Town suffered their second heavy defeat of the Easter period as Swansea ran out comfortable 4-1 winners at the Liberty Stadium. Fabio Borini put the home side in front on nine, Luke Moore adding the second before Colin Healy pulled one back for the Blues. Borini netted his second before the break and Scott Sinclair completed the scoring with a second half penalty.
Town were without Jimmy Bullard (shoulder) and Connor Wickham (ribs) with Colin Healy and Andy Drury taking over in the Blues usual 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation. Recalled loanee Ronan Murray was on the bench along with Mark Kennedy, who was back from his hamstring injury.
One-time Cardiff keeper Arran Lee-Barrett kept his place in goal despite conceding five against Norwich City on Thursday. Tamás Priskin, on loan with Swansea from Town, was unavailable under the terms of his move and in any case has a knee injury.
Healy, in Bullard’s usual central midfield berth although perhaps sitting a little deeper, almost played former Swan Scotland in on goal with a clever through ball early on, but the striker’s touch under pressure took the ball away from goal.
Town were starting the game brightly and in the fifth minute Grant Leadbitter hit a shot which Dorus De Vries stopped but couldn’t hold down to his left. Scotland got to the rebound first and from a tight angle won a corner. After the ball had been cleared from the flag-kick, Leadbitter struck another shot but this time only tested the ballboys.
Lee-Barrett was into the action in the sixth minute when David Norris’s tackle midway inside the Blues half sent the ball in his direction, the Blues keeper coming off his line quickly to claim ahead of Luke Moore.
Despite Town’s decent start, the Swans went ahead in the ninth minute. A neat move ended with Fabio Borini being played in on the right of the box by Stephen Dobbie and the on-loan Chelsea man lashed a low shot across Lee-Barrett and into the net.
Six minutes later, it was two. The Blues failed to clear their lines following a Swansea attack and Moore was given time and space to hit a shot which wrong-footed Lee-Barrett, perhaps catching a defender on the way through.
Town pulled a goal back in the 20th minute via Colin Healy. Darren O’Dea, who was being booed by the home fans for an earlier clash with Nathan Dyer, sent in a long throw from the left, Gareth McAuley flicked it on to Scotland, who laid it back to Healy and the Irishman slammed his second goal of the season into the roof of the net.
Dobbie shot wide for the Swans on 25, then four minutes later the home side restored their two-goal advantage. The Swans passed the ball around slickly before Dyer played in Moore on the left of the box. Lee-Barrett saved but the ball squirmed under him before being bundled over the line by Borini to make it 3-1.
Dyer, who moments earlier had been lucky to avoid a yellow card for a challenge on O’Dea, shot into the sidenetting in the 38th minute. Soon after, Damien Delaney got his name in referee Jame Linington’s book for a foul on Moore which was no worse than Dyer’s.
The home side were by now keeping hold of the ball comfortably with the Blues merely chasing them around the Liberty Stadium pitch.
Dyer finally got his name in the book for another late challenge on O’Dea in the 45th minute, the pair having continued an ongoing spat with the home crowd’s booing of the Town defending increasing in volume as the half had worn on.
The Swans deserved their lead at the whistle. Town had had the better of the early minutes but Borini’s goal was the game’s first serious chance and was quickly followed by Moore’s rather more speculative second.
Town hit back via Healy’s goal from a set piece but in the main Swansea had been well on top, keeping the ball comfortably, before probing and eventually finding a way through the Blues’ defence. Borini’s second goal hardly flattered Brendan Rodgers’s side.
Both sides made a change at the break, O’Dea, who had been given a hard time by Dyer and may also have picked up an injury when he was fouled by the former Southampton man, was replaced by Mark Kennedy at left-back. For Swansea, Scott Sinclair took over from two-goal striker Borini.
The half had seen a couple more attacks and little more before a further Town change, Gareth McAuley, who appeared to have a groin problem, making way for Troy Brown. Soon after, Moore hit a low shot from the left into the sidenetting.
Swansea were continuing to have most of the ball and on 59 Moore curled a shot wide having been played in behind the Town defence. Moments later, Luciano Civelli replaced Andy Drury, who like the rest of the Blues midfield had had a quiet game.
The Swans added their fourth from the penalty spot in the 71st minute after Kennedy had brought down Leon Britton at the second attempt, the midfielder having seized on a poor clearance by Delaney. There was no argument about the decision and Sinclair easily beat Lee-Barrett.
On 74 Lee-Barrett saved from Dyer with the Welshmen continuing to look much the more threatening side, their keeper De Vries having been a virtual spectator for most of the second period.
Williams headed over from a corner on 77 but after that the chances dried up. On 84 Norris was booked for a foul on Sinclair in the centre circle.
In injury time, Swansea sub Craig Beattie was denied his usual goal against Town when his shot from 25 yards deflected over. In the closing moments Joe Allen went wide.
Paul Jewell’s men can have no complaints about the scoreline, the Swans having controlled the game for all but the first few minutes. The Jimmy Bullard-less Town midfield had no answer to their opposition counterparts who kept the ball confidently and regularly carved out openings.
The Blues weren’t helped by more errors at the back, while at the other end of the field, Healy’s goal aside, Town were once again toothless in front of goal.
Jewell will hope that his side can show some bouncebackability — or perhaps more accurately trouncebackability — when Preston are at Portman Road on Saturday in order to restore some pride after Easter’s two convincing defeats.
Town: Arran Lee-Barrett, Darren O'Dea (Mark Kennedy 46), Carlos Edwards, Gareth McAuley (Troy Brown 51), Damien Delaney, Colin Healy, Grant Leadbitter, David Norris, Andy Drury (Luciano Civelli 59), Josh Carson, Jason Scotland. Unused: Jaime Peters, Luke Hyam, Márton Fülöp, Ronan Murray.
Swansea City: Dorus de Vries, Angel Rangel, Neil Taylor, Ashley Williams, Garry Monk, Joe Allen, Leon Britton, Stephen Dobbie (Andrea Orlandi 72), Luke Moore, Nathan Dyer (Craig Beattie 79), Fabio Borini (Scott Sinclair 46). Unused: Yves Ma-Kalambay, Alan Tate, Darren Pratley, Albert Serran. Referee: James Linington (Newport IoW). Att: 16,001.
Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk