Phil Sumbler
Swansea City produced a battling performance to take all three points against a Norwich side who provided more than a strong challenge against us in SA1 this afternoon.
Ultimately the game was decided by an own goal in the first four minutes of the game but any hopes that the early goal would lead to an easy afternoon for the Swans were wide of the mark as we were pushed right the way through every minute of the game including the eventual seven minutes of stoppage time.
Luke Williams though will have been pleased with the spirit that his side showed throughout the game particularly against a side who are far better than their five point haul from five games suggests but the important part is taking the points and that is exactly what the record books will show that we achieved.
And whilst the performance can be described as battling that was much more a phrase for the second half with the first seeing us playing some very strong football at times with some neat passing and movement the nature of the play.
The September sun shone over the Swansea.com Stadium as the teams took to the pitch with the Swans having Josh Tymon on the bench and an inclusion for Kyle Naughton in a defence that saw Ben Cabango and Harry Darling together once again at the centre of it. Outside of that there were no real surprises in the team selection with Liam Cullen fit once again after returning early from international duty.
The crowd at the stadium was sparse to say the least – marginally over 14,000 was the official attendance but the reality was there were far more empty seats in the stadium than that but those that were there were given something to celebrate early in the game although it came with more than a dollop of luck. Kyle Naughton won the ball on the left hand touchline and found Eom who got the ball into the area but Amankwah Forson was unfortunate enough to deflect the ball into the net pass his static goalkeeper who could do nothing to prevent it.
1-0 up inside four minutes is always good to calm the nerves and it did lead to the Swans playing some neat football although there was always a threat from the visitors with Borja Sainz in particular causing some concern in the Swansea defence. The overall flow of the first half was not helped by a referee who blew up at the softest of touches for both sides and that meant a very stop start first period with both sides having chances to get goals but being denied by good defending and a couple of strong saves from Vigouroux.
From our perspective we were pushing much through on the right hand side but whilst Key and Ronald were combining well the ball into the area was either too high (you have to question the logic of a high ball when Liam Cullen is your target man against two tall defenders) or just evading the Swansea attacker.
With half time come and gone, the second half was where the Swans were called into their battling capabilities with the midfield trio if Franco, Grimes and Cooper all determined to win the ball back as often as possible and credit has to go to all three for large periods of the second half as they won the ball time and time again to break down the Norwich attacks.
As the half went on the Swans were being called on more defensively and we started to find ourselves on the back foot more but with Darling and Cabango clearly intent on keeping a clean sheet for the second time at home, Norwich were frustrated often into panic shots which missed the target.
Luke Williams started to ring the changes with Josh Tymon and Florian Bianchini the first introductions at the expense of Naughton and Eom whilst ten minutes later it was Franco, Cooper and Cullen who made way for Allen, Peart-Harris and Vipotnik. Peart-Harris in particular found himself at the heart of a couple of Swans moves although neither came to anything but it was a refreshing change to bring on a midfielder equally as keen to take the ball forward despite being in the closing stages of the game
The Swans were grateful to Ben Cabango in the closing minutes for a perfectly timed challenge on Borja Sainz that left the attacker in a heap on the floor but the Swans in no danger of conceding a penalty as the result of the challenge. Sainz though was almost gifted a chance as he eventually got himself back to his feet with Ronald’s seventy yard back pass finding him but again the Swans defence was quick to react and clear the danger.
The seven minutes of stoppage time did not pass with seven minutes of composure for the Swans but seven minutes that summed up the nature of the performance and the final whistle saw us celebrate a well deserved three points.
For the Swans now it is a trip next weekend to the East Midlands to face Coventry but we can go there with renewed belief and look to pick up our first road points of the season.
A pleasing afternoon with plenty of positives.
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