Planet Swans ArchivesWhilst victories on the road appear to be relatively easy for us to get hold of at the moment, successes at the Liberty Stadium have not been the norm this season – just twice prior to tonight the Swans had experienced the joy of three points at home this season in seven previous outings.
However, 3 from 8 is obviously an improved statistic even if we did have to wait as long as we did for the breakthrough. Ironically it was almost the exact same time as the breakthrough at Tranmere on the weekend and whilst Roberto’s philosophy is not built anywhere near the 1-0 Johnny Hollins era victories, very few times in that period were two victories of the scoreline as well received as they have been during the last four days.
It was probably just a victory that the Swans had deserved as they tweaked their formation to try and overcome some of the difficulties they have experienced at home in recent weeks and three forwards were asked to find the goal that they needed – all three without joy on the evening but probably, it is fair to say, with differing levels of impact each.
The victory may yet prove to be costly with both Paul Anderson and Dorus De Vries – both outstanding on the night – leaving the pitch when the celebrations died down with a real hobble and both with bandaged areas of their legs – we await news on the pair ahead of the weekend FA Cup tie at Horsham.
It has been widely suggested and this evening Roberto changed his line up to nearer a 4-5-1 but with licence to four midfielders to get up as the once again solid Ferrie Bodde to play more of a holding role – something I believe he can do very well. Leon Britton was in the side ahead of Warren Feeney as the only change to the starting XI from Tranmere on Saturday whilst Tom Butler returned for a place on the bench.
Doris
Rangel Monk Lawrence Painter
Bodde Anderson Pratley Britton Robbo
Scotland
And for the first half hour it did look as if the change in formation may do the trick with the Swans looking lively and potentially ready to end the deadlock at any stage. The midfield seemed to enjoy the almost free roles that Britton, Pratley and to an extent Robinson had been given with Bodde chasing down everything and setting the Swans into play on almost everything they tried to do. Anderson on the right was a thorn in the Hartlepool defence as he is to so many – highlighted no better than a burst down the right where his speed got him to a ball he had no right to reach only to see his cross fly low across the area with no Swans player able to get in at the speed Anderson got there.
If a goal was coming at this stage it was Hartlepool who almost got it – and it would have been against the run of play at the time. A quick free kick caught the Swans napping and a shot across Doris was tipped onto the corner of the net rebounded off the Swansea bar and thankfully to safety keeping the scoreline blank. That moment seemed to change the pattern of the last fifteen minutes of the half as the Swans gave up more possession then they had done at that stage and lost their way slightly as Hartlepool came more into the game and there were several moments of near panic in the Swans defence. The effectiveness of the midfield five was at it’s lowest at this point in the game with the ball all too often coming back at us as we gave away possession.
No changes at half time but Roberto was forced into one soon after when he introduced Tom Butler into the fold at the expense of Paul Anderson who received immediate treatment on the bench – no change in formation as Butler slotted into the right wing spot that Anderson was occupying but without the same impact or pace that Anderson had. Swansea were starting to toil and again the frustrations of the Liberty crowd were being heard as a goal started to look more unlikely.
Hartlepool again hit the bar before Swansea scrambled to safety as Roberto reverted to a 4-4-2 when Darryl Duffy replaced Pratley with just over 15 minutes to go. Duffy’s movement added a dimension to the Swans play that they hadn’t had before and when Bauza replaced Scotland with ten minutes to go we had two strikers willing to chase down the ball and hurry the Hartlepool defence into a mistake.
And the goal came soon after with Rangel playing more than just the scoring part. His ball from the right was fed into the box and as Duffy looked for space to get a shot away the ball was half cleared to the edge of the area. Rangel had been following in and he struck the ball low and hard past the keeper into the net for his first Swansea goal and definitely one of the most needed goals we have scored this season. The Liberty rose as the Swans celebrated and the relief was there for all to see. Now it was a case of holding on for ten minutes.
And that we managed but not before the odd scare as has become almost a custom at Swansea over the past couple of seasons. Doris was called upon to make one more great save before a couple of goalmouth scrambles caused us undue worry at the wrong end of the pitch but injury time came and went and the Swans were victorious. It wasn’t their best display of the season but it started well enough (the first 30 minutes) and the three points were in our column at the end rather than anywhere else and we can take heart from that.
As we return to the Liberty four times in our next six games it was important to get the result we so desperately wanted and the only thing that really matters is that, right now, WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE!
