Planet Swans ArchivesThere were rare starts but great performances from the likes of Modou Barrow and Tom Carroll as Tranmere were really no match for us on the day and we cruised through despite conceding two goals in an entertaining second half.
Games like this are always classed as a banana skin for the Premier League sides and we were hurried and pressured for the first twenty minutes of the game but you always felt that the home side would not be able to keep it going for the full ninety minutes and from the moment that Nathan Dyer broke the deadlock just past the half hour mark there was always only going to be one winner in the game.
Captain for the day Dyer cut in from the left hand side of midfield and after his first shot was blocked he hammered home the second to settle any nerves that the Swans may have had although by that time they had settled well and were already in the ascendancy in the game.
Tranmere though stepped up after that goal and it looked dangerous at half time and you always knew that there could be a goal coming from the home side which meant the all important second goal the one that would decide the game.
And that came from the Swans not long into the second half as Carroll scored his first goal for the club with an excellent finish after being fed by the impressive Barrow to double the Swans advantage.
The goal seemed to break Tranmere and it was not long before Barrow himself grabbed the third as he tapped into an empty net after an excellent Swans move saw him played into space by Gomis who was started up front as he will be for much of January.
The game was over at this point but Tranmere were gifted a way back in after some slack work from Tremmel who spent too much time on the ball and his clearance was charged down by the brilliantly named Max Power and the deflection went into the net. It was the second such goal that the Swans had conceded in that way in a week and is certainly something that we need to be aware of as we can’t keep gifting away goals like this.
It sparked though a last 15 minutes that saw a further four goals scored – three of them by the Swans. Gomis got his deserved goal when he finished well from another good Swans move before Stockton was afforded the freedom of our penalty area to head home another consolation goal for Tranmere.
Routledge – on for Dyer – added a fifth before Gomis ended the scoring in stoppage time with an excellent individual effort with the last touch of the game.
This was a professional performance from the Swans and all you can ask of games like these is that we come through with ease and a scoreline such as the one that we had is more than satisfying given the fact we have just come off the back of such a busy Christmas period.
Some real positives as well were the performances of the fringe players although those in the defensive line did nothing to help their own cause but certainly Barrow and Carroll have a good argument to start against West Ham next week.
Onwards now to Monday’s draw and the next round of the competition – we are one step closer to Wembley.
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