JA.net 8 SG.com 2

JackArmy.net 8 SleepingGiant.com 2

It was twelve months ago that a message board post was turned by a handful of volunteers from an idea into reality when the Swansea side triumphed both hom and away against Cardiff. Today they defended the first of those trophies and did it with some style as the sun came back out over Gower and there is no doubt that one team made hay while it was shining.

It’s somewhat surreal to watch a game of football between two sides – one wearing the Swan of Swansea and the other the Bluebird of Cardiff when you can mingle with the opposition support and, even more shockingly, you can even travel to the game without a police escort!!

These games have gone some way to building bridges between the two sets of supporters and, as was commented in the bar afterwards, it is a great shame that it cannot happen more often that you share a pint with a bluebird after the game without fear of any violence whatsoever.

The JackArmy.net team were already one goal to the good when I arrived at Scurlage to watch the game and this lead was soon doubled after some good work on the flank led to a one on one opportunity. At this point it seemed that maybe the home side may run away with proceedings but Cardiff had a gem in their side as well and he soon pulled a goal back. This spurred on the SleepingGiant team and they came close a couple of times soon afterwards before the Jacks composed themselves and stamped their authority on the game.

As with any Swansea v Cardiff encounter it was a fiercely contested encounter but in fairness it was played in the right spirit and bar one yellow card for each side in the first half nothing seemed to boil over into any unpleasantness. The JackArmy.net team headed into the first half 3-1 to the good but mainly thanks to a miss from Lee Morgan that Steve Watkin would have been proud of, it wasn’t more.

The second half though was a very one sided affair as some good finishing and build ups led to the JackArmy.net team extending their lead to 6-1 before a mis hit cross fooled the JackArmy.net goalkeeper to pull one goal back. This only spurred the home side even more and they grabbed two more goals before the close to end up with a massive 8-2 scoreline in their favour.

With respect to the SleepingGiant team, the lads put together by Reeco had far better fitness and the work that they have done over the past 12 months showed through during the game. Cardiff though are optimistic to have a couple more players in situ for next week’s return leg and there is every chance that they could give the JackArmy side a better game in a week’s time.

Winning captain Ian Roberts lifted the trophy with pride at the end of the game and Cardiff will have to wait 12 months to get their hands on this particular trophy.

Result aside, it is great to see these two sets of fans mixing so well and it is an example that supporters of both sides will do well to follow. Talk was not of Cardiff’s promotion or Swansea’s great escape but the match on the pitch and the work that has gone into this fixture from both sides.

Special thanks from all spectators should go to Reeco and Mozzer from the SG team who have worked so hard to get this game going and with close on a hundred or so people watching clearly it is a success. The question now remains will Swansea retain their second trophy next week or have the Cardiff boys got something up their sleeve to pull of what you could probably class as a major surprise.

On occasions like this it is traditional to say that football was the winner but I think it more appropriate to say here that rivalry was the winner as Swansea and Cardiff came together as one to watch football between the two sides.

Click Here For Match Pictures

The after match photoshoot!

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