Rob Davies
Swansea City came through the test of bottom of the league Blackpool by the thinnest of margins thanks to Callum Connolly’s second half own goal on a wet night in SA1.
A reasonably positive first half which saw Joel Piroe hit the post, Ryan Manning come close, Olli Cooper firing wide and a fine finish from Matty Sorinola to open the scoring was followed up by chaotic scenes after the interval.
Despite Blackpool midfielder Charlie Patino seeing red for a second booking the away side equalised through Sonny Carey, cue the script we’ve all seen far too often over the past two seasons.
But a bit of fortune was required as Sorinola’s inviting cross was diverted into his own net by Connolly to the relief of Russell Martin and the small-ish crowd at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The Swans boss changed to a back three/five bringing in the impressive Sorinola, Cundle and Darling in a bid to get back to winning ways.
Fisher
Wood – Cabango – Darling
Sorinola – Fulton – Grimes – Manning
Cooper – Piroe – Cundle
It was at least a positive start with the home team keen to bounce back after consecutive defeats with the manager admitting post match that the team and staff had suffered somewhat of a hangover from the drama of the January transfer window.
And with huge possession statistics yet again without creating what you would call gilt edged chances, it looked set to be a frustrating night at the Swansea.com Stadium against a team with a long injury list.
Familiar foe Mick McCarthy was in the dugout and he could only look on as Sorinola struck the Swans ahead from just inside the box. He crossed the ball across the box and with Manning on the stretch he whipped the ball back across for Sorinola to strike right footed past Chris Maxwell.
It should have been two very soon after as Piroe met Cundle’s centre but struck the post before Manning’s follow up was well saved by the Seasiders’ keeper aa the Swans looked to get a killer second.
And despite the usual probing it was Blackpool who came closest to levelling as Bowler’s back post strike was well held by Fisher as the Stadium nervously watched on expecting what has become the norm.
As always no changes at half time but a reinvigorated Blackpool were the order of the day aa they took control of the first ten minutes of so without really threatening Andy Fisher.
And there was relief all around as Arsenal’s on loan midfielder Patino was shown a second yellow card and perhaps fortune was indeed on Swansea’s side but not without a scare.
Despite the home and man advantage McCarthy’s men equalised through a well structured piece of play ending with a ball across the box finished by Sonny Carey.
Suddenly the usual feeling of dread was all around after the Birmingham game most recently but Sorinola again came up with the goods as his difficult cross was diverted into his own net by Connolly.
It was reasonable to say it didn’t reflect the pattern of play in the second half but despite the woeful second half a win is absolutely a win.
Pool should have equalised but for the width of a post as the Swans looked anything but convincing although ultimately held on to three points which edges them into the top half of the Championship.
So much work to be done and for me more questions than answers. On to Blackburn.
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We need to to forget about play-offs and relegation – neither will happen .An improvement in performance would be nice along with more solidity and conceding fewer goals.
We also need to see more of fringe players like Walsh and Whitaker and start giving some of the under 21 a bit of game time .And let’s start seeing a bit more of Joe Allen in games – he’s way ahead of our other midfielders.
We know Russell Martin’s been dealt a tough hand but we all need to see real progress .The second half against Blackpool was tough to watch