Pratley’s second goal just past the hour proved to be the final scoring moment after a pulsating first half which saw the Swans 2-0 up inside 20 minutes only to be pegged back by their visitors after two defensive lapses.
And in front of a sell out Liberty Stadium crowd it was Swansea who were then afforded the luxury of taking home the points that moves them up the table and within two points of their local rivals.
In truth it was probably just about the result that the Swans deserved although Cardiff fans will remember back to a Ross McCormack free kick that cannoned back off the crossbar shortly before Pratley struck what turned out to be the winning blow. The result will also be somewhat of a relief to the Swans who looked to be coasting when Pratley struck the first of his double in the 16th minute to put the Swans 2-0 up in the derby.
The Swans lined up with a near full strength line up that looked as follows
Dorus
Rangel Tate Williams Bessone
Dyer Britton Pratley Allen Van Der Gun
Beattie
Swansea had started both league meetings the brighter last season and it was no different this time around and there were less than ten minutes on the clock when they grabbed the opening goal of the match thanks to an unlikely source – the head of Nathan Dyer.
It was a Pratley free kick that was delivered into the box and after a flick on it was Dyer who headed the ball into the empty net thanks to the slip from Marshall in the vistors goal.
If that was just the start that the Swans wanted it became even better seven minutes later when Pratley converted a superb Swans move that saw him convert a knock down from Beattie following a Van Der Gun (?) cross
The Swans were ecstatic and the visiting suppport over 1800 was dejected as the Swans made further progress as they went in charge of the third that would probably – even at that early stage – would have killed the game off.
That never came and in three mad minutes just after the half hour the Swans were made to pay as Cardiff pegged them back to level terms. An appeal for Bothroyd to be offside fell on deaf ears and the Cardiff striker slotted home past De Vries to halve the advantage.
If that was a blow for the Swans, they fell to a sucker punch almost immediately. McCormack delivered a free kick into the Swans box and amazingly it fell to the head of Hudson at the back post and he headed home hardly beleiving the space he was afforded.
The Swans were stunned as were the home crowd and it was a nervous ten minutes that ensued until the referee bought to an end the first half proceedings with the scoreline at 2-2 – the same score that both games produced last season.
Cardiff appeared to start the second half stronger as they probed the Swans defence and looked to create the space that their style of play seems to require. But a defence marshalled by Alan Tate was holding firm despite the McCormack free kick mentioned earlier that left De Vries stranded as it came back off the crossbar and was cleared by the Swans defence.
The final critical moment arrived just past the hour when Pratley converted a cross from the left side with a perfect volley that left Marshall motionless and for the third time of the afternoon got the Liberty crowd back on their feet to celebrate a Swans goal.
The momentum was again with Swansea and they pushed hard looking for a fourth goal although there was always a threat from the visitors even if they seemed unable to fashion a clear cut opening.
Orlandi, Pintado and Butler were all introduced at various intervals during the second half and as time ticked on holes started to appear in the Cardiff defence but they were holes that the Swans were unable to exploit and get the goal that would kill the game off.
The game was heading into stoppage time and despite what seemed like a generous four minutes of stoppage time the Swans held on for the victory they so craved and it was the white half of South Wales that can hold the bragging rights even if the Blue half currently hold the league table advantage.
Man of the match was without a doubt the fantasic Pratley who not only scored two and had a big hand in the other but also found himself at the heart of almost everything that the Swans did with by far the most telling contribution of the game.
Ten games unbeaten is probably the most telling statistic of all and ahead of last season’s position is extremely satisfying and bragging rights in South Wales offices on Monday morning will no doubt be claimed.
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