Issue 147

Swans dissapoint in season opener

23rd October 2006

In a hard fought game that was a lot closer than the score line shows a Scott Williams brace and some unlucky defending separated the two sides. New comers to the BUSA Premier men's south division, Brighton, showed a promising display of football, which means they should be tough opposition for any of the sides in the league. Captain Keir Anstey said "I am delighted with boys today, they put in a good performance that means we should be taken a lot more seriously in this league."

The game started at a scorching pace, with the score 1-1 after only ten minutes. The opening goal coming to the travelling team after some sloppy defending letting forward Scott Matthews get in front of his man to a cross from the right, and slotted home past the Swansea keeper's near post after only four minutes. The lead was not to last long, as Swansea captain Tom Hopper put pressure on the defence after an attempted through-ball from the midfield, and managed to get a foot between the defender and the goal keeper who was coming to collect the ball and put the ball in the net to draw the sides level.

The rest of the half was full of chances for both sides, with Swansea having several free kicks in promising positions but being unable to finish on any occasion, also their perseverance on playing long balls from the back didn't help them, as they struggled to get the ball on the floor and pass it around to form decent attacks. The second goal for Brighton came after 28 minutes, it resulted from a long throw from the left that was put into the box and an unfortunate Swansea defender tried to head clear, but ended up lobbing his own keeper who was coming for the ball. This left the score 1-2 at half time.

It was Swansea who came out stronger in the second half, as they drew several last ditch tackles and Brighton keeper Scott Andrews made some impressive saves, including from a one on one situation, where the Swansea striker really should have drawn the scores level. They also had a penalty decision go against them in the 75th minute, after a push, but the referee waved it away. With the pressure mounting on the Brighton defence Swansea pushed more men forward, but it left them open on the break. Brighton managed to capitalise on this in the 80th minute after an effort from Scott Williams from just inside the box bounced just in front of the unlucky Swansea keeper, who fell awkwardly as he caught the ball and it bobbled over the line.

Still Swansea kept on pushing forward and had some half chances, but again got caught on the break. John Bradley, who had a great game in the midfield for Brighton, picked up the ball from just inside the Swans half and lobbed the keeper from the edge of the box to seal the game for the visiting team with only minutes left on the clock. When the game started to break down Brighton looked at their best, passing the ball around well and using the pace of their wingers by putting the ball into the corners for them to chase.

This was disappointing for the Swansea side, as they have done well in the BUSA tournament in the last few years. Their captain, Tom Hopper said, "I'm gutted about the result, but it is still early in the season. We were unlucky with a couple of the goals but hopefully we can bounce back as the season goes on." However, although Swansea were unlucky it was Brighton who played the better football and looked more composed on the day.

Matt Cannon