Phil Sumbler
Luke Williams saw his side effectively steal a point at Hillsborough yesterday afternoon and there could have felt a sense of groundhog day with some of his post match comments as he reflected back on the Good Friday result that moved us one point further away from the relegation zone.
Jamal Lowe’s second half equaliser cancelled out a Wednesday opener from Bailey Cadamateri which gave the home side the lead in which the Swans totally dominated possession but failed to create anything of note.
Williams felt that the 73% possession statistic showed that the Swans controlled the game but many observers would point to the largest part of that possession being “without a purpose” as the Swans moved the game to walking pace less than two weeks after the intensity they showed in the home defeat over Cardiff.
The Swans boss talks alot about wanting his teams to play with pace and intensity but both were lacking in a first half and it was no real surprise to see us head into the interval a goal down especially when that goal is conceded to a set piece. Shades of Bristol City were definitely in the air as the referee blew for half time.
“It was a tough afternoon, in the first half we controlled the game quite well, and we managed to quiet the crowd here and I think we created some anxiety for them,” he said.
“But we were unable to make any clean actions to score, so we can improve there. Out of possession in the first half the intensity was there, but with the ball there was not quite enough of that.
“There is frustration to concede from a set-piece, and then in the second half the game becomes a bit more like basketball because we had to push really hard to get back into the game.
“Then we were pushing to try and win, because we don’t want to come here and not go to try and win and settle for a draw.
“But when it became more open, it brought the crowd back into the game and they caused us a lot of problems.”
The performance from the Swans just seems to highlight the obvious when things are not working. At no real time during the game did we show any attempt to try and bring the width into the game with Placheta, Ronald and later Govea fed on the few scraps that we were feeding them and the midfield much more static then we have seen something that seems to happen when Grimes and Fulton are paired together highlighting the need for us to continue a search for a Joe Allen like character.
The introduction of Jerry Yates did nothing to change the style of play with the forward AWOL for most of his time on the pitch once again and the addition of a striker to replace Yates next season becomes more obvious with every passing performance.
Williams though was pleased with another goal from Jamal Lowe and is hinting that a longer stay in SA1 maybe on when his loan deal expires at the end of the season.
“Jamal is giving us a headache, no doubt,” he said.
“He is such a gifted player and he did brilliantly because he reacted so well to stay calm and finish the action off.
“He got the one in the Cardiff game where he showed so much quality and so much composure. He is a brilliant player and he is giving me a really good problem.”
And once again it was the performance of Carl Rushworth that attracted most of the plaudits as he pulled off several quality saves to keep the scoreline level – something more than acknowledged by Williams.
“And Carl is top, for a lot of the game he was not particularly required, but he did his job brilliantly well.”
