Phil SumblerThe pride of South Wales stands firmly in the West of the nation this afternoon after Russell Martin’s bow in the South Wales derby ended with his Swans side cruising to a 3-0 win that could easily have been much more as the pressure was piled on Bluebirds boss Mick McCarthy whose tenure must, sadly, be hanging by a thread right now.
Goals from Jamie Paterson, Joel Piroe and Jake Bidwell were the three names on the scoresheet but it should not be lost on anyone just how comprehensive this win was for the Swans after a nervy start that was ended when Paterson – on his way to a man of the match performance – opened the scoring just before the half hour mark,
Paterson found the back of the net via both posts to open the scoring but it was just part of a superb performance from the midfielder with Cardiff having no way of stopping him other than bringing him down cynically through their over physical play that has become the norm from them in the past few seasons.
It was a sixth straight defeat for Cardiff – a stat they have not achieved since the 1980s – but this was the afternoon that the divide in the way the two teams want to play and, on this evidence, the divide will be just as clear come the end of the season with a seeming gulf currently between the two sides.
Paterson set up Piroe for the second with the striker in acres of space and he finished off a superb run from Laird to give Bidwell the easiest chance of the game to make it three not long afterwards and send the home crowd into an atmosphere not seen for many years at the stadium.
There could have been many more with a good penalty shout in the first half dismissed when Laird was bought down and Smithies in the Cardiff goal was forced into several good saves to try and keep some level of respectability to the scoreline.
To a man this was by some distance the best performance of the Russell Martin era with Ben Hamer’s afternoon being very easy after an early sharp save kept the scoreline blank. A back three of Bennett, Manning and Naughton gave Moore nothing all afternoon and the Welsh striker looked a dejected figure as he chased the traditional Cardiff hoof to no effect for most of the afternoon.
Bidwell and Laird were continual outlets for the Swans and a midfield of Downes, Smith and Grimes made life look very easy and gave Paterson and Piroe the freedom that they needed and the freedom that they capitalised on.
By the time the final whistle came the party had long since started in the home ends of the ground and the away fans were as quiet as they had been for most of the game – the occasional “We are your capital” seemed pointless given the fact the Swans were tearing their team apart on the pitch.
As the Swans celebrated on the pitch Cardiff City disappeared down the tunnel on the back of another sub standard performance and as Manning, Laird and – most comically – Martin enjoyed the Swim Away celebrations the anger for those who weren’t licking their wounds on the buses was clear for everyone to see.
And so for the third season running the Swans take the bragging rights on the first derby of the season and a fifth clean sheet in the last six meetings between the two sides is showing a domination that is very enjoyable as a Swansea City fan.
A clear man of the match today for me in Jamie Paterson but his was just the brightest shine in a team full of stars today and a team that rightfully can spend a few hours basking in the glory of a comprehensive victory before we start thinking about West Brom on Wednesday.
One team in Wales? Indeed there is.
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