Planet Swans ArchivesOn a day where perhaps the Swans were not at their best, a point was a fair reflection on the game and maybe Nottingham Forest could have been a little more positive had they chosen and taken all three points.
I honestly felt that from the opening ten minutes Forest were here for a point and at times it was only our shaky defence that was hell bent on getting them into the game. At left back we had a nightmare start to finish from Sam Ricketts who was not so much a yard off the pace but a furlong. Monk too was sloppy throughout the first half before tightening in the second.
Two weeks ago it was a seven goal demolition of Bristol City but this was a different kettle of fish against a side that will have less teams above them than below them come the end of the season. And against the side, Kenny Jackett sent out his 4-4-2 line up as follows
GUERET
TATE MONK IRIEKPEN RICKETTS
BRITTON BEAN MARTINEZ MCLEOD
AKINFENWA TRUNDLE
SUBS: MURPHY, GOODFELLOW, AUSTIN, ROBINSON, O’LEARY
The first half was very much a half of few chances athough the best did fall to the Swans after a lovely move that saw Trundle send Bayo free one on one with the keeper. As he lifted the ball past the keeper it surely was only a matter of seconds until the net bulged but it was not to be – the big man had missed the target – inexcusable from that position. As Andy Gray would say “you have to make the keeper work at least”
Forest were feeding off Swansea scraps and as mentioned earlier we were determined to let them into the game with errors in midfield and at the back. Marcus Bean was somehow in the line up ahead of Andy Robinson which at times does make you wonder what hold he has over Jackett – there surely cannot be another reason? Whilst McLeod was nowhere near as effective as he was whilst notching six goals in his last three games at White Rock.
And of course through the chance for Bayo we should have been ahead at half time but we weren’t and this was the chance for Kenny to wake the lads up at half time.
Whatever he said during that interval made little difference as we started the second half slowly and within ten minutes of the restart we were a goal down. A harp save from Willy saw the ball only fall to the Forest player ahead of the four Swansea defenders and it was the simplest chance you could get as he slotted home to send the away contingent into celebration mode.
Now we had to take the game to them and that isn’t that easy when they are playing at least eight behind the ball. Effective it was but strangely it turned against them shortly after another bad decision from yet another incompetent referee. After Jack Lester could have counted himself lucky not to see red for an elbow on Alan Tate, Gary Megson decided to swap him and from eight behind the ball changed to ten with Johnson the exception to that rule.
Swansea toiled for a while and it looked as if they would not break down their visitors especially after Robinson (on for Bean) had a free kick deflect off the wall and Bayo hit the post. However, a touch of sublime genius from Martinez earned the Swans a point. One touch took him aside a Forest defender as the ball broke on the edge of the area and a great chip was enough to take the ball over the keeper and send 17000 people in a crowd of 18000 mad.
Swansea pushed for a winner but it wasn’t to come and a couple of time wasting efforts in the corner from Forest confirmed that maybe they did arrive with the mentality that a point at the Rock would be a good result.
As disappointing as it is to drop points at home, we fought back from being a goal down and that is the plus point -alongside the fact that we are still, top of the league!
