Issue 155

Football fail to show

08th May 2007

Swansea entered this tie as clear underdogs with their first team playing an apparently more important fixture in the evening, making way for a makeshift side to take their place made up of players from the fifth and seventh teams.

The visitors made an understandably nervy start to the game with very little preparation time together.

Early Cardiff forays forward were confronted by the stern figures of Lewis and Dunridge who cleared danger effectively. Swansea's goalkeeper Adam Giles commanded his penalty area well whilst trying his best to organise the defence to deal with much stronger opposition.

For a while the visitors enjoyed a long spell of possession however Cardiff broke away on several occasions. In one instance Giles making a spectacular save to claw out a shot destined for the bottom corner from point-blank range, drawing comparisons to Gordon Banks' legendary save from Pele in the 1970 World Cup. With the home side dominating proceedings late on in the first half it was not a great surprise when they took the lead on 35 minutes with the ball neatly slotted into the net.

Swansea were offered a lifeline seconds before half time when Cardiff's number 8 was shown a red card for stamping on an opponent who was lying on the floor.

With the wind and a numerical advantage on their side, Swansea started the second half brightly with Norton blazing a shot over soon after the restart. Lunn was attacking effectively and many chances were being created as the side did their best to fight for their University.

Unfortunately none of the chances were being taken with Cardiff seemingly much more likely to score. With 20 minutes remaining, the class of the Cardiff side began to shine through with their number 12 sending two unstoppable volleys crashing into the back of the net in quick succession to finish the game at three-nil and kill off any hopes of a Swansea comeback. This was however a valiant attempt by the side who can take heart from the fact that they were facing far superior opponents but managed to match them for much of the game.

Andy Williams