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The sun shone, the beer flowed, and the fans sung. It was almost a perfect day in the life of any football fan, but sadly there is always something that ruins the perfect day and today it was a lacklustre Swans performance which now sees us sitting at the bottom of the Football League. This was never going to be the most entertaining game of football, there was far too much at stake for that too happen. The tense, nervy start from both teams illustrated how much was riding on todays result and we were treated to a mediocre first half contested by two very mediocre teams. Maylett’s debut and the return of Johnrose did little to inspire a Swansea side that simply didn’t seem to be up for the battle. In fact, the first half passed with very little goalmouth incident, bar one fingertip save from Cutler. But it’s safe to say that Carlisle looked the most threatening of the two teams. The second half continued much as the first, with very little energy or flair from either team and the game seemed destined to end in a 0-0 draw. But life is never that simple when you’re at the wrong end of the Third Division, and the game exploded into life after 70 minutes. A hopeful ball into the box by Carlisle was headed away by Jenkins, only for the referee to immediately blow his whistle and point to the penalty spot. Chaos ensued and the official soon found himself surrounded by every outfield Swans player. What followed was a sheer farce, as the referee (obviously unsure of his decision) consulted his linesman. The linesman shook his head, the referee once again pointed to the spot and to make matters worse, promptly dismissed Jenkins for a deliberate handball. At the time I didn’t think it was a handball and after seeing it again on skysports this evening, i’m convinced that the ball was headed away. Not one Carlisle player appealed for handball and reports suggest that many Carlisle players have stated that Jenkins was innocent. The resulting penalty was taken twice (after encroachment during the first kick) and Carlisle were ahead. The incident sparked chaotic scenes on the North Bank as many fans vented their anger towards the referee and linesman and resulted in the game being stopped for nearly 10 minutes after the linesman’s refusal to run the line in front of the bank until calm was restored. If this wasn’t bad enough, our misery was compounded further just 15 minutes later when a mix up in the Swans defence saw Carlisle double their advantage. A late scrambled goal by James Thomas set up a rousing last couple of minutes and it was only some heroic goalkeeping and several goal line clearances that prevented the Swans from grabbing a share of the points in the last seconds of the game. But sadly it wasn’t to be and another “must win” game left the Swans empty handed. The penalty incident will be talked about for days to come, and maybe even longer depending on the outcome of our next nine games. Brian Flynn has already stated that the club will be appealing against Jenkins’ sending off and he’s confident of this being overturned, but sadly this will not change the result of a game that we simply couldn’t afford to lose. With only nine games to go, things are starting to look pretty desperate and with two tough away games in the next seven days, it’s vital that we pick up another away win. There are still 27 points to play for, but the players have to realise that they are going to have to fight for every single one of them if Swansea City Football Club are going to start the 2003/04 season in the Football League. |
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