Swansea 2 Huddersfield 0

Swansea 2 Huddersfield 0

With expectations high around the ground, the people returned to voting with their feet and it was certainly a vote for the positive with an increased crowd despite Huddersfield managing nowhere near the 1,000 travelling fans that they originally suggested that they were bringing.

Unsurprisingly, Brian Flynn stuck with the side that destroyed Macclesfield on Tuesday night giving a starting line-up of

Freestone

Duffy O’Leary Iriekpen Howard

Maylett Wilson Britton Robinson

Trundle Nugent

The temperature picked up in Swansea before the match and there was nothing initially to suggest that the football was going to make any difference to that as the Swans knocked the ball around confidently at the start of the match. With Wilson running the show in the centre of midfield and showing his Premiership class you wonder how a struggling side like Middlesborough can afford to lose someone of his calibre whilst they fail to put points on the board three divisions above.

Trundle too showed early glimpses of his skill and ability to turn on something substantially smaller than a sixpence as Swansea begun to take control of the match widely predicted to be one of their biggest tests of the season. With the defence looking far more solid than the opening weeks of the season it looked certain that there was only one team likely to open the scoring and so it proved.

Wilson found Trundle on the edge of the area and the striker controlled the ball before sliding inside the defender marking him and unleashing a special into the back of the net to give the Swans the lead and Trundle his 9th league strike of the campaign.

A couple of needless bookings followed for the visitors including what was to be a costly one for Paul Scott. At half time there was only likely to be one winner with the Swans one up and in pretty much total control of the match.

Three minutes into the second half it seemed as if that control would only increase when Scott saw his second yellow of the afternoon and we all know that it can then only be followed by a red. Trundle turned him on the right and was set to run down the line when Scott felled him and as much as the defender protested he was outdone more by the speed of Trundle’s turn rather than a malicious tackle but it was a bookable offence and off he went.

It was several years back that John Hollins used to say that it is harder to play against ten men and Swansea then seemed hell bent on proving that statement right as they started to panic at the back and gave possession further up the park away far too easily. Several chances followed for Huddersfield with a couple from Booth flying close to the uprights as the visitors looked for an equaliser that at that moment they probably deserved.

Maylett spurned a glorious chance to double Swansea’s advantage when played in by Trundle but he could only hammer his shot well wide and it looked as if it would go to the wire. Richard Duffy (cramp?) was replaced by Lenny Johnrose and the defence looked more shaky for a while although it does release O’Leary to play right back where he looks more effective to the team.

Connolly made his return to the side in place of Andy Robinson midway through the second half as Flynn looked to change things but he was forced to wait until five minutes from time for his side to put the game safe.

Trundle received the ball in the box with his back to goal and held on waiting for his team mates to make the space that he knew he could find. His pass could not have been more accurate as he threaded it through for Nugent who was on hand to prod home the clincher for the Swans.

With a 2 goal lead it looked as if it was to be a great afternoon for Flynn but he was dealt two blows before the end of the game. Maylett was replaced by Durkan after limping around the pitch for a couple of minutes and Connolly went down and stayed down under a heavy challenge in the Huddersfield area. He was to be stretchered off the park at the end of the game and looks set for another spell on the sidelines.

With Swansea down to ten men through the injuries, Huddersfield decided to leave themselves with just nine – the second side to achieve that at the Vetch this season. Trundle looked to hold the ball in the corner as 3 minutes of stoppage time was signalled and after being fouled by Hughes, the defender decided he would put the boot in while he was on the floor – unfortunately for him he decided to do it in full view of the referee and the red card was again on display. Trundle invites these challenges and frustrated defenders all afternoon as well as constantly mouthing off in their ears which no doubt winds them up. However, most is done within the laws of the game and we are seeing defenders reacting which is their problem and not ours.

As the whistle blew, Trundle again made sure that he was to shake everyone’s hand and his reaction in front of the North Bank shows his will to win and passion for the game. This is a Swansea legend in the making. His day was complete for Swans fans when he chipped the ball onto the back of his neck and then rolled it round his shoulders while turning a defender inside out. Can you remember any other Swansea player ever doing that mid match?

Man of the Match for me today. Izzy made several great challenges at the back but at the risk of sounding repetitive from Tuesday night I go for Kevin Nugent who is winning everything in the air and in my mind is the perfect partner for Trundle. Special mention to Mark Wilson for his display in midfield but also to Michael Howard and Kristian O’Leary who get a lot of flack (some fair, some unfair, but both did nothing wrong all afternoon)

Top of the league soon and it is hard to see anyone coming to fortress Vetch at the moment and leaving anything but empty handed. The football remain of great entertainment and this is a great time to be a Swansea fan.

Full Match Pictures To Follow

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