Another View Of The Blackpool Defeat
An Alternative View Of The Blackpool Defeat |
Why not visit our sponsors lounge And so the final game of the season arrived with everything still to play for both Swansea and the away side, Blackpool. It always seems to happen to use doesn't it? Last year, we clinched a play off spot on the last day away to Chesterfield. And the year before that we clinched the championship away to Bury on the last game of the season. And not forgetting the home game against Hull in 2003 where we saved ourselves from relegation. I could go on and on………… On arriving at the ground, I was greeted by a wall of noise from inside the stadium which I knew could only be the heartening sound of 18,000 Swans supporters. The stadium was decked out in black and white flags, banners, scarves and even the resident giant shirt sitting on the South Stand! The fire that burns in every Swans supporter's heart came out in a deafening roar as the team closed into a huddle before the game. The memories of the '04 season came back to me today as I watched the players gather together in the centre of the pitch. That show of team spirit has seemed a little pointless to me for a couple of years now but there was a real battle to be fought on the football pitch today and both the fans and players knew it. Suddenly the huddle meant something again and the fans roared their support to the 11 men who could make or break their dreams. Not much was probably said but not much needed to be said. Encouraged by the vociferous support cheering their every pass in the opening exchanges, the Swans started brightly, displaying the pass and move style of football that has long been absent from their play for years under former boss Kenny Jackett. But even though the new manager has only been at the club for a matter of weeks, this is definitely Roberto's team and the Swans looked flexible, lively and pacy as they tested the Tangerines defence in the first 10 minutes. The early pressure was made to tell on 13 minutes as a trademark Trundle cross from the edge of the box found Izzy to power home a header. The ground erupted in a swell of relief and happiness as Tate's midweek cry for goals, goals and more goals seemed to be playing out in the game itself. Then the villain of the afternoon, Andy Morrell, popped up on the edge of the box to lift the ball over Willy Gueret's head. As the Blackpool players celebrated the equalizer on the pitch, sitting in the stadium with 18,000 cheering home supporters instantly transformed into a lone seat in the middle of a graveyard. Keigan Parker smashed home another as the faint dream of a play off place slipped even farther from the team's grasp. For the rest of the half, the Swans battled bravely to burst through the Blackpool defence but the opposition were as organized as they were skilful and held out for half time. Further evidence of Roberto's motivational skills came at the start of the second half as the Swans burst out of the starting blocks. The change to a 3-5-2 formation instantly paid dividends for the Swans as Trundle controlled the ball on his chest, swiveled around and arrowed a shot past the helpless 'Pool goalkeeper. It could, and maybe, should have been two quick goals in succession as Trundle was brought down in the box. But a one man show it was not as his spot kick only found the outside of the post. But Blackpool only stayed level with the home side for a few more minutes as Izzy grabbed his second of the game. The Swans were back in the lead and the incredulous fans around me once again started to believe that the impossible was indeed possible on the fine, sunny day. Whereas we expected the former Wrexham striker, Lee Trundle, to lead the siege for the Blackpool goal from now on, it was his former strike partner, Andy Morrell, who capitalized on the afternoon's topsy turvy game to net his hat-trick. With the scoreline now 4-3 to Blackpool and news filtering through that Oldham were 1-0 up in their respective game, the season was pretty much at an end for the team in black and white. The players knew it, the management knew it and the fans knew it but all were still fighting for the upper hand in one of the most unpredictable games ever at the Liberty. As it turned out, Blackpool grabbed two more goals in the last 20 minutes to seal the victory but the result and the consequences of it surprisingly didn't set a heavy gloom on the home supporters. Many seemed happy enough that they'd seen the team give their best but get beaten at the end by the best away team to visit Swansea this season. But I had a sense of deja vu about clapping the Blackpool team off today after the game. It brought back memories of last season when we did exactly the same thing to Southend. They were celebrating promotion at our ground, on our pitch, in much the same fashion as Blackpool were in getting to the playoffs. Now it was heartening to see that many Swans fans were big enough to clap the opposition's achievements through the match and over the course of the season but how many more times? The well worn cliché of 'there's always next year' rang around the foyer as I walked out of the stadium. But it just made me feel (and I know that I'm being selfish) that we should have been up there by now. That's no disrespect to Southend and Blackpool (or indeed to any of the other teams that have gone up in the past two seasons) but that well worn phrase is definitely on its last legs with me now. We need to improve over the summer, particularly in defence, so that thousands of supporters are not left saying the same thing again one year from now. |