Swansea 0 Bournemouth 3

The match started with the Swans looking the better of two extremely average sides. It also looked (briefly) as if it could turn out to be a reasonably entertaining game, with both sides trying to play it to feet despite the dreadful state of the pitch.

And that after Alan Curtis’ astounding statement in the press yesterday that it was “time to ditch the pretty stuff.” Pretty stuff? I must have missed that game.

The starting line up was familiar and therefore worrying – the midfield remains a mess. Romo, Cusack, Lacey and Fabiano all started and while a four man midfield meant a welcome return to the two-striker approach, playing three central midfielders and a wide man meant for a blatantly unbalanced look to the team.

No real chances in the first 30 minutes with Nicolas Fabiano causing the only problems for the Cherries. Early on, a cross by the Frenchman was easily cut out after a fine through ball by Cusack and a second, far better cross some 10 minutes later on the opposite flank saw Savarese just fail to convert what would prove to be a rare chance.

The Venezuelan had a tough afternoon, partly because of a non-existent midfield, but mainly because of some dreadful refereeing. The man in green seemed to wage a personal vendetta against Savarese, blowing up for a foul whenever the ball got to within 3 feet of him. The decent work put in early on was soon gone to waste as Bournemouth snatched the lead.

The danger seemed to have passed after Roger Freestone made a good save low to his left from a Jermaine Defoe shot. Unfortunately, the resulting corner saw a trademark soft goal conceded by the Swansea defence as Fayter gave the visitors the lead with a gentle header into the bottom corner.

Ten minutes to go until half time and few on the terraces would have held up much hope of Swansea coming back to get the win that they desperately needed. Those hopefuls that remained were soon put out of there optimism when, just four minutes into the second half, Elliot was completely unmarked on the right and he comfortably beat Bound and Freestone from 15 yards. And that was it.

Hollins replaced Verschave with Roberts immediately after and Coates was brought on in place of the dissappointing David Romo some 10 minutes later. The Cherries sat on their lead and the home side never really looked like threatening it, Watkin replaced Lacey with a quarter of an hour remaining and brought the first save out of the Bournemouth ‘keeper – 83 minutes on the clock and the first shot on target.

All that was left was for Bournemouth to add a deserved third, Freestone saved brilliantly from a superb Defoe shot on the edge of the box, he then got up to save the rebound only to see the third attempt float past him into the net. With twenty minutes left, people started leaving.

A few minutes later, a slow hand clap was initiated in the East Stand and spread like wildfire across the North Bank, followed by the predictable shouts of “you don’t know what you’re doing”. They were wholly justified, this was a dreadful performance by a side that lacked shape, pace, skill and commitment.

The lack of penetration up front was partly down to the strikers but largely the result of a weak and disorganised midfield and once again poor defending meant goals were easy pickings for the visitors.

As I left the Vetch this evening, the Lightning Seeds rang out around the ground:

“The world is full of fools, who never get it right, You don’t know what to do, so you do anything you like.”

Enough said.

Player Ratings:

Freestone 7 – Could do little about the goals, especially the third which he saved twice before it eventually went in. Price 6 – Struggled out of position, why am I wasting my time writing this, just look at any other game this season. Howard 5 – Lost his marker completely for the crucial second goal, not a good game generally. Bound 7 – Will be annoyed that he was beaten hands down by Elliot for the second goal, otherwise he looked more like the old Bound, getting in the way of the opposition at crucial times. O’Leary 6 – Not composed enough and certainly not controlled enough in his delivery. Romo 5 – Very poor, he was almost non-existant for the first 30 minutes and didn’t link well with those around him all afternoon. The right player to pick in wet, muddy conditions? Lacey 5 – Another one who may as well have been sat on the bench as far as his contribution to the game was concerned. Made a couple of useful passes but if you’re playing in central midfield, that is nowhere near enough over 90 minutes. Cusack 6 – Actually appeared quite good, but everything’s relative. The only one with any presence in the middle of the park, but there were still wide open spaces for most of the time. Fabiano 7 – Probably Man of the Match, looked dangerous early on and put in more effort than any other player on the pitch (in a white shirt). Showed good touch and had the common sense to move out of position when he wasn’t seeing enough of the ball. Has the makings of a good player, we won’t be seeing HIM at the Vetch next season then. Verschave 6 – Didn’t see much of the ball but, like Fabiano, at least he harried the opposition by chasing down the odd loose pass. He was promptly substituted. Savarese 6 – As mentioned, he was whistled out of the game by the ref and as a result had very few chances on goal.

Subs: Roberts (on for Verschave 49mins) 6 – Given the unenviable task of chasing a lost cause when brought on after the second goal. Didn’t do too much but was given little chance. Coates (on for Romo 60mins) 6 – Didn’t really get involved that much, except the odd misplaced pass. Watkin (on for Lacey 75mins) – The proud supplier of the only shot on target for the Swans. By the time he took the field though, everybody was ready to go home.