It's strange when you wait 24 years for something to arrive and when it does it seems a little surreal that it really is happening. For some reason this felt very much like a cup tie as I made my way down towards London on the train this morning. Such is the norm of recent seasons of games against the likes of Bury, Cheltenham and Oldham on opening day that a trip to the Valley and Charlton seemed so much like one of those days that come around in the FA Cup.
But this is the reality of the situation these days, the Swans are a Championship side and gone, at least for now, are some of those trips that we have made too often in recent years. And standing on the train station at Harpenden this morning, the lone Swansea shirt at the time was now in level company with the other shirts on view which included Watford, Crystal Palace, QPR and Barnsley.
And with 3300 Jacks making the trip to the Valley for this game, leaving the train at Charlton felt almost like a home game as Swans shirts headed towards what they hoped to be an opening day victory which would have got the Championship challenge off to the perfect start.
And Roberto's team selection – a subject on the lips of so many during the course of the week – showed a familiar type look to last season with just Mark Gower's name in the starting line up being a different name from those that were at the club when the League One trophy was lifted aloft back in May. As expected, there was a first competitive start for the Swans for Matty Collins whilst Guillem Bauza was asked to plough a lone furrow up front with Jason Scotland and Febian Brandy both on the bench.
Dorus
Collins Monk Williams Painter
Gower Britton Bodde Pratley Butler
Bauza
Subs: Tate, Scotland, Brandy, Bessone, Gomez
And on the opening day of the season you dream of the perfect start to the season be it an early goal or some good play. Last season that dream was shattered inside two minutes with a penalty against Oldham, this season it lasted a minute longer before the Swans found themselves a goal down.
Mis-communication between Garry Monk and Dorus De Vries resulted in a corner being given away needlessley and from the set piece the Swans left Mark Hudson unmarked and he powered a header past a helpless De Vries to give Charlton the lead.
Were some of the pundit predictions of a struggle for the Swans about to come true? Were they about to be buried under a Championship train coming in the opposite direction? The answer was no. After the skaky start to the game, slowly the Swans gained the upper hand. Britton was simply outstanding in the centre of midfield and had two willing partners in Ferrie Bodde and Darren Pratley – both of whom seemed to carry on where they left off from last season.
Mark Gower was always a willing outlet on the right hand side and probably had more of the game than Tom Butler on the left in the first half whilst Bauza was always happy to run up front but it is difficult for a player of his style to play the sole striker role in the team – something that became more evident in the second half as Roberto made the changes.
Ferrie Bodde tested Nicky Weaver in the Charlton goal with a couple of long range efforts whilst a succession of corners late in the first half caused some concern in the Charlton defence but the 1-0 scoreline to the home side remained until the interval.
Swansea started the second half brightly with Butler very much more in the game second half, ironically as Gower faded a little and Bauza had the 3300 on their feet (they never sat down anyway!) early doors as his shot went just wide of the post with Weaver beaten. Swansea seemed to be getting really in control of the game and the thoughts turned to the fact that the goal had to be coming.
And although it didn't there was every reason to be optimistic when Brandy replaced Bauza just past the hour mark and immediately caused some concern in the Charlton defence with his first touch of the ball.
Unknown to Swansea though the game was about to become harder for them. Unebelievably there was a yellow card for Garry Monk for breathing on a Charlton defender – more unbelievably when you consider that worst fouls had gone unpunished by Charlton players. Harsh in the extreme but par for the course for the referee at that stage.
Sadly though two minutes later the real punishment for the pathetic yellow was made evident as Monk went in with studs seemingly showing giving the referee no alternative but to produce a second yellow which means only one thing. A red. Monk shouldn't have walked purely because he shouldn't have been booked first time but at least the real consolation is he will only miss Brentford rather than anything league wise.
The Swans were stunned by the loss of their captain and it took five minutes for them to settle again and it took the introduction of Jason Scotland for Mark Gower to do that. Last season's top scorer was a total menace for his time on the pitch and is almost certain to start on Tuesday I would say based on this performance today.
Gomez was a late introduction for Pratley as the Swans pushed forward for an equaliser and even with the man disadvantage it wasn't unlikely that it could happen.
A free kick given away on the Swans right was crossed in and Andy Gray advanced ahead of the defender to head home the second goal of the afternoon and seal the first three points of the season.
The Swans were beaten but by no means were they disgraced on their return to the second tier of the English pyramid and based on the performance this afternoon we will win more than we lose this season. And those words were echoed by the generous home fans at the end of the game.
Onwards and upwards and no need to be despondent. And that I am sure is what we said after Oldham last year.
Next stop – the Liberty Stadium….
This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.