Planet Swans ArchivesIt was an interesting game to watch in the least to see if the Swans could break down an Oxford side that pressure, hack and defend as if their life depend on it but do it effectively enough – proved by the fact that only Doncaster have tasted league success against them this season.
Brian Flynn as expected made just the one change from the side that defeated Macclesfield at the weekend – bringing Kevin Nugent back into the side at the expense of James Thomas. Thomas had to make do with a place on the bench where he was joined by Karl Connolly who was expected to miss the game through injury.
Freestone
Duffy O’Leary Iriekpen Howard
Britton Johnrose Robinson
Maylett Nugent Trundle
The Swans saw plenty of possession early on in the game and looked lively but the script for the night was written early on as both Robinson and Trundle had shots blocked on the edge of the penalty area by despairing Oxford challenges – something that was to become their trademark as the 90 minutes wore on. There was no doubting that they were here to claim a point as a bare minimum as they defended in the main with six men behind the wall and clearly they knew that Trundle was the main threat for the Swans as very little space was given to him in the first half. Swansea were trying to pass the ball around and four Oxford players saw yellow in the first half much to the disgust of visiting manager Ian Atkins who may like to look up the definition of the word foul in the football league handbook before his side plays another game – this will undoubtedly make his understanding of the game much more in depth.
Oxford were being restricted to, unsurprisingly, long hoofs up field as their attacking prowess which in the main were being dealt with by Swansea’s back four. Duffy and Howard were also being presented with plenty of chances to join the attack with Oxford sitting back but it was being done to little effect. With three of Oxford’s back four (or is that back ten?) being booked the chance was there for Maylett in particular to look to take his man on wide but too often this chance was spurned – some of it down to some great defending in giving him little room to do so.
The Swans were given a chance to take the lead just about on half time when an eagle eyed linesman decided that Oxford’s keeper had carried the ball outside the area before kicking it but Trundles power drive was blocked by a seven man wall. Half time the discussion was clear that Oxford were well organised at the back and it would need to take something special to break them down and not a long ball for Nugent to flick it on.
Oxford started the second half more in the game attacking wise and almost took the lead with a shot from the edge of the area that just whistled past Roger’s post whilst Swansea’s best chance came from a flowing move that saw Robinson hit a low shot which looked no problem to the keeper initially but a late dive meant he could only push it round the post for the corner. Trundle was finding little joy from the six footers behind them. Flynn was forced into a change when Howard went off with a slight knock (hamstring?) and was replaced by Hylton and then a tactical change saw Connolly replace Nugent. It was to have little effect – Hylton was booked for a late challenge as was Matthew Bound for bringing down Britton outside the area. Trundle’s free kick was well struck but there was to be no repeat of Saturday as it was straight at the keeper.
With five minutes to go Oxford played purely for the point and tried to keep the ball in the corner – a couple of times Duffy won it back but his pass to bring the ball forward went astray. 0-0 the final score – a score that quite possibly could have been predicted soon into the match.
Oxford are a side heading for promotion because of their strong defence and tactics. We have been there and done that with a similar vein in 2000 – it isn’t pretty to watch but it will bring success. Sadly, if we are to achieve our goal it means we will have to watch it twice more again next season. You can bet that they will not lose more than three or four more games before the end of the season and that will ensure promotion for them. Football wise there are better than them in the division and they may well find that Hull, Mansfield and Yeovil are able to break them down but the answer is the ball on the floor – this was when we looked our most dangerous tonight – a wet pitch doesn’t help for flowing football.
From our point of view we huffed and puffed but had little chance to blow the house down. We still miss Martinez as a holding role in midfield and on at least two occasions tonight we could have created a better chance if Johnrose had a right foot that he could use. Martinez remains the missing link – we can only hope that his injury has not affected his worth to the team.
Man of the match for me? Tough one to call – I will go with Duffy who is getting better each game and made some good challenges tonight to start an attack when we looked under pressure. Two things he needs to learn are to control his temperament (although a very clear off to Atkins made me smile) and the rushes of blood to the head when he has the ball could be avoided. I still hope we hold onto him – time will tell.
In summary we can’t complain about a point against the league leaders but it does mean that really we need to win at Bury on Saturday and then follow it up the following week against Cheltenham with another maximum.
