Phil SumblerWhen Conor Hourihane hit the back of the net inside three minutes at Luton yesterday you kind of hoped that it would open the door to a dominant Swans performance and maybe a recovery of the goal difference damage that was inflicted in defeats to Huddersfield and Bristol City.
It was not to be though as it proved to be the only goal of the game but it was enough to secure the Swans three more points on their promotion push and keep up the pressure on Brentford and Watford who both also recorded weekend wins.
It represented a return so far of four points from the two of the three Swansea road trips in succession and a win at Bournemouth on Tuesday will see us eclipse last season’s points tally with, incredibly, ten matches still to play. It will also set us up nicely for the visit of Cardiff City to the Liberty next weekend as we look to become the first side to ever record a league double in the fixture.
Hourihane converted Yan Dhanda’s perfect pass from around 12 yards out to score the vital goal and he was pleased to be back amongst the scorers after five games without a goal and it took his tally for the Swans to five goals since joining back in the January transfer window.
“It’s a massive three points on the road once again,” said the 30-year-old. “The clean sheet is great too – it’s so important because it gives you the platform to win games.
“Scoring the goal is obviously great for me. I started off on fire, and then went on a dry spell. It was nice to get another one – the gaffer said I was due one, so it was good to find the net again.
“Yan was fantastic in setting it up and putting it on a plate for me. We spoke in the changing room afterwards that he did the same for me against Rotherham.
“He sees those passes very well, and it was a great assist.”
