Swans Strike Second Pre Season Win
Bridgwater 1 Swansea City 3 |
ADEBAYO AKINFENWA gave a glimpse of things to come, while the class of Adrian Forbes shone through again for Swansea last night. New signing Akinfenwa registered his first goal in a Swans shirt as the League One newcomers warmed up for the visit of Chris Coleman's Fulham on Saturday with another victory over non-league opponents. Forbes continued his glowing form by following up Akinfenwa's 10th-minute effort with another goal and another superb all-round performance that suggests plenty of good things are to come from him next term. Rookie striker Mark Pritchard claimed Swansea's third goal after the interval as Kenny Jackett repeated the practice of fielding an entirely different side in either half. But victory over plucky Bridgwater was not achieved with the same comfort as Saturday's 5-0 thrashing of Merthyr, the Western League side providing a rugged physical challenge. They don't come much more rugged and physical than Akinfenwa, however. As well as opening his Swansea account, the muscular former Barry Town striker showed once more what an all-round nuisance he'll be to League One defences next term. Winger Marc Goodfellow also caught the eye as the Swans limbered up for the somewhat trickier test that will be presented by Fulham - the match that will mark the opening of their new stadium at Morfa. Expect a first-choice line-up for the visit of the Premiership side, but last night several youth team stars were handed chances. One of whom, 17-year-old Nat Pepperell, was snapped up by the Swans last season from Bridgwater, this trip to Somerset arranged as part of the deal that took the youngster to the Vetch. Jackett's starting XI wasn't too far off what you might imagine would be his first-choice League One line-up, containing as it did three regular members of last season's defence - Iriekpen, Kevin Austin and Sam Ricketts - and 2004-05 stalwarts like Forbes and Kris O'Leary. Lee Trundle was missing because of a muscle strain picked up in training. The second-half XI was a mixture of mostly youngsters and trialists, including Serbian midfielder Goran Zujovic. The Swans, industrious and energetic without quite operating at full tilt, were 2-0 up inside 13 minutes. After the impressive Goodfellow had struck the base of a post, Leon Britton slipped a pass into the feet of Akinfenwa, and the former Torquay man resisted the challenges of three men before turning and firing low into the bottom right-hand corner. Britton was also architect of the second goal, threading a pass through to Forbes, who blasted low under the body of keeper Ben Fellows. The all-changed side that emerged for the second half featured the likes of trialists Zujovic, Owain Tudor-Jones, Stuart Edwards, and a strong youth-team contingent that included rookie keeper Kyle Letheren. Striker Paul Connor was also handed his first pre-season outing. Swansea allowed Shane Kingston to reduce the deficit on 47 minutes, but Pritchard made it 3-1 when he headed home Connor's cross before Letheren conceded a penalty when he brought down Kingston. However, the young Swansea keeper saved Graham Cheeseman's spot-kick with his foot. REPORT: WESTERN MAIL What to read next:Southampton 0 - 1 Stoke City - Player Ratings and Reports
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