Wycombe 0 Swansea 1
Robbo Goal Enough For Swans
My excitement at the prospect of seeing the Swans for the first time this season was fuelled by that of my 10 year old daughter Megan's first ever live match. This was her treat after fracturing her elbow last Sunday (that should bring a smile to St Athan!!!).
On arrival we took our seats in the Family Stand which was situated at the front of the Main Stand. We looked across the pitch along the by-line immediately in front of the Swans fans. There were at least 700 away fans who were making all the noise in a crowd of 5247.
After kick off we quickly slipped into a 4 - 5 -1 formation with Connor playing on his own up front with Robbo tucked in just behind. The midfield comprised of Forbes, Britton, Martinez and O'Leary.
The defence was Ricketts on the left, Monk and Austin in the centre with Gurney on the right.
The early play was dominated by the away side and it was clear that Wycombe were becoming frustrated by the fact that Forbes was upended on three occasions within the first ten minutes. None of these brought a yellow card from the ref.
On 14 minutes we were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Gurney hit a screamer from 22 yards which the keeper fumbled. Connor and Robinson were quickest to the ball with Robbo getting the final touch. One end of the ground exploded we were one up.
Wycombe huffed and puffed but failed to get a shot on target. In fact most of their chances were at least 5 feet wide of the goal.
On 45 mins it was half time and we were deservedly in front and our defence was making the Wycombe strikers look like dummies. | WYCOMBE | | Talia | | Comyn-Platt | | Easton | | Johnson | | Nethercott | | Senda | | Silk | | Ryan | | Birchall | | Savage | | Tyson | Swansea | | Gueret | | Austin | | Gurney | | Monk | | Ricketts | | Britton | | Martinez | | O'Leary | | Connor | | Forbes | | Robinson | REFEREE | | P Walton | ATTENDANCE | | 5247 |
The second half kicked off and it was very much carry on the good work. After about 10 minutes we went through a period that I can only describe as an "England" moment. Our defence was sound but we only succeeded in giving possession back to the Blues. Connor was then replaced by Nugent and looked to have taken a knock.
On 66 minutes Ricketts gave away a free kick on our left side. Within moments Wycombe came the closest to scoring that they did all afternoon. Gurney headed a cross onto his own bar whilst trying to clear. The rest of the game petered out with Wycombe clearly frustrated by our team effort.
Goals | To sum up our TEAM performance was awesome. The defence in particular stood out and I find it difficult to believe that it will be breached much this season on today's performance. If I was forced to pick a MoM it would have to be Ricketts who had Senda in his pocket all afternoon. In the latter stages Tyson was forced to drop deep and out to our left to collect the ball. Again Ricketts kept him quiet.
At the full time whistle the players and KJ came over to the away end and applauded what was amazing support.
As we walked away from the ground Megan said that she was amazed that the Swansea fans made so much more noise than the home fans. I told her that this was always the case | | Wycombe | | None | | Swansea | | Robinson 16 | | Card Count | | Booked | | Wycombe | | None | | Swansea | | Ricketts 66 | | Sent Off | | Wycombe | | None | | Swansea | | None | | Match Pictures | | . |
Every person who attended should be proud of themselves. She particularly thought it was funny that the away fans shouted "Cheerio" to the rapidly dwindling home fans after 80 minutes.
We now have one new fan who has already asked for a replica shirt and when she can go to her next match!!! |
| What are your thoughts? Click Here To Share Them | NEXT UP FOR THE SWANS | | RUSHDEN (HOME) | | SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 25 2004 |
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