Rob Davies
In terms of debut goals, that has to be one of the best ever. Some people say it was one of the best goals seen at the Swansea.com Stadium – it was special.
Josh Ginnelly would have gone to sleep last night hoping he could make his mark for his new club tonight and goodness me, did he. The second half substitute put the gloss on a comfortable win with a turn, slip of his marker and a 25 yard screamer.
That was following Joel Piroe’s brace – a goal in each half – to ensure a safe passage to round two and a first competitive victory for Michael Duff at the second opportunity.
The boss made five changes from Saturday’s draw against Birmingham City in what was still a strong side to face League One Northampton Town. Liam Cullen, Ollie Cooper, Joe Allen, Azeem Abdulai and Kyle Naughton all came in.
Rushworth
Naughton – Darling – Wood
Abdulai – Allen – Grimes – Ashby
Cooper
Cullen – Piroe
It’s fair to say that this was certainly not Northampton at full strength although it was welcome to see that even with a near half tram changed the Swans had a strong team with a very good bench to choose from.
Duff admitted post match he still wants 2-3 more signings before the window closes, a point emphasised a little further by the quick departure of Olivier Ntcham to Samsunspor yesterday.
But one of those players who should be at the forefront of Duff’s mind for a permanent starting berth in the number 10 role should be Ollie Cooper who did his chances no harm by setting up the first goal.
The ever willing Cullen – much like his cameo role Saturday – set Cooper away down the left and from inside the box he set up Piroe for an easy tap in at the far post around 10 minutes in for 1-0.
This was a far more cohesive display already than Saturday albeit against a weakened team from League One but again there were encouraging moments for Abdulai with his pace and energy offering something different for Duff.
There could have been more in the first half, Piroe had an opportunity but was wasteful in shooting over. Joe Allen also had a similar effort before the visitors probably should have been level.
Kieron Bowie intercepted a loose Rushworth pass (not too dissimilar to that which Birmingham scored from Saturday) but missed the target.
Allen, Ashby and Piroe all had opportunities to further enhance the scoreline before the interval but 1-0 it stayed before Piroe netted his second soon after half time.
Cullen’s ball into the area caused all sorts of problems and from the aftermath Piroe slid home for his second of the game and give the Swans a lead the visitors never really looked capable of recovering from.
Four changes somewhat disrupted the flow of the game foe the home team as Fulton, Paterson, Key and Ginnelly were all introduced as Rushworth saved well from a Hoskins effort.
And 2-0 it stayed until deep into injury time when Ginnelly appeared to be running down a blind alley, but soon turned his marker, shrugged off a couple of defenders and curled a screamer into the top right corner from 25 yards.
What a way to introduce yourself. Even more impressive after his lack of pre season action with his pace and energy offering something very different to what we’ve had for a number of seasons.
Duff has always said he wants to bring pace and power to the team and that was further proven as the Swansea.com was treated to another debutant Kukharevych who made his first appearance as a late substitute.
A positive night overall and another step in the right direction for the manager and his team.
The draw for the second round is this evening.
MATCH FACTS AND LINE UPS
NEXT UP FOR THE SWANS
