Phil Sumbler
It was the definite story of two halves at the Swansea.com stadium this afternoon as the Swans continued their place in the division’s top six thanks to a fourth win in a row but they had to survive a slightly disjointed second half in the process.
First half goals from Ollie Cooper and Harry Darling seemingly had the Swans comfortably on their way to another three points but an early goal from the visitors made for a nervy second half for the Swans although in fairness we deserved the three points at the end of the day.
The comfort though of a half time lead was taken away early in the second half when Jack Clarke pulled a goal back but a resolute Swansea held on for the three points and indeed gave up more than enough chances to secure a more comfortable win.
After the road wins over West Brom and Burnley in the last week the Swans were on the hunt for a fourth straight win for the first time under Russell Martin and a bright start saw us almost open the scoring in the opening minute of the game. A deflection from a corner was scrambled off the line with all eyes on the referee but he confirmed the ball had not crossed the line and the Swans were denied a perfect start.
With four changes from the side that started midweek against Watford it was clear that Russell Martin was determined to use the depth of his squad and with Darling commanding at the back and Luke Cundle everywhere in midfield in particular those changes were looking very justified as the Swans started to stamp their dominance on the game.
And it didn’t take long for that dominance to turn itself into a lead when a superb move was finished off by a deflected shot from Ollie Cooper who had been fed by a perfect pass from Matt Grimes. The stadium erupted as one of their youth products celebrated his first goal for the club and the Swans had broken the deadlock.
It led to a period of control for the Swans who always looked threatening but we had to wait until first half stoppage time to double that advantage. A free kick from Ryan Manning was floated into the box where it was met by the head of Be Cabango with Darling showing the instinct of a striker to toe poke the ball home and double the home sides lead.
With a two goal advantage at the break there was a real opportunity for the Swans to push on and hammer on the advantage but an early goal in the second half seemed to change the shape of the game. The vistors broke after some hesitation in the middle of the pitch from the Swans and from the resulting play Clarke fired home past Benda into the corner of the net.
The Swans were certainly rattled and the visitors lifted as they tried to press home and capitalise on the change in the shape of the match but at the other end the Swans were still looking dangerous.
In response to the goal Martin bought on Obafemi and Ntcham in place of Cundle and Cooper and it did settle the Swans slightly with both adding something to an attack that had been led to that point by Joel Piroe who was certainly off the pace for the majority of the game.
The excellent Fulton had a shot tipped over the bar and Piroe missed a glorious chance to restore the two goal advantage when his point blank header was kept out after a corner was flicked onto him.
At the other end Benda was called into action a few times but for all their attacks Sunderland never fully troubled him and the Swans held firm at the end although there would have been a few hearts in mouths in the last minute. Clarke ran into the area, went down under challenge from Grimes but thankfully the sounding of the whistle was to book Clarke for simulation and that was the last action of the game as the final whistle sounded.
As the players and manager celebrated another good win there was a definite feel good factor around the stadium with the Swans ending the afternoon just three points off the top of the table and the small matter of 5th placed Burnley at Turf Moor next weekend.
On this form though the Swans should fear nobody and long may that continue.
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