Phil Sumbler
Swansea City put in an improved performance from the midweek defeat to Leeds United but ultimately the same defensive problems cost them in the first half again as Ipswich ran out 2-1 winners at the Swansea.com Stadium this afternoon – the Swans fourth successive home league defeat.
After the farce of the midweek performance against Leeds there was hope in SA1 today that the Swans could learn from the obvious mistakes that they made on Tuesday as another promotion chasing side in Ipswich arrived to face the Swans.
Ollie Cooper, Joe Allen, Jerry Yates and Kyle Naughton were all drafted into the side that started on Tuesday night with the absentees being Jay Fulton, Przemyslaw Placheta, Liam Cullen and Bashir Humphreys all missing out with the first three all dropping to the bench whilst Humphreys missed out through injury.
Both sides had chances to open the account before the old mistakes were being made in the Swansea defence to give Ipswich the lead. This time – and not for the first time – it was Ben Cabango at fault as he gifted possession on the halfway line and it resulted in Nathan Broadhead running clear of the Swans defence and lifting the ball over Carl Rushworth to give the Tractor Boys the lead. The game was – again – less than fifteen minutes old.
Whilst Luke Williams talks alot about the Swans needing to learn from the mistakes that they have made in the past it becomes hollow words when we seemingly do not learn and continue to make the same mistakes and concede the same kind of goals. Soft ones. Very soft.
Keiffer Moore probably should have doubled the lead from an Ipswich corner before the Swans got themselves back on level terms just after the half hour mark. A short free kick from Paterson saw Grimes lift the ball into the area where it was met by Cabango’s head and his header across the area somehow ended up in the back of the net from Yates’ shin. It wasn’t the most pretty of finishes but when you are under the pressure that Yates is under a goal is a goal and as he collected the ball from the next there wasn’t a moan from him about the scruffy nature of his finish.
With the Swans back on level terms then it called for a period of tightness but less than four minutes later the Swans found themselves behind again. A soft free kick was conceded in the Ipswich half and a long ball over the top caught the Swans defence cold (no real surprise there) and with Naughton and Cabango unsure who was challenging for the ball it was an unmarked Chaplin who put the visitors ahead, a lead that they retained to the interval.
The only unanswered question of the first half concerned Leif Davis. He was booked for one foul on Ronald but a second card should have followed just minutes later but the referee elected not to show the card which surely would have been branded had the player not already been booked. One of the greatest frustrations in the game – when is a yellow card offence not a yellow card!
The Swans probably should/could have had themselves level in the early stages of the second half when Yates just failed to connect with a Matt Grimes downward header from Ronald’s ball into the middle – on another day he could easily have made contact with the ball but ifs, buts and maybes have become things we have clung to too often this season so not one to dwell on. A good chance not converted is the short summary.
Keiffer Moore almost added to the lead of the visitors but his powerful shot was tipped onto the bar by Rushworth and that prompted a triple change for the Swans. Patino, Cullen and (the lesser spotted) Kuharevich were introduced into the action for Yates, Cooper and Allen as Williams hoped that his side could go for the equaliser in the driving rain that was falling on the Swansea.com Stadium
Ipswich responded soon after with their own triple change which saw both their goalscorers depart – fresh legs the name of the game for both sides in what would be tiring conditions to play in. Just over twenty minutes to go.
The Swans fourth change saw Placheta replace Ronald, a straight swap with Placheta taking up the Brazilian’s place on the right wing. The Swans biggest threat though was coming down the left hand side and two breaks in as many minutes could have produced something for the Swans. The first resulted in a scuffed shot from Cullen blocked by the defence whilst the second was Kuharevich head over as the ball came into the area from Naughton having been played across by the breaking Paterson.
The game was becoming more open and Rushworth was called into action from a low hard shot from Sarmiento after what looked like a foul by Moore on Cabango but nothing was given. Next up was a chance for Cullen who rose to meet a Tymon cross from the left but his header was straight at the keeper – either side and it would certainly have been a tester.
Keiffer Moore’s afternoon was ended when he was replaced with just under ten minutes to go by a former Swansea player in Ali Al-Hamadi who had scored for Ipswich in midweek and he had a first sight of goal just a minute later when he guided a header from a deflected cross wide.
The final Swans change of the afternoon saw Harry Darling return to replace Kyle Naughton as we went into the closing stages still searching for the equaliser that would have got us back into the game.. And it was Darling that almost got that equaliser with a deflected pass that forced a save from the Ipswich keeper before the Swans earned a free kick as the ball broke at the edge of the area as a direct result. Unfortunately for the Swans Liam Cullen’s free kick failed to get over the wall and the opportunity was lost.
On a day when you want to see high numbers of minutes stoppage time the sight of three was not what the home crowd wanted and in the first of those the game could have been secured as Al-Hamadi saw his powerful shot deflected onto the post by Rushworth, the second time the keeper had saved the Swans in the half.
Whilst this was an improved performance from the midweek game against Leeds (it would have been hard to be worse) the story can be told by us making the same mistakes at the back and not really creating a great deal up front despite our play being more progressive. The reality of this tells you that we have too many players in the side who don’t seem able to compete at this level and that is costing us more and more.
Unfortunately for the Swans results elsewhere very much went against them this afternoon most notably with both QPR and Sheffield Wednesday winning away from home and we now stand just four points above the bottom three facing into a tricky away day at Sunderland next weekend. These are increasing worrying times for the Swans who must be low on confidence but until we stop making the stupid mistakes then we will continue to lose more games than we get points. And it’s not a nervous look over our shoulder at the moment, it feels more than that.
A huge week ahead for Luke Williams.
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