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Swansea City 1 Doncaster 2 |
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Click Here For Match Pictures After dominating pretty much every match we have played this season this was a real crash to earth for the Swans who were second best in just about every department for much of the afternoon. Doncaster seemed to want the win more than we did and with Ferrie Bodde needlessly throwing away his place on the pitch when he stuck the head in we just made it easier for the visitors. Jason Scotland’s goal was about the only highlight of a frustrating afternoon when the passing just wasn’t there, the movement was non existent and the referee was poor. But let’s not try and blame him for our own shortcomings in the game. It’s hard to be overly harsh on the players who have done well enough so far this season but this was not the polished performances we have seen of late and certainly not the type of performance that we want to see too often. And to cap it all a three match ban for Bodde will hit hard in the games to come – all for a stupid moment of madness. The Swans lined up as follows Doris Rangel Monk Lawrence Austin Britton Pratley Bodde Robbo Duffy Scotland The early stages followed a very similar pattern to Walsall last week with the Swans struggling to get hold of the ball and stamp their authority on the game. It looked to be a lacklustre effort to get to the ball and Doncaster were quick to close us down whenever we did manage to bring the ball under control. Gradually we played ourselves into the game without creating any real danger until Scotland hammered a shot against the outside of the post midway through the first half. That though was a rare moment of optimism in a haze of average play as Doncaster tested Doris with a couple of long range efforts that were kept out with some ease. The passing and movement of recent weeks was nowhere to be seen as the Swans struggled to get a grip of the game and it was somewhat of a surprise to find that a goal came five minutes before the interval. A nice first touch from Prately found Robbo wide left and his low cross was palmed out by the keeper into the path of Scotland who notched his fourth goal of the season to the delight of the home crowd. Was this to be the springboard to a better second half? No, it wasn’t is the simple answer now. Genuinely I did feel that we couldn’t be as bad in the second half but if truth be known we probably got a little worse. The early stages followed much the same pattern as the first half with neither side able to play much football – totally against the pre-match prediction of Roberto – but with the Swans in front you felt that sooner or later Doncaster would have to start pressing for the goal. Ferrie Bodde decided he would give them a boost when he ended a very ‘much ado about nothing’ argument by placing his head into that of the opposing player leaving the referee with no alternative but to show the straight red card and prompt the immediate withdrawal of Duffy with KOL taking the place of Bodde who I guess will find himself on the end of a club fine for his act of petulance. It didn’t take long for Doncaster to make their man advantage count as Richie Wellens drove past Doris from just inside the area to level the scores out. Swansea’s heads had dropped and they seemingly had no answer at this point to try and get something back out of the game and it wasn’t really a surprise when Wellens again popped up to give Donny the lead with five minutes left. Whether it was what Donny deserved is a matter for debate but it certainly wasn’t an afternoon when we could claim that we were mugged or were by far the better side because, simply, we weren’t. The throwing of Dennis Lawrence up front made no effect nor did taking of Robbo and Britton for Butler and Anderson – neither really touched the ball let alone looked like making an impact on the game and bringing the Swans back into it. A very frustrating and disappointing afternoon at the Liberty in front of a poor crowd of 11,000 odd. We weren’t good enough today by a long chalk and very much we contributed to our own downfall. Much criticism will be aimed at the referee but that will just hide our weaknesses and the key decision – Bodde – he got spot on, no complaints at all. Must do better….. Click Here For Match Pictures What are your thoughts? Share your views on the Message Board |
This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.