Rob Davies
Swansea City signed off for the summer in energetic fashion thanks to Joel Piroe’s clinical injury time free kick after trailing twice to play-off hopefuls West Bromwich Albion.
In a packed out Swansea.com Stadium the visitors took the lead in calamitous circumstances as Okay Yukuslu slotted home after the defence failed to heed previous warnings when overplaying at the back.
Wolves loanee Luke Cundle levelled after some clever interplay on the edge of the box from Piroe before Semi Ajayi slammed into the roof of the net after a Baggies’ corner kick.
In much the same circumstances as the reverse fixture, Olivier Ntcham levelled after shrugging off his marker just outside the box to set up Piroe’s last gap free kick.
It was a fitting end to the Swans’ season extending the good run of form which has produced seven wins and two draws from the last nine games even though any chance of the top six was ended last Saturday at Hull City.
Russell Martin kept faith with the same eleven that drew 1-1 in East Yorkshire with several players likely to be playing for the last time in the black and white of Swansea. Namely, Luke Cundle, Ryan Manning, Joel Latibeaudiere and maybe Joel Piroe.
(4-2-3-1)
Fisher
Latibeaudiere – Wood – Cabango – Manning
Ntcham – Grimes
Cullen – Cundle – Paterson
Piroe
The opening stages were reasonably relaxed despite Albion knowing that a win could mean 6th place come 5pm although that would require Millwall to lose and Sunderland not to win (unless a barrage of goals were scored by the Baggies).
The direction from the busy Carlos Coberan on the touchline was for his team to press high and it was this instruction that led to the opening goal. The goal however didn’t come without warning for the Swans…
Laboured passing at the back is never the best idea and evenmoreso against a high press and despite nearly losing the ball during one of the usual goal kick routines, it happened again with Ryan Manning’s poor ball allowing a clear run into the area from Thomas-Asante.
He passed it to the onrushing Yukuslu who finished calmly into the bottom corner to send the healthy away following into raptures. The noise increased when news filtered through that Blackburn had equalised at the Den to push WBA into 6th place as it stood.
But the large proportion of the North Stand fell quiet as clever interplay between Piroe and Cundle saw the latter sent clear in the area before finishing clinically past the keeper. You could see what it meant against his parent club’s arch rivals.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Cundle return next campaign as whilst he hasn’t been outstanding, he has been a good option to call upon and at 21 still has plenty of time to develop. We could do far worse.
The only other opportunity of note in the first half saw Thomas-Asante mis-kick when a presentable cross was flashed across the far post.
Half time came and went without any changes but it didn’t take long for things to change again on the pitch as a corner wasn’t dealt with by the Swans’ backline allowing some pinball around the six yard box.
The ball eventually fell to Ajayi and his fierce strike gave Fisher no chance and the away fans’ were celebrating once again especially in light of Blackburn pulling back a goal to make it 3-2 against Millwall.
Just before that, Piroe should have made it 2-1 but clipped his shot wide from close range and Paterson’s curler whistled just past the far post possibly with the aid of the woodwork.
But in what was turning out to be a breathless second half, Swansea were level as Manning seized on a loose ball in the West Brom half and found Ntcham who turned and finished sharply to make it 2-2.
It seemed then that the wind had gone out of the sails of Corberan’s men and with the Swans knowing there was little that would change the league table this afternoon it seemed for all that it was an opportunity for Kyle Naughton to make what could be his final appearance for the club.
Not if you ask Joel Piroe. Free-kick in injury time just about central 25 yards from goal. And thanks to some clever play by Latibeaudiere (foul?) a gap appeared in the wall which allowed a crisp left footed strike to nestle into the bottom corner.
It meant no movement in league position but felt like much more in the Swansea.com Stadium after plenty of missed points in injury time this season. And as we did at the Hawthorns, we came back to win 3-2.
A full analysis of the season will no doubt follow in the coming days but to summarise, a reasonable start, horrible middle and excellent end. A bit like a three course meal at Harvester, could have been better with the right ingredients?
Not the best analogy but I’m sure you get my drift.
Will we have those ingredients after the summer? One can only hope. I think it’s fair that the manager is allowed another push after recent weeks but we simply can’t afford a run like we endured in the 23 game run of just 3 wins.
Have a great summer and thanks once again for reading.
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