Issue 158

Swans Fly to the Top of the Table

22nd October 2007

After a disappointing start to the season, Swansea made it 3 league wins in a row on Sunday by beating Bournemouth with four goals to one at Dean Court.

The run of victories saw them climbing to the top of the league for the first time this season, showing the rest of the league that Swansea will make a serious bid for promotion this year.

Having earned a much-needed win over Swindon at the Liberty Stadium, the Swans faced a tough match against the League One pace-setters Leyton Orient at the Matchroom Stadium.

They stunned the London side with a shock 5-0 win, which sent them up to 4th place, 2 points behind the league leaders.

Even the Swansea fans found the result hard to believe, but the Swans boss Roberto Martinez stressed that his side wouldn't get carried away after the impressive performance.

Following the trashing of Leyton Orient, Swansea put in another fine display to beat Wycombe 2-0 in the 2nd round of Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Despite a number of changes in the first team line up, Martinez' army did a professional job against the League Two side, seeing the Swans trough to the next round.

After the JPT break, attention was now being turned towards the league again. Having rested a few of his key players in the mid-week, Martinez now fielded his strongest side against a struggling Bournemouth at Dean Court. With the visitors taking a two-goal lead after 28 minutes, the home side only managed to reply once before on-loan striker Warren Feeney sealed the win for the Swans with two late goals, making it 4-1.

The victory will definitely give the fans and the players a lot of confidence and belief, with the 5-0 victory over Leyton Orient still yet to sink in. The departure of Lee Trundle is suddenly forgotten, as Swansea has made 11 goals in their last 3 games during their way to the top position.

The Question remains though as whether Swansea has managed to replace Lee Trundle who departed the Liberty in the summer. Only 4 of the last 11 goals have come from the strikers and 3 of these have come from on-loan striker Warren Feeney, who is likely to return to Cardiff after his 4-month loan deal finishes on the 1st of January.

A team pushing for promotion needs a top quality striker to deliver consistently through the season. Roberto Martinez will need to address this in the January Transfer Window.

An on loan player who is helping the Swans to the top of the table is Paul Anderson. The Liverpool starlet has impressed during his loan spell at Swansea, scoring 6 goals from midfield so far this season.

Roberto Martinez has recently admitted that he'd love to sign Anderson on a full-time basis, but the winger is more likely to await his chances at Anfield before making any further decisions.

At least he will stay at the Liberty Stadium till the end of the season and he's likely to be involved when Swansea faces Yeovil and Gillingham over the next two weeks.

Confidence will be sky-high in Martinez' squad, as they will try to add another two more wins to their already impressive run in the league.

If the team can carry on with this form and let their potential shine through as they've done in the last games, the future looks bright for everyone following the Swans these days.

Thore Haugstad