After the great result against Macclesfield on Friday, it was the second half of the Easter weekend football at Cheltenham. A crowd of 4,669 was boosted by an official following of 1,550 but others were let in after 20mins adding to the rumoured extra in the home stands. The Swans lined up Gueret Gurney, Iriekpen, Monk and Austin O'Leary, Martinez and Robinson Trundle, Thorpe and Connor Subs Britton, Bean, McLeod, Anderson and Murphy
A glorious start in the sun saw the Swans take the lead after 2 mins. The Swans started the brighter putting Cheltenham under early pressure with a couple of attempts on goal. The goal itself came from a run down the right by Robinson, who had to chances to put the ball over, the first being blocked, the second a chip to the far post finding Thorpe who put in a header passed Higgs. It really was the start we needed to calm our nerves. The game was a furious open affair with both teams looking to attack at every opportunity. On 10mins there was a clash between Thorpe and Taylor, and it looked as if Thorpe stood on Taylor as he tried to break clear. If it was against us we would have been calling for a stamp and a red card. Luckily the officials didn't see it but both players squared up a minute later, again no action from the ref. Things were getting a bit heated and the next few minutes saw a few wild challenges, until the game settled down. The Swans nearly doubled the lead as Thorpe went down the left and squared to Trundle who in turn passed to Connor who shot over. We weren't getting it all our own way as Cheltenham put us under pressure without any clear danger for Gueret. We were holding the lead and looking strong but a major mistake by Martinez gifted Cheltenham the equaliser. | CHELTENHAM | | Higgs | | Duff | | Gill | | Victory | | Bird | | Finnigan | | McCann | | Morgan | | Taylor | | Devaney | | Guinan | SWANSEA | | Gueret | | Austin | | Gurney | | Iriekpen | | Monk | | Martinez | | O'Leary | | Connor | | Robinson | | Thorpe | | Trundle | REFEREE | | S Tanner | ATTENDANCE | | 4,669 |
An under hit pass from Martinez who was caught in possession saw Devaney break from the halfway line scoring on a one on one against Gueret. At this point the Cheltenham midfield of 5 were over running our three and for a period we were losing midfield, although both teams only managed half chances before half time.
Goals | The second half saw us play a longer ball to the front three instead of playing through midfield. It was time for a change as we were struggling in midfield and Connor was replaced by McLeod as we reverted to 4-4-2. As we reorganised Cheltenham nearly took the lead as Guinan lobbed the ball over Gueret only to see Austin clear off the line. A real shock which woke the Swans up as we upped the tempo of the game. Just as we were getting the upper hand Martinez again made a mistake on the half way line and this time a carbon copy of their first goal saw Wilson break from the half way line. With all Swans fans expecting the second goal Kris O'Leary who had given chase, pulled off a last second tackle. (Brilliant timing). Immediately Martinez was replaced by Bean. Again the play became more 50/50 but with Robinson being replaced by Britton the Swans started to get more possession and as the game moved into the last quarter the Swans came stronger. A Swans attack seemed to have come to nothing when Trundle turned on a loose ball and set in a shot that was only partly saved by Higgs to find Britton on hand to HEAD in from 2 yards out. 1550+ fans exploded as the three points looked to have been won. | | Cheltenham | | Devaney 26 | | Swansea | | Thorpe 3 | | Britton 82 | | Card Count | | Booked | | Cheltenham | | None | | Swansea | | O'Leary 8 | | Martinez 23 | | Connor 36 | | Austin 83 | | Sent Off | | Cheltenham | | McCann 90 | | Swansea | | None | | Match Pictures | | CLICK HERE |
A few minor scares but we saw out the last minutes comfortably with both Trundle and McLeod taking the ball into the corners on many occasions. This was too much for McCann who lashed out at Trundle and received a straight red.
Player Comments Gueret - Good overall game and had no chance with the goal. Gurney - Solid game but struggled a couple of times against pace. Iriekpen - Battled well, a couple of sliced clearances Monk - Solid, hardly a foot or head wrong all game. Austin - Again solid, but as with Gurney caught a couple of times against pace. O'Leary - The pick of the midfield who struggled against 5 in the first half. How he got back to make a match winning tackle in the second half, who knows but a massive thanks Martinez - Both sides of Martinez today. Prompting the team but two major mistakes. Robinson - Much quieter than against Macclesfield and didn't really get going. Trundle - Better than some of his away games, but not up to his Vetch performances. Always a potential danger. Thorpe - Hardly missed a header all day. Lucky to still be on after 10mins. Connor - Plenty of running but the ball didn't run kindly today. McLeod - Gave us options when he came on. His pace seemed to worry them Bean - Got involved without dominating. Britton - 15mins of true commitment and took his goal well. Three precious points, which keeps our hopes alive. The first half saw an inept referee giving us very little. The second half saw him just as inept but at least we got a few decisions coming our way. A dream start which saw us comfortable until we gave a goal away. Cheltenham weren't a bad team but were knocked out of their stride so early on. Let's hope we can build on this. On paper only Lincoln away should cause us any major problems as long as we do what we are capable of. A team performance, but MoM must go to Kris O'Leary for that tackle And not least apart from the early worrying stages of the second half great support from the fans
CLICK HERE FOR MATCH PICTURES
REPORT: CLIVE, GARETH AND DAVID HUGHES
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