Oldham 1 Swansea 0

Swansea's stuttering start to the season took a turn for the worse as they were sent crashing to their second defeat in seven days and ended the first three games with just a solitary point on the board.

These are worrying times for the Swans as not so much a play off hangover but a hangover from last Christmas still hangs over them and they seem to be losing games without ever really competing in them. Another abject display at Oldham was worsened by a penalty miss by Lee Trundle which would have given us a point we probably didn't deserve.

The first surprise of the afternoon was sprung by Kenny Jackett when he decided that a change of formation was forced on him and he lined up with Williams and Amankwaah as full backs. Nothing strange so far until we lined up with Rory Fallon part of a three man central pairing with Darren Pratley and Leon Britton leaving Knight and LT10 to lead the line.

Big Willy

KOL Izzy Austin

Amankwaah Big Leon Pratley Rory Williams

Little Leon LT10

Bench: Oakes, Watt, Bayo, Macca, Butler

I struggled to get my head around the Fallon midfield chance especially when we had a player Jackett normally plays in midfield (KOL) at the back with a defender on the bench but also two midfielders on the bench in Butler and Macca - both of whom I would have said we sorely missed with a complete lack of width in our side but more of that later on.

The first half was very much Oldham's affair without them hugely threatening our goal. They could see the inadequacies and shortfalls in our side and worked hard to exploit them. O'Leary was having a torrid time and all too often gave the ball away needlessly whilst Austin was left exposed on too many occasions by the absent Williams who seemed slow to track back in his wing back role. On the other flank Amankwaah had the opposite problem in not getting forward quickly enough slowing down any progress we may have been able to make. Fallon to his credit was doing all he could but a midfield player he ain't and with a lack of decent service neither Knight or Trundle could do anything when they did have the ball. In fairness Trundle was denied what could have been a penalty and did hit the bar but again it was an all too familar of late performance from the man we tend to look to for inspiration. But again that all comes back to most strikers are only as good as the service you can give them and service is not something we are overly good at at this moment in time.

Austin at the back was learning from his midweek howler and had a game plan that consisted of Row Z and to be fair he used it to great effect but it never took the pressure off the defence. Oldham's best first half chance came from a deflected shot which came off KOL and thankfully onto the angle of post and bar. Half time and a scoreless game maybe should have seen us revert to a wide game with the sacrifice you would assume of either Knight or LT10.

Wrong.

Same line up for the start of the second half saw a similar pattern. No real shape to the Swans and no real attacking threat although Knight did come close a couple of times and probably once took a header that had we had communication Fallon may well have buried. Not to be and the moment we potentially could have seen coming came halfway through the second half. Simon Charlton crossed the ball from our right and at the back post it found what seemed to be an unmarked Molango and he headed it into the roof of the net for Oldham's first strike this season.

A goal down and the change was almost immediate. Williams and Knight were hauled off for Butler and Macca with the formation changing to 4-4-2. Macca hugged his wide left touchline whilst Butler continually tried to be inside the wide right position meaning that we seemed to lose width. However what we lost there we gained a little with Amankwaah as Oldham seemed to follow Butler in. And it was Butler that won us what seemed like a rather fortunate penalty after he was bundled over in the Oldham area. The ref looked at the linesman and a nod of the head was enough to send the Swans fans into celebrations as whistle came to mouth and the penalty was given much to Oldham's dismay.

Dismay turned to joy as the on loan Howarth saved the kick from LT10 and that in effect was that. Some effort but no application saw time played out and Oldham picking up their first points of the season but the Swans still scratching around for their first win.

Another disappointment and whilst we may have fancied six points plus from the first three games it hasn't happened and now we are in danger of being suckered into a Bristol City position for last season. Things have to turn around and quickly to prevent that happening. Worrying times at the Liberty.

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