Twelve months ago we were on the eve of the hottest day in history and Swansea simply sizzled in the summer sun. Today was one of the warmest days of the year so far but it was more of a damp squid for the Swans as title favourites Northampton walked away with all three points leaving the Swans blank on the opening day.
The last time the Swans lost a fixture on the opening day was against York in 1999 and every optimist amongst the 9,000 plus crowd at the Vetch this afternoon will tell you that we ended the season as champions. This side will have to come a long way to match that feat based on the ninety minutes this afternoon although for periods they were a side on top without ever threatening much.
As the final season at the Vetch dawned, Kenny Jackett got the chance to select his first real side based around players that he wanted at the club. Willy Gueret was preferred to Brian Murphy in goals whilst, as widely expected Kris O'Leary took his place in central midfield alongside captain Roberto Martinez.
With full league Swans debuts for Gueret, Monk, Ricketts and Forbes it was a largely different Swans side to that which finished last season with a 0-0 draw.
However, within three minutes of the start, it looked like a Swansea side that would be set with the same problems that befell their predecessors with two defensive mistakes, one of them punished.
First up was Alan Tate who mis judged a bouncing ball and a sharp shot from the edge of the area was well palmed away for a corner by a diving Gueret. But within 90 seconds a second mistake, this time from Jones, was not to prove as lucky for the Swans as Northampton scored their opening goal of the season.
Jones never put enough power on his header back to Gueret and as the ball bounced in the middle it was McGleish who struck it home to silence the home crowd.
Swansea could, and should, have been level after eight minutes when Connor was sent through by a neat pass from midfield. As he cleared the last defender and ran into the area he was clipped from behind but amazingly the referee, who failed to keep up with play all afternoon, waved play on and subsequently booked Connor, presumable for dissent against the decision. | SWANSEA | | Gueret | | Monk | | Ricketts | | Tate | | Britton | | Jones | | Martinez | | O'Leary | | Connor | | Forbes | | Robinson | NORTHAMPTON | | Harper | | Chambers | | Murray | | Willmott | | Cozic | | Galbraith | | Low | | Richards | | Rowson | | McGleish | | Smith | REFEREE | | M Fletcher | ATTENDANCE | | 9,578 |
Swansea rightly so felt cheated by the decision and a for a while disputed every decision that went against them. Robinson was booked after 20 minutes for a late challenge in front of the family stand and as he walked away from receiving his caution squared up to Cobblers assistant boss John Deehan, a situation soon cooled down by the fourth official.
Swansea though, to their credit, came back into the game after that incident and Kris O'Leary had two chances, one powerful shot palmed away by Harper in the Northampton goal. Swansea were slowly taking charge and Robinson was the next to be denied by Harper after a dummy in the Northampton area gave him the space to hit a sharp shot at goal.
| Tate Challenges For The Ball From A Corner |
Swansea were on top as the game neared the halfway mark and Alan Tate saw his glanced header from a corner cleared off the line and it was starting to look as if the equaliser was coming. Gueret though was adjudged to have handled outside his area on the stroke of half time and then got needlessly booked for arguing the decision as his wall did their job of deflecting the ball for a corner.
Half time came and went and there were no changes by the Swans as they looked to build on the useful work of the first half early in the second. It simply didn't happen as Northampton were prepared to sit back and soak up anything Swansea could throw at them and hopefully hit back on the counter attack with a strike force that included the ever dangerous looking Josh Low.
| Sabin takes on Stuart Jones |
Dennis Oli was added to the list of debutants when he was sent on to replace Adrian Forbes in attack and he soon made his presence felt by running down the Northampton defenders with more joy than that experienced by Forbes.
Maylett was sent on with 15 minutes to go to replace the ineffective Martinez adding some more shape to a midfield which looked lost when it contained what are, in effect, four central midfield players.
By this time though it did appear that Swansea had run out of ideas and it was Northampton doing all the running as they sent on the lively Sabin for former Swan Marc Richards.
Goals | Several chances went begging at the Swansea end of things before Northampton sealed their victory with just eight minutes to go.
A cross from the right was headed into his own net by Sam Ricketts, under pressure from Sabin, and the three points had eluded the Swans despite their efforts on the afternoon.
There was still time for the referee to add to his collection of strange decisions for the afternoon but at the end of it Swansea were beaten by a well organised side, who over the next nine months may well justify their tag as pre-season favourites.
In spite of the best efforts of the day, it was a disappointing start to the season and a complete contrast to that day twelve months ago when Brad Maylett notched a hat-trick as Bury were beaten 4-2 at the Vetch.
A few thoughts from the performance today would show what I classed as good performances from both Garry Monk, who looked the far more experienced of the central defenders and O'Leary who settled well into the midfield. | | Swansea | | None | | Northampton | | McGleish (3) | | Ricketts (og) 82 | | Card Count | | Booked | | Swansea | | Connor 8 | | Robinson 20 | | Gueret 45 | | Northampton | | Galbraith 41 | | Willmott 49 | | Sent Off | | Swansea | | None | | Northampton | | None | | Match Pictures | | CLICK HERE |
Connor ran plenty up front but created little as he found himself drifting as our wide players moved into the central midfield roles to which they are more accustomed. Poor performances for me came from Stuart Jones who never looked comfortable from the off and also Martinez who just does not seem to get back to the performances that we were seeing just 18 months ago.
Gueret in goal had a decent enough game with some good distribution but not enough there at the moment to fill you with complete confidence that we have the right man for the job.
Not what we wanted to see at the start but plenty to think about ahead of the next game.
Click Here For Match Pictures |