenkins Roberts
Savarese Watkin
Subs: O’Leary, Appleby, Boyd, De Vulgt, J Jones
The match, which kicked off 15 minutes late, started brightly enough with both teams looking dangerous going forward and Price playing well forward, created chances for the strikers with his runs and crosses down the right. Roberts on the other flank was finding it much more difficult to get into the game and the best avenues from the left were through the midfield.
Bristol City looked very strong on the break and forced over half a dozen corners in the opening 30 minutes. Roger was called into action to beat away some sharp shooting from the Bristol front line but it was Swansea that took the lead after only 9 minutes.
Good work from Cusack fed the ball out to Romo on the right. He carried the ball towards the edge of the area and when challenged laid off the perfect ball into the path of Savarese. Still having it all to do, the Venezuelan hit a perfectly placed shot along the ground into the far corner past the advancing keeper.
Again, we had “children” running onto the side of the pitch to taunt the City fans. Much to the annoyance of the vast majority of the crowd, Mike Lewis’s proclamation of getting tough with these idiots, merely amounted to them being asked to return to the North Bank.
This tactic, although avoiding confrontation, merely led to half dozen or more repeat excursions during the match by these uni cells. Bristol continued to cause problems for the Swans defence, and from their umpteenth corner, Carey found himself unmarked to head home. This turned out be his first goal since making his debut in 1995.
Half time 1-1
Second half was quite end to end and the switch to the North Bank side, saw Stuart Roberts come more and more into the game with dangerous runs down that flank. However, it was from the other side that Swansea’s goal eventually came midway through the half.
Another through ball, this time for Price, saw him burst past the defence and into the area. Price kept his eye on the ball despite the treat of the advancing keeper and managed to direct the ball towards the empty despite tumbling over the keeper.
With the ball inches from entering the net, Savarase ensured that it was he who would be credited with the goal when he smashed it into the empty net. Cue more fan baiting from the loonies again on the pitchside.
Bristol looked even more dangerous after this setback and their pressure finally told when a cross from the left was toe-poked into his net by an under pressure Jason Smith.
This made for quite an exciting last 15 minutes with Bristol looking the more likely to snatch all 3 points.
Summary: A very good performance from the Swans in the light of the previous four outings against a quality Bristol City team. Another pleasing thing was that JH had real options on the bench tonight if he needed to try something different. Roger, Bound, Smith and Howard all looked good tonight despite being up against quality.
Cusack’s return the holding spot in centre in central midfield obviously streadied the team, and he was tirelessly supported by Jenkins and to a lesser extent by Romo. Price looked good in his forward role – but once again was exposed defensively. Roberts came good 2nd half after a quiet 1st. Up front, Savarese had his best game for the Swans by contributing far more than in his previous performances. A very good point against a form team.
