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Swansea City 3 Millwall 2 |
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Click Here For Match Pictures The Liberty Stadium is an eerie place to be when there are less than 6000 people there. A travelling support of 43 is tucked away in a dark corner of the North Stand and with nobody behind the South goal then it really is never going to generate an atmosphere no matter how much people want to bang their seats! In truth this was a pretty poor game that only came to life when Roberto introduced Pratley and Scotland on the hour who turned the game in Swansea’s favour after a man of the match performance from Butler and a lively last half hour from Anderson. Up until that point the game had followed one very similar to Saturday with the Swans unable to do much or string a series of passes together and, having led one-nil found themselves two-one down. I also understand why the football league want to bring in a rule where at least 6 of your side should be first team “regulars” but it makes a farce of that rule when you see subs made after ten mins (Amankwaah for Rangel) or the sight of the Millwall keeper being changed after twenty minutes. The same ruling also meant that David Knight was not able to make his debut as the Swans avoided the fine with this starting line up Doris Rangel Monk Lawrence Austin Butler Craney KOL Anderson Bussy Duffy It also seemed a little odd to start with Butler – a left winger – on the right wing and Anderson – a right winger – on the left wing but at the end of the game its certainly impossible to say that it didn’t work. Millwall had the better of the opening exchanges and it was probably against the run of play that Butler made the first goal. Seeing Anderson coming in at the back post he delivered the perfect ball into the net for the on loan Liverpool winger to grab his second of the campaign with a well struck first time shot. The lead lasted less than five minutes as the Swans defensive frailties were exposed once more and May was on hand to hammer home past a helpless De Vries. The rest of the first half petered into a blur as two sides seemingly not interested in the competition struggled to string anything resembling football together although it was Millwall I would have said were the better side during this period but it was marginal. The second half started equally badly and then got worse as Simpson gave Millwall the lead hitting home from a tight angle after finding space – something he had threatened to do all evening. It prompted Roberto into action as he withdrew the disappointing Craney and the more disappointing Bussy and introduced Pratley and Scotland into the fray. And boy did it make a difference. The Swans stepped up a gear with Pratley stamping authority on the midfield and Scotland able to link better with Duffy, Butler and Anderson. The results were almost instant as Butler claimed his second assist of the night with a ball into Scotland which saw the striker grab his 5th goal of the campaign with a nice touch inside before firing home from around 12 yards out. Swansea were now awake and Anderson was in full flow showing a clean pair of heels to his defender on more than one occasion. And it was from one of those runs that he fed Duffy, who had come close on more than one occasion to break his season’s duck, and the striker laid a ball across which Whitbread could only help into his net to give the Swans the lead. This was much more like it and what the home fans had come to see. Swansea were still looking for more without ever being totally comfortable at the back but Millwall were threatening only with long range efforts. O’Hara was harshly sent off as stoppage time was entered for bringing down Anderson thirty yards from goal but the referee deemed it last man and produced a straight red but it was too late to make any impact. The last half hour was much nearer the level of performance that we are looking to see on a regular basis and as the Swans enter a self imposed ten day break, it’s a positive result to take into that. Man of the match was Butler and deservedly so but credit must go to Pratley for his impact on the game when he came on. Wemberlee, Wemberlee, we’re the famous Swansea City and we’re closer to Wemberlee..!! Click Here For Match Pictures What are your thoughts? Share your views on the Message Board |
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