Phil SumblerIf last week was a performance that rightly attracted plenty of praise then today’s should attract an equal level of criticism as the Swans looked lethargic and slow all afternoon before succumbing to a reasonably late Luton goal to damage their play off ambitions.
It is fair to say that at no real change during the afternoon did the Swans look as if they were likely to break a goal duck and when Jordan Garrick crazily earned himself a red card in the last ten minutes of the game it summed up an afternoon which started with optimism and probably ended with complete realism.
Garrick was issued with his red card for aiming a punch at James Collins in a melee that followed a strong challenge from George Byers which in itself could have earned him a yellow card but it was never given. Garrick was shown by all the replays to have aimed a punch and that left the referee with little option but to issue the red card despite the predictable arguments from the Swans player.
Steve Cooper had gone into this game with an unchanged side from the team that impressed so much at the Riverside last weekend but that was the only thing that was unchanged as the Swans often found an inability to find their own man during a first half where the better chances came to Luton even if there was very little for Freddie Woodman in the Swansea goal to do.
At the other end it was Andre Ayew who came the closest to opening the scoring in the first half whilst Ben Cabango came the closest in the second when his header was well saved before Rhian Brewster was unable to react quick enough to head the rebound goalwards.
It was no real surprise when Luton took the lead with just over 15 minutes to go as Collins rose above the Swansea defence and Woodman was unable to keep out a powerful header which hit the back of the net. It was probably the least that Luton deserved with their performance certainly not suggesting that relegation to League One is the certainty that maybe the league table a week ago suggested.
And if they do stay up then they will almost certainly be joined in the Championship next season by a Swansea side who lack the consistency as a minimum to maintain a promotion charge at this stage of the season especially when you factor in the complete disparity between our two performances to date.
Swansea’s afternoon was summed up in the 6th minute of the added on 9 at the end when Matt Grimes free kick from a threatening position failed to clear the wall, something we have seen far too often over the course of the season.
A disappointing afternoon for the Swans all round with no real positives to be gained ahead of the trip to Millwall on Tuesday evening.
