Phil Sumbler
Swansea City returned to winning ways at the Swansea.com Stadium this evening with a 3-0 win over Stoke taking us past the fifty point tally for the season and finally banishing any real thoughts of relegation in the process. A welcome win that should put a smile on the face of Luke Williams.
On a day when the rain had fallen in Swansea pretty much non stop for almost twelve hours before kick off it was no real surprise to see the Swansea.com Stadium very sparsely populated at kick off especially when you consider the tedious nature of our football in recent weeks.
Luke Williams made some changes from the side that surrendered so meekly at Middlesbrough at the weekend – Ben Cabango, Ollie Cooper and Liam Cullen coming into the side at the expense of Nathan Wood, Jamal Lowe and Jerry Yates. Wood missed out through injury whilst Lowe and Yates started the game from the bench.
After the words of Luke Williams at the weekend you would have assumed a quick start from the Swans was in order but it was not to be as the Swans seemingly were opening the game with the usual defensive style that we see and the walking football was evident in the opening stages of the game and our play of late typified by the first two crosses into the Stoke area being woefully overhit.
The Swans almost took the lead in the thirteenth minute from some good work by Jamie Paterson on the left which saw him reach the byline and his ball into the area was fired against the post by Jay Fulton with the rebound going wide having just eluded Paterson.
The Swans though did take the lead in the nineteenth minute. A free kick on the right hand side saw a one two between Paterson and Grimes saw Paterson deliver a superb cross into the area and it was the deftest of touches from Liam Cullen that gave the keeper no chance and the Swans were a goal to the good. Exactly what Luke Williams would have wanted.
It could have got better for the Swans and for Cullen two minutes later as Stoke sloppiness in defence saw Grimes head into the path of the forward but he hit a first time shot from the edge of the area harmlessly over.
The Swans though could consider themselves lucky to remain level as the match reached the half hour mark. A harmless ball reached Rushworth and the keeper seemed to drop the ball as he went to clear it leaving the Stoke player the easiest chance to roll into the back of the net but Keith Stroud deemed contact between the two players causing Rushworth to drop the ball but it seemed a harsh decision and certainly one we would moan about had it gone against us. Replays certainly split the credibility of the decision as far as the Sky pundits were concerned but the decision was made and the fact that it went for us means we never lose any sleep over it either way!
The Swans went into the half-time interval a goal to the good thanks to that strike from Cullen but the truth again was this was a pretty dire first half between two below average sides who are broadly where they deserve to be in the lead – the last swans action of the first half pretty much being another massively overhit cross from Ronald who has certainly bedded himself into the level of performance of the team in general.
The last action though in general of the first half was Manhoef wasting the best Stoke chance of the half when he ran clear of the Swans defence but hesitated and allowed Harry Darling to recover at a time when the move called for much more conviction from the forward.
The Swans were gifted – and took – the chance to double their lead in the 54th minute. Ollie Cooper was fouled on the edge of the area and it was captain Matt Grimes who stepped up to give the Swans a 2-0 lead and a massive step towards the fifty point barrier which is widely accepted as the safety mark at this level and almost certainly will be this season.
The Swans were now totally on the front foot and a well worked corner saw a low cross shot from Cullen deflected just wide and just out of the reach of Ben Cabango at the far post.
The Swans secured all three points when Josh Key netted from a Jamal Lowe assist and the Swans were heading towards what was turning into a very comfortable and more than welcome three point return for the evening. As the game headed into the last ten minutes Lowe tried a cheeky attempt to grab a fourth for the Swans but his long range effort went just over the bar but the reality was it was covered by the goalkeeper who had retreated well.
The Swans desire to secure the three points with a clean sheet was evident as the game entered the closing stages and a strong challenge from Cabango that won the away side a corner was celebrated by Darling and Rushworth as if we had added a fourth to our own scoring column.
In the first minute of stoppage time Grimes hit a free kick well over the bar following a foul on Govea, a disappointing strike from the Swans captain but one that made no difference at all to the outcome of the match, The remainder of the five minutes worth of stoppage time was played out without any incident of note and the final whistle bought as much of a sigh of relief as it did a celebration but it was nice to win with plenty to spare given the performances of the previous three games.
Luke Williams asked for a performance from his team tonight and he got it with the three goals and three points. It may not have had the passion of the win over Cardiff but it was arguably as important and with Rotherham arriving in SA1 on Saturday there should be no reason why we cannot add a further three points to our tally with equal ease. A couple of close refereeing calls certainly went our way this evening and on another night could have been given in the opposite direction but nobody from a Swansea perspective will complain about that and the stats will always show a relatively easy win for the Swans.
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