York – The Fans Views

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Report By Phil Sumbler

The sun may have been shining in Swansea again this afternoon but that was the bright spot of the day as the Swans fell away to their second defeat in four days, this time against York City.

There was none of the feeling of optimism amongst the fans as the 4,000 (an ever decreasing number) took their places at kick off and despite a bright opening five minutes, it was soon clear as to why. Lee Jenkins provided the shots in those opening five minutes but in a pattern that was soon to develop both failed to trouble the visiting keeper and sailed wide of the uprights.

Although early possession was Swansea’s, York looked more comfortable on the ball and more likely to create the decent chance. On every attack the Swans’ defence looked vulnerable and it seemed only a matter of time before the lines were broken and they took the lead. This they did on 31 minutes but not before Jonathan Keaveny had managed to miss a shot after rounding the keeper and being faced with an empty net. It was easy to argue that he was unbalanced when shooting but at the same time a more experienced pro would have been likely to steady himself before taking the shot at goal.

York’s opener came from a corner which should have been cleared twice before Lee Bullock stabbed it into the goal and the usual proceedings followed of Swansea’s defenders looking at each other in dismay at another soft goal. And then for a while it became comical. Back passes and headers struggled to reach targets and for a while York must have felt that they could open the floodgates. Swansea in the meantime were being restricted to snap shots and Beresford in the York goal seemed there only to top up his suntan.

As the team left at half time to the predictable (if not boring!) boos it seemed that Nick Cusack had an uphill job to get others to play with the same commitment and effort that he was showing himself. And for another five minutes at the start of the second half it seemed as if he may have done that as Swansea passed the ball around better and players looked as if they wanted the ball rather than being scared of it. As with the first half though this was a false dawn as York got themselves back into the game as a result of their determination and our lack of the same.

The next goal seemed almost certain to go to York as the game struggled to get any rhythm due to the strange decisions of Mr Prosser and his two assistants – most of the frustration of which was down to the usual lack of consistency on decisions. York should have killed the game when Parkin shot straight at an unfit looking Roger and this was a spur that Swansea needed.

Howard found himself with the ball on the left and for the first time in the afternoon we saw a decent cross into the area which was met by the advancing Moss who planted a perfect header back across the keeper and into the corner of the net – were Swansea going to gain a draw which in fairness they probably wouldn’t have deserved at that point?

Oh No, Mr Prosser had one more decision up his sleeve – this time the decisive one. Mumford was adjudged to have tripped a York forward in the area when 98% of people saw the fall as a dive but a well placed referee said Penalty and Duffield stroked it away to restore York’s lead.

And that was how it remained. Swansea had nothing to offer and three minutes of injury time could have been twenty-three and i fear the result would have been the same. Make no mistake form like today is relegation form and that should worry many people.

Two quick notes to finish – Andrew Mumford was booked for pathetically kicking the ball away in frustration. Whilst half understandable we cannot afford to accumulate bookings like this and we need to be aware of this. Cusack for example got very little change from the referee all afternoon but accepted it and got on with it. Secondly, we look weak without James Thomas and with John Williams in attack we usually look weaker. Week in week out he comes onto cheers and delivers nothing – am I alone in seeing this?

I am starting to get afraid and we need to turn this around and quick before we get dragged into things I would rather be well clear of.

Report By Andrew

Today was a disgrace for many reasons!

First and foremost. Anyone in the East Terrace would be aware of the blatent cheating by Marlon (LOL) Beresford. For those of you who didnt realise what happened, we knocked the ball in, Moss challenged and knocked Beresford over. He bent down to see if he was alright, you could actually hear him say "Alright mate?" With that, Beresford clenches his face and screams out, as if Moss has hit him. Cue Moss getting manhandled by 3 York defenders, the York trainer running on to treat a non existent facial injury, and a torrent of abuse from the E.Terrace, which continued for rest of the game. During this time, Beresford was quite clearly seen to be shouting at a steward, demanding that they stop the abuse. It was hilarious. What was even funnier though was Beresford gloating at the final whistle, before realising he had to venture behind the goal to retrieve his towel and water bottle. Micheal Owen hasnt reached such speeds 😉

Secondly, John Williams. He has no right to be in our side. He has no fight, no passion, no drive, and doesnt look the slightest bit interested. No player who gives such little effort week in week out deserves to play for Swansea. If he never plays for Swansea City Football Club again, it will be too soon.

Thirdly, no urgency. Again singling out Williams as it happens. We had a throw in with about 30 seconds to go. He must have taken 15 seconds to throw the ball back into play, which in all fairness wasnt helped by the fact that the rest of the players were still strolling forward, quite happy, despite that we were 2-1 down at home with only seconds remaining.

There were also many, many concerns. Freestone – Is he fit? He didnt look it today unfortunatly. He was slow off his line at times. He made some outstanding saves though, and was still one of our better players.

Neil Sharp – Complete and utter rubbish. Doesnt get any power behind his headers, loses his marker time and time again, is caught out of position, cant pass more than 10 yards without kicking the ball into touch, and loses possesion in dangerous areas of the field.

We also lack conviction and aggression when we attack. A few instances in the 2nd half spring to mind. Firstly, John Williams (sorry John). There was one occasion when he was at the back post, the cross came over from the left and was dropping no further than the penalty spot. Instead of attacking the ball he dropped off even further back, in the hope that the 3 6ft york defenders would miss a ball just inches over their heads. Another time we decided to play head tennis between the edge of their area and the 6 yard box. In the 12 yards between this area we headed the ball on 3 times into their keepers hands.

A terrible performance. Simply abysmal. At this rate we’re looking pretty good for the drop.

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