Heading into the game on the back of consecutive away defeats, Swansea City were hoping to return to winning ways when they welcomed Chelsea to The Liberty on Tuesday night.  Condemned to just a solitary defeat at home so far this season, Swansea should have had optimum confidence going into the fixture against Villas-Boas side.

Having made 10 changes for the weekends FA Cup tie at Bolton, Brendan Rodgers restored the side that started Swansea’s last league game at The Stadium of Light.

The visitors, without John Terry due to a knee injury, lined up with a centre back partnership of Luiz and Ivanovic. A highly perplexing decision given Chelsea’s recent signing of Gary Cahill, who had to settle for a place on the bench despite Villas-Boas stating that the Londoners would be a far greater force to be reckoned with, due to the recruitment of the English defender.

Despite conceding an injury time equaliser, Swansea City demonstrated their maturity on Tuesday as well as how much they have settled into the top flight since the sides last met in the reverse fixture four months ago.

The visitors got the game under way but as so often seen this season it was the Swans who settled the quicker, closing Chelsea down, dictating the pace and tempo of the game early on, they almost found themselves ahead within the opening 10 minutes. When Sigurdsson’s perfectly weighted free kick into the area fell for Danny Graham, however Ivanovic intercepted before Swansea’s leading goalscorer could get a touch.

Having seen very little of the ball in the opening exchanges, Chelsea came close to taking the lead when Sturridge found himself with time on the ball inside the area, his eventual shot fired marginally wide of the target.

With 15 minutes played, Swansea had a distinguished opportunity to take the lead. As Danny Graham fought to get on the end of a long ball forward, Petr Cech came out of his area committing himself to clearing, however his interception fell to Sigurdsson, who skipped past Cech only to see his effort blocked by Ivanovic. The ball then fell for Graham who’s shot was denied by David Luiz’ goal line clearance, Joe Allen met the clearance however Petr Cech recovered to finally clear the danger.

Sturridge and Bosingwa were proving a handful for Neil Taylor out wide and with the Welsh defender getting sucked infield on a number of occasions, the two Chelsea players found a lot of success down the right wing.

Swansea had commanded the majority of play in the first half and finally capitalised on their dominance 5 minutes from the interval when Scott Sinclair met Sigurdsson’s delivery into the box. The former Chelsea winger connected beautifully to guide his effort past Cech into the top corner.

With the Swans in total control at the interval, the only change made at half time was that of Nathan Dyer’s boots!

Chelsea came out of the blocks a completely different outfit after the interval, enforcing themselves on the game, pinning Swansea into their own half as Brendan Rodgers side began to sit deep and tried to absorb the relentless pressure being applied.

As was the case at The Stadium of Light, Angel Rangel failed to complete his defensive duties adequately on Tuesday night, allowing Chelsea to command play down the left flank, whilst Nathan Dyer was forced to sacrifice his threat pushing forward in order to provide cover for the Swansea right-back.

Villas-Boas soon opted for change, introducing one of the Premier League’s greatest players prior to the injury he sustained during pre-season – Michael Essien. The introduction of the Ghanaian international almost paid dividends instantly as the midfielder demonstrated his class with his first touch with a rifling effort that fired marginally over the cross bar.

The Swans were inviting Chelsea pressure, sitting back and not pushing out of their own half. They uncharacteristically conceded possession far too easily in the middle of the park, whilst they failed to substantially test Cech in the Chelsea goal.

Despite Danny Graham not receiving ample supply in the box, the striker’s phenomenally tireless work rate was once more, simply astounding. Constantly looking hungry and eager to pounce on Chelsea defenders to regain possession.

With the Blues staring at defeat, further misery and frustration was compiled on their evening when they were reduced to 10 men following a cynical challenge from Ashley Cole on Nathan Dyer, leaving referee Marriner no option other than to produce a second yellow for the English full back.

Chelsea had controlled play in the second period and snatched a point in the most disastrous of circumstances for the home side when Bosingwa’s effort took a decisive deflection off Neil Taylor to deceive Vorm and rescue a point for Villas-Boas side.

Based on their second half display, I feel Chelsea were worthy of a point, having applied an onslaught of pressure, allowing the Swans very little time in possession. However Swansea will feel aggrieved due to the timing and manner in which they conceded, with it taking a deflected strike to deny the Welsh side of their 6th home victory of the campaign.

Both of Swansea’s full backs got caught of position on numerous occasions on Tuesday, however, skipper Ashley Williams remained as colossal as ever to limit Chelsea’s threat. The Swansea captain made numerous vital interceptions, he read the game superbly and made many critical, perfectly timed challenges in order to keep Chelsea’s attack force at bay.

The performance of the match officials at The Liberty on Tuesday further reiterated the current standard and demonstrated as to why there has been so much intense speculation regarding their displays over recent months with their inconsistency prevalent once more.

The ill disciplined Chelsea side should have considered themselves fortunate to finish the game with 10 men on the pitch, as reckless challenges from Florent Malouda and David Luiz went unpunished.

New Airbus UK Broughton manager Andy Preece maintained his perfect record since taking charge of the Wingmakers with this Welsh Cup victory at Afan Lido in the only all-Welsh Premier League tie of the fourth round. Airbus UK defeated an experimental Wrexham side under the guidance of former boss Craig Harrison to reach this stage of the competition and arrived at the Marston’s Stadium high in confidence following a convincing win over Bala Town in the League Cup. Afan Lido were equally as confident however, having defeated local rivals Port Talbot Town in the previous round, but with £5,000 prize money at stake for the winners there was some concern amongst the home fans when the teams were announced 45 minutes before kick-off.

Goalkeeper Chris Curtis has been in fine form for Afan Lido this season. A talented keeper at Welsh League level, Curtis made the step-up in the summer following Lido’s promotion, and the league has been subjected to his mouth ever since. Curtis would be named on the bench for the visit of Airbus UK however as manager Andy Dyer brought in retired veteran Tony Pennock. The former Farnborough and Yeovil Town keeper is currently Head of Youth Development at Swansea City and a few years ago briefly managed Port Talbot Town in the Welsh Premier League. The brother of Lido assistant manager Ray, the experienced keeper went into the match well-short of match practice, but he and his team would have a long afternoon ahead.

Afan Lido 2-2 Airbus UK Broughton (Airbus UK win 5-4 on penalties) – Welsh Cup 4th round – Saturday 28th January 2012
In front of a typically small crowd Afan Lido took an early lead after 12 minutes when referee Kevin Morgan awarded the home side a penalty. Attacking the end away from the clubhouse, striker Mark Jones had previously despatched a spot-kick at that end of the ground over the fence, gardens and houses in the street adjacent to the ground in the victory over Newtown a few weeks before. Andy Hill had scored from the penalty spot against Bala Town in the clubs last league fixture and again made no mistake as he put his side ahead. The goal opened the game up as Airbus UK went in search of an equaliser and began to enjoy the better of the possession as Afan Lido struggled to supply their creative players with any suitable service.

With Leon Jeanne, Mark Jones and Carl Payne struggling to make an impression on the match against their physically stronger opponents, Tony Pennock became the busier of the two goalkeepers as the visitors responded to the continued barks of their new management team. On 25 minutes the scores were level as Mark Cadwallader headed home a fine corner with Pennock left to question the marking responsibilities of his defence while justifying his own decision to stay on his line despite the ball flashing across his six-yard box. Minutes later Pennock was again questioned as he rushed out of his area but failed to claim the ball and defender Kristian James was forced to make a crucial goal-line clearance to prevent his side slipping behind.

The animated bench of the visitors was then treated to a front row seat for a controversial moment that resulted in a mass brawl. Lido’s Daniel Thomas reacted to a stray boot from Airbus UK captain Glenn Rule and chaos ensued as referee Kevin Morgan whistled constantly but failed to prevent the resulting handbags that were traded. Morgan’s lecture to both was continually interrupted by Thomas and both players were eventually shown a yellow card for their part in the disruption. The incident added to the eventful match and there would be another twist as the half-time break approached.

On 41 minutes Airbus UK took the lead through Gavin Cadwallader as Pennock could only palm his save into the corner of the net from another set-piece. Questions have been asked over Lido’s ability to defend crosses on many occasions already this season and their impending Welsh Cup exit was now looking likely to be based on two more errors in judgement at the back. The goal would be last notable incident of an entertaining half as the frozen crowd made their way into the clubhouse in time to see Rhyl take the lead over Llanelli in the weekend’s live game that would also be eventually decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Afan Lido made changes during the second half and while Airbus UK goalkeeper Niki Lee-Bulmer became more involved in the game as the home side pushed for an equaliser. Airbus UK looked comfortable however but failed to test Pennock as much as they would have liked and also struggled to test the Lido defence from set-pieces and take advantage of their weakness. Influential defender Carl Evans was pushed upfront as the home side continued to search for an equaliser but it would not arrive until injury-time when substitute Liam Thomas scored the crucial goal that would take the game into extra-time.

As with most cup fixtures, extra-time came and went with little incident, although both sides could have prevented the match being decided by the lottery of penalties. The equaliser had lifted Afan Lido as much as it had deflated Airbus UK and as the additional thirty minutes neared completion the already small crowd appeared even smaller after two hours of football. Referee Morgan eventually brought the game to a close and the players mixed with the officials and management in the middle of the field to confirm who would have the responsibility of deciding the tie and booking their team a place in the quarter-final.

The inclusion of Tony Pennock had been the main talking point of the pre-match build-up and the veteran keeper would also be the topic of post-match discussion. Pennock saved the first spot-kick that he faced, but with the scores level after both sides had scored four from their first five penalties, Pennock stepped-up to start the knock-out process. His effort was saved, but he failed to match the heroics of his opposite number as he returned between the posts, as Airbus UK scored with their sixth spot-kick to book their place in the last eight of the Welsh Cup. Afan Lido, finalists five years before, were out.

Mark Pitman
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Just when we thought that we may be turning a corner and hoped that we would start to get ourselves out of the mess that we found ourselves in just before Christmas, the last few games have shown that that it is going to be a long, fraught and testing time until the end of the season. Since the draw at Southend United on January 2nd, we’ve lost league games to Hereford, Crewe, and then on Tuesday night, down at Torquay. Although the overall display at Torquay had not been too bad, even that didn’t bring much comfort to those of us who had made the long trip to the south west, and it was even less helpful when we got back to Victoria Road at 3 in the morning.

There has been some debate in the last few weeks as to whether our troubles started on the very day that we beat today’s opponents in the League Two play off final, which although it now seems like a lifetime ago, was in fact only May 2010. Although we had a year in the heady heights of League One, it alerted other clubs to the ability of our players. We could see that people like Danny Green, Romain Vincelot and Paul Benson could play at a higher level, so while it was great that they hung around at the club so long, it was that day at Wembley that probably meant that the vultures would come circling, which is what they duly did. No one begrudges the opportunity for these players to move on, as it is a scenario that we readily accept when supporting a club like this. However, there are two possibilities; firstly, a win means that players are more noticeable if we are playing in a higher division, and that means that, as a smaller fish in a bigger pond, that we could find ourselves losing key personnel. The second option is that, if we had failed to win that day, perhaps they would still have gone, and then we would have been having the type of season that we are presently having, twelve months ago.

What it all boils down to is a simple question. Would we swap that glorious day out at Wembley and a year in League One, for the stability and playing in League Two, plodding along in mid-table for five years? I reckon most would opt for the day at Wembley, and to hell with what happens next. You can talk about that day out for years; a midweek game at wherever is unlikely to still be recalled twenty years down the line, whereas when Nursey scored the winner at Wembley, everyone who was there will knowingly smile and go all misty eyed at the memory.

Our record against Rotherham is, to be brutally honest, terrible. In seven previous league meetings, we’ve managed two draws, and five defeats. We have played against Rotherham at four different venues in the league and play offs, and that win at Wembley is our only victory. Our visitors arrive in a mid-table position, but they are just five points off of a play off place, which would give them a chance to return to Wembley. On the flip side, we need the points for our attempt to stay in the division. While we have suffered three straight league defeats, Rotherham have lost three out of their last four, so this could be a close run thing between two sides that have not got great recent form.

Saturday 28th January 2012, Dagenham & Redbridge v Rotherham United, Victoria Road
With the game between Liverpool and Manchester United on every screen you could find in the clubhouse, only those who had an affiliation to either of those clubs stayed inside as we filed into the ground around 2pm. The chance to be first in the queue for food is a big pulling point to get inside relatively early, and besides, with everyone staring intently into their phones, we would find out who won soon enough.

The cold snap that had been predicted hadn’t quite made it as far as Dagenham, although by half time, the atmosphere was decidedly chilly enough without it. There had been one change from the team that had started at Torquay on Tuesday, with Brian Woodall returning in place of Adam Cunnington, who went back to bench warming duties. Dropping out completely were Eion Wearen and Jake Reed, which also meant a return for Josh Scott. However, the first half had been poor. Very poor in fact, with a couple of Billy Bingham efforts going wide of the visiting goalkeepers left post being our nearest attempts at goal. At the other end though, it had not gone so well for us.

Within ten minutes of the start, Mark Arber had been caught out, and appeared to try and haul down Lewis Grabban as he went through on goal. Luckily for us, he escaped his clutches and got his shot away, which was saved by Lewington at the expense of a corner.

By the time the half hour had come around, we are already 1 down. The Daggers defence has failed to deal convincingly with a ball into the area, and it falls to Danny Harrison, who returns it with a dipping volley over Lewington. It is an excellent strike, but there is already a resigned air about the home support, which manifests itself in a rush to start forming a queue at the tea bar, hoping to beat the half time stampede. As the half time whistle goes, I make one more note on my piece of paper, but am asked how many I have made for the game so far, and it’s not many.

If the first half had been poor, then the second made you wonder if they had replaced all twenty two players, as the game turned totally on its head.

The first Daggers change is made at the resumption of the game, as Josh Scott (soon to be achieving prodigal son status) is bought on in place of loanee Ahmed Abdulla. Opinion is split over Abdulla, with many seeing him as lightweight in the centre of midfield, while others just don’t rate him at all. Personally, there are glimpses of why he is at West Ham, but it is arguable that this isn’t quite the style of team for him to be playing in. The introduction of Scott means an alteration in formation as well, with now three players up front in a 4-3-3 formation. Clearly, despite the evidence of the first half, our management feel that they can get something from the game.

It takes just five minutes for that feeling to be justified. A free kick from Mickey Spillane is heading towards the back post, where it seems that all have stopped to watch the ball float harmlessly out of play. All except Jon Nurse that is; the hero of Wembley arrives at the back post to head the ball into the far corner of the net. It takes a second to register that we have scored, before everyone starts to celebrate. All the gloom and doom that had been around at the half time interval has disappeared, and the singing has started again.

For the next few minutes it is the home team in the ascendancy, with Scott going close with a header, and it is just after the hour that we take the lead. As the attendance is announced as 1744, Abu Ogogo (who scored an o.g. at Crewe last week on his 100th appearance for the club) lines up a shot from outside the box. Ogogo had started the game at right back, but he has now switched to central midfield, and Spillane has gone into the defence, allowing our former Arsenal right back the chance to get forward more; the shot is deflected by Mark Bradley, and with Rhys Taylor in the Rotherham goal already starting to move to save the ball on its original trajectory, can do nothing about this sudden alteration, and is stranded as the ball nestles in the netting. Again there is a delay before the celebrations begin, but begin they do, and we are now leading a game that we looked out of just twenty minutes earlier.

At Wembley, we took the lead, only to lose it within a minute. When we went 2-1 up, it took Rotherham five minutes to level it up again. Today, it takes them about ninety seconds to score their second goal. A cross from the left wing by former Dagger Scott Griffiths is headed home by Alex Revell, unmarked in the middle as he takes his chance, the mood has unsurprisingly changed all over again, and now we are hoping that we can just hold on for a point.

But, like that day at Wembley, we get back in front again, and stay there. With thirteen minutes left on the clock, a right wing corner is played into the near post, and Scott Doe is there is score with a header.

To say the rest of the game is nervy would be an understatement of massive proportions. Firstly, there are a couple of near misses from Rotherham that have us all convinced that they were actually going in and just about to blow it all again. Then, there is a flurry of activity from the referee’s notebook. Michael Raynes has already been booked for a foul on Josh Scott, when with a couple of minutes to go, he and Spillane have an altercation in the penalty area, as we prepare to defend a free kick. Personally, I have no idea what has happened, but the ref has obviously seen something, as he cautions both players again, meaning that Raynes has to go. Several United players surround the official, but the home fans are just singing cheerio to the departing visitor. The free kick is defended and repelled, although as the fourth official holds aloft the board showing four minutes of stoppage time, there is more that a bit of surprise, as none of us can recall a physio being called into action, just four goals and the regular substitutions.

The four minutes elapse and another Rotherham foray into our area has just been successfully defended when the whistle goes. The relief is tangible, and it is to the team’s credit that, having been one down at the interval, we have been able to come back and win against a decent side. There is time for an appreciative round of applause for Scott Griffiths before the team commence their warm down lap of the pitch, with the fans singing ringing in their ears. A good day has been made better with the news that we have moved back up to 22nd in the table, just one place outside the relegation places. However, it doesn’t get any easier; next weekend, we have a long trip northwards to Morecambe, when we get to visit their new stadium for the first time. Before that though, we should enjoy this victory, as they haven’t come along that often this season.

In just 24 hours I would be walking along Santa Monica Pier in SoCal as us surfers know it, the sunshine on my face and the sand between my toes.  You can’t beat a bit of winter sunshine to recharge the batteries after Christmas.  And as if I needed any more incentive to go I had the promise of a date with the not too shabby Natalia Velez to look forward to.

But first I had a date with one of Essex’s finest – Canvey Island who were visiting the Dripping Pan for an early doors game against The Rooks.  Early doors because of Brighton’s cup game versus Newcastle United just down the road at 5.15pm.  Thanks to the Ryman League seeing sense, and the Essex side happy to leave Lakeside an hour earlier than normal, Lewes stood a chance of a decent crowd.  We littered the Toon websites, forums and Twitter feeds with invites and promises of pints of Dog, Jimmy Nail look-a-likes and Lewes wearing a special one-off black and white striped shirt just for the day.  Not strictly true but  would they really notice after tucking into a few pints of Harveys?

Our cause had been helped no end by the efforts of the Guardian’s sports team who plugged the game via their Fiver email, eulogising that :-

“At this quaint little ground, you’ll be allowed to stand up, smoke your gills out, watch entertaining Brazil-circa-1970 style football, eat delicious modestly priced organic burgers and lorry back refreshing pints of the local brew Harveys all at the same time”

Thanks to some opportunist sales techniques that would have shamed a time-share salesperson in the Canary Islands I had managed to convince The Guardian’s Barry Glendenning as an owner a few weeks ago.  Yes, he had been worse for wear; Yes, he was distracted by Sarah Hot Scores and yes I may have told him that by being an owner he was entitled to certain perks that weren’t strictly true, but Pressganging is not illegal (I think) in the 21st century.  One man’s Richard Branson is another man’s Asil Nadir. Barry was making his first visit to the Pan and we were determined to make his visit a special one.  After all, since he thrust the £30 in my top pocket back in December, “our” team had won three, drawn four and lost four as well as seeing the manager depart.  Investments can go up and well as down as I reminded him when he asked for a refund.

Canvey Island, the Gulls, the pride of Park Lane.  Lewes had already beaten the Islanders earlier in the season and what they could do with a moral boosting win today.  Performances had been good, but a lack of goals was becoming a real worry.  Five goals in the last six wasn’t a fair return for the effort, but add on the fact that three had come from penalties and you see the issue.  Last Saturday the team lost 5-1 at Margate.  Lewes shots 8, Margate shots 8.  On Wednesday night the woodwork and a bobble in the six yards area stopped two certain goals.  Today there was to be no excuse.  It was win or bust….well not exactly that traumatic but we are hyping this up for the Guardian remember?

This was my third trip to Lewes in just four days after the Sussex Senior Cup match on Wednesday and then the Fans Forum on Thursday where we had batted away all questions fired at us from the fans.  Now was the time for us to live up to our promise of Barcelona-esque football.

Lewes 1 Canvey Island 2 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 28th January 2012
“You will win nothing with kids” One of the most famous understatements uttered by a pundit.  Alan Hansen may have had to eat his words back when Sir Alex Ferguson blooded the likes of Scholes, Beckham and Giggs at Villa Park in August 1995, but since then how right he has been.  Lewes today were forced to field a very young team as injuries ravaged Simon Wormull’s squad.  The manager himself was even forced to play himself for the final thirty minutes, turning back the years with some of his visionary passing.

I can only imagine the mood in the Wormull house when the sick notes arrived this morning.  Kamara – hip injury.  Robinson – hamstring.  Hamilton – foot.  Hustwick – neck strain.  These four are the Lewes back four. Any club would struggle to cope with such a situation.  A major reshuffle saw Charlie Leech and Jack Phillips in the starting line up as well as new signing Jack Walder in the centre of midfield.

One good bit of news was that the Rooks had ditched the white shorts – going down the full Rosseneri look of red and black – Canvey opting for Crystal Palace away circa 1989.  It was the yellows who started the stronger of the two and thankfully keeper Rikki Banks was in good form.  With Lewes’s recent goals coming from the boot of Paul Booth it didn’t take a brave man (me) to predict he would be the first goalscorer, although Eddie Freemantle refused to take my tenner, reminding me that as a Director I was not able to place a bet on my team.  Sure enough, a minute later Paul Booth rose and headed home a Nanetti cross to put the Rooks one nil up.

The second half saw Canvey well on top and it was no surprise when Jason Hallett scored in the 51st minute.  We weren’t used to conceding a goal before the 90th minute so the crowd were stunned into silence.  Everyone was confused.  What to do?  Well, how about the player/manager bringing himself on…Wormull stripped off and within a minute had played a trademark cross field pass to Nanetti. Every touch was greeted with a cheer.  Could he win us the game and roll back the years?

Alas no.  Canvey got stronger as the game wore on and with twenty minutes to go Bradley Woods-Garness smacked a loose ball home to give the Essexmen the three points.  The thirty or so Canvey fans went home happy, having enjoyed their day out in the sunshine whilst the Rooks fans had to scratch their heads wondering what the team had to do to get that break and three points.

With the rain out of the way it was time to prepare for the Rainbow.  Natalia Velez was sure to ask about the result.  Don’t worry – I will take this one for the team.  Until I return I bid you a fond farewell.

The 25-year old is reunited with his former City manager Hughes, who has admitted his delighted at having secured the in-demand former England Under-21 man. Those following the Live In-play betting will be wondering what sort of impact he will have.

“Nedum is a player I know well. He is a very good addition to the squad,” he said.

“He did very well for me at Man City and played a number of games, probably more than under any other manager,” Hughes added.

“He is very versatile. He can play centre-back or right-back and has good pace.”

Onuoha was never really given the chance under Roberto Mancini that his previous performances had perhaps deserved, eventually leading to the Nigerian-born defender joining Sunderland on loan last season. Onuoha went on to establish himself as an essential part of the Sunderland defence under Steve Bruce, and would have signed permanently at the Stadium of Light had a fee been agreed between the two clubs. Fans of the betting exchanges such as Betfair sports betting odds need to bear this in mind.

There was no shortage of interest in the defender, however, it appears Onuoha’s eagerness to link back up with Hughes was the deciding factor in his decision.

Hughes will have been well aware that of how important it is for QPR to start keeping regular clean-sheets if they are to have any chance of maintaining their top-flight status. The current team may be lacking in some areas but it’s a tight defence that forms the platform on which this team can build. Onuoha’s presence in the side will certainly improve the club’s chances of achieving that target.

The age old club versus country row has taken a back seat of late. No managers have complained of the bum deal the club receive as their prize assets swan off around the world for a meaningless friendly. Instead the argument has been replaced by a new beast; governing body v countries.

This summer promises to be a bumper year for live sports betting pundits, with the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine taking place just before the Olympics in London gets underway, with football taking a more prominent role than most years thanks to the inclusion of a Team GB squad.

Although not exactly united – the governing bodies of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are still protesting at the team’s existence – Team GB has been rubberstamped and is ready to roll, although it has already started to ruffle a few feathers among club managers as well as officials from football associations from all four corners of the British Isles.

Team GB boss Stuart Pearce has reportedly contacted over 200 players about represented Britain at the Olympics, while David Beckham, who has already thrown his hat into the ring for the skipper’s job, is rumoured to have had a clause written into his new L.A Galaxy contract that allows his to leave mid M.L.S season to take part in the London games.

There was something telling about Gareth Bale’s quoted when asked about Team GB and his potential participation.

When asked about playing for Britain at the Olympics, he simply responded: “As long as all parties are happy I don’t see any reason why not”.

The pressure being placed on players by the respective football associations of the countries outside of England is clear to see. Bale has been pictured in a Team GB shirt already but makes it clear there is a caveat to his participation – that the Welsh F.A are happy with it.

Scotland have taken perhaps the most aggressive stance, alluring to the fact that any of their players who accept the call could be omitted from future Scotland squads.

In a strange reversal, clubs that had previously maintained a frosty relationship with the respective F.A’s about releasing their players for international duty have been more than happy to offer their players forward for the Olympics.

West Ham and Aston Villa are just two clubs that have so far revealed they have had players contacted about representing Team GB  for the summer tournament, with Hammers boss Sam Allardyce saying he would be more than happy to release his players for the tournament, while Villa boss Alex McLeish says he has no problems with it.

Pearce says he has been ‘saddened’ by the farce so far that the governing bodies have contributed towards. The idea of unification between the home nation sides is something instantly appealing to fans – just glance at their rugby playing counterparts (the British and Irish Lions) for the type of spectacle a team from the British Isles can produce. It is unfortunate then, that player could potentially be reprimanded for taking part in what should be a spectacle. Unfortunately the row shows no sign of ending soon

However, all was not lost.  The Rooks had to chance to show their “bouncebackability” with another home cup tie.  And not just any old cup tie.  One against Eastbourne Borough, sworn enemies, deadly rivals and pretenders to the title “Best Non League team in Sussex”.

The Sussex Senior Cup is a strange competition.  The bigger clubs (i.e Crawley Town and Brighton & Hove Albion) rarely take it seriously, yet every year it is the same story.  The former seem to be eliminated early, the latter in for the duration despite fielding essentially a reserve team.  Last season Lewes lost in the quarter finals at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, thus denying themselves the chance to reach the final, which was played at The Amex.  This year, wins over Wick and East Grinstead had sent up a mouth-watering tie with Eastbourne Borough.  The winners would join Crawley Down, Whitehawk and the winner of the BHA v Bognor Regis Town game in the draw for the semi-final.

Brighton & Hove Albion had reached the final of the last five competitions, winning four. In fact it was Lewes who were the last team to break this run back in 2006 when they beat Horsham.

Lewes hadn’t met Eastbourne Borough since New Year’s Day in 2009 when they met in the Conference Premier.  Both teams had been promoted from the Blue Square South the previous season – Lewes as winners and Boro via the play offs.  Those two games over the Christmas period had attracted near 5,000 fans.  How both would love half of that now.

The clubs have lived almost parallel lives in the past season.  Both were relegated last year – Eastbourne Borough from the Blue Square Bet Premier, and Lewes from the South division.  More recently both had become manager-less as Eastbourne decided to part company with their management team who in part had been at the helm for over a decade.  But whatever the circumstances both sets of fans wanted to get one over on the “old enemy”.

We were expecting a decent crowd.  Obviously this was a “minor” cup competition in the eyes of many fans and we would normally only expect a few hundred.  However, the draw of the derby-day atmosphere was certain to bring a few more through the gate.  But perhaps the real compelling event would be the lure of the Lewes burger.  Last week The Guardian Food and Drink supplement no less had spoken about the Lewes Organic burger being “the best fast food he has come across so far. The club spends more on its chefs that it does on players”- The Guardian Food and Drink – 18th January 2012

Lewes 1 Eastbourne Borough 2 – The Dripping Pan – Wednesday 25th January 2012
For 94 minutes this was a classic cup tie full of passion (on and off the pitch), hard tackles, goal mouth incidents and a decent atmosphere created by 637 fans.  And then, the curse of the Dripping Pan struck again.  Just as we had seen so many times (in fact twice already in January) we concede a late goal.  Not quite a Horsham late goal, but still deep into injury time.  Unlike the Horsham game this one was the knock-out box.  With the game poised to enter Extra Time, Eastbourne Borough took all of the spoils and dumped Lewes on their backsides and out of the Sussex Senior Cup.

Pre-match had been a juggling act for new boss Simon Wormull.  I arrived at the group at 4pm to find him busy on his phone trying to work out the formation.  With our only goal keeping option, Rikki Banks, on loan from Eastbourne Borough and thus not able to play, he had managed to pull in a young Polish keeper to make his debut (Pawel would later dislocate his finger in the warm up, yet in true British Bulldog spirit simply taped it up and carried on playing).  He brought in a number of the impressive youth team players and leading from the front, named himself on the bench. The spirit of the team of 2008 was not yet dead.

The opening exchanges were fast and frantic.  Eastbourne had the better of the opening exchanges but then the Lewes midfield got hold of the ball, and Mel Kamara started powering forward from midfield.  In a space of a few first half minutes Michael Malcolm showed that when luck is not on your side, nothing rolls for you.  First he powered a header against the inside of the post, with the Eastbourne keeper stranded and then he saw his goal-bound toe poke trickle slowly towards an unguarded net only for it to be cleared by a last gasp sliding tackle.  Half time – all square in love and war.

The Eastbourne fans had come in good voice, although some of them had obviously brought the “Football Fans song book from Green Street” with some of their chanting.  Chaps – it’s a Sussex Senior Cup game not Millwall v West Ham.  A chant of “No one likes us” made me chuckle as I recalled an away game back in April 2009 when they played at Altrincham which I saw where the home fans all clapped the 13 supporters who had made the trip on a cold Tuesday night – see someone does love you!

Ten minutes into the second period Eastbourne took the lead when a misjudged throw from the Lewes keeper fell straight at the feet of Matt Crabb and he sent the ball back over his head into the net.  Lewes doubled their efforts with the impressive Harding always looking dangerous and Malcolm seeing efforts blocked by last gasp defending.  Finally Lewes got their reward when Nanetti was brought down by the Eastbourne keeper Masters.  With no covering defender and Nanetti not going away from goal it was bizarre that the referee (interestingly sharing the same unusual surname as an Eastbourne player) did not even book the keeper.  Good job Hansen et al didn’t see it as we would still be discussing it now.  Booth stepped up and dispatched the millionth penalty of the season for Lewes and it was game on.  

We were in for a frantic final period with both teams having chances but failing to really test the keeper.  Four minutes of injury time were announced, and with the clock showing 93:47 Ciardini’s sliced clearance fell to Ben Watson who thumped the ball home.

Lewes can feel hard done by to lose so late on, but in these games there always has to be a winner.  This was one of the best performances of the season without a doubt and with more luck the scoreline would have been more favourable.  But that is football.  This is a team in transition and most of the fans appreciated the spirit, effort and hard work of the players as they made their way off the pitch.  The Sussex Senior Cup will just have to wait another season.

If a week is reckoned to be a long time in politics, then two and a half weeks supporting a football team can be almost a lifetime. Seventeen days ago, we gained a very creditable 0-0 draw with Millwall in the FA Cup, which stretched our unbeaten run to seven games. Hopes were high then for our home game against Hereford. However, that turned out to be a total non-event, and resulted in a 0-1 defeat.

The replay at Millwall ended in a one-sided scoreline, with us suffering a 0-5 defeat, before another “six-pointer” at Crewe on the weekend.

As Dagenham Dan and I made our way out towards Espanyol v Granada on Saturday, the text messages that came through initially bought us good news as Brian Woodall put us in front. The subsequent messages weren’t so happy making though, as first Crewe equalised, and then in the last twenty minutes, they scored three further goals to win the game by the comfortable margin of 4-1. The second was the turning point, with an Ogogo back pass taking a bobble and eluding the swinging foot of goalkeeper Chris Lewington.

Most of us have seen our teams go through a dodgy patch having seemingly turned the corner, but the last week and a half has not been the best, and it has just felt like the good work put in over the Christmas games has all been undone again.

Injuries have played their part again. Kevin Maher, injured in his first training session with the club, had started to get the midfield going again, but following his injury at Southend just after New Year, we’ve gone backwards again. It’s not just down to the loss of Maher, but having to constantly change the team isn’t good, as the points had been coming when the team had been settled and barely altered.

Tonight sees the team make their third away trip in a week, this time down to the West Country to play Torquay. Two years ago, the original game had to be called off due to a frozen pitch, and those that did make the long journey for the re-arranged fixture were treated to a tepid encounter that ended 0-0. Tonight’s game was rescheduled after we reached the third round of the FA Cup, and although the coach is only about half full, those who are making the trip seem to be enjoying it.

Tuesday 24th January 2012, Torquay United v Dagenham & Redbridge, Plainmoor
The journey down to the south west necessitates a leaving time from the club of 12.45pm, and will end about six hours later. With only twenty nine of us on the coach, the hopes of a decent turn out from the Daggers faithful might not happen. It may actually reflect the hopes of getting a result from this one; we are starting the game in 23rd place, while Torquay are 6th, and coming into this game off the back of an impressive 2-1 win at Morecambe.

There is a bit of confusion on the way down to the game, as there are no seats available for those of our fans who prefer to sit at these games. However, as we approach the ground, the problem is resolved, although those that are going to be sitting down are going to be seated in the home section, will not be allowed to wear colours, and will be at the other end of the ground to those Daggers that will be occupying the away terrace.

Prior to the game, we were given a stat that we tried hard to disprove. It was that we are approaching two years without a goal-less draw in the league. Having checked back, the last one was on March 6th, 2010 up at Bury, which was a mere 78 games ago. A 0-0 would go down quite nicely tonight, but most are not expecting it.

It takes ten minutes for the first chance to arrive, but Montano pulls his shot wide. It’s been a cagey start to the match, but the pre-match pessimism has been replaced by quiet optimism. There are a few extra people that have travelled independently, boosting the attendance on the away terrace to (officially) thirty nine. Within a minute of Montano’s effort, Jon Nurse has a shot saved by the home goalkeeper, Bobby Olejnik. We have forced four corners in the first quarter of an hour, but following the pattern of the season, have done little with them. Spillane’s free kick on the half hour is on target, but is comfortably saved by Olejnik, and at this point, we are doing much better than anticipated.

It takes Torquay just over half an hour to create their first chance, but it’s a close call, as Kevin Nicholson shoots just over from about twelve yards, just to the left of the goal. It serves as a warning that although we have done quite well so far, the home side are in no way out of this game.

The home side will go even closer a couple of minutes later. Danny Stevens shoots into the side netting, which is closer than the Nicholson effort, and fools some of the home fans in the popular side into thinking that they have taken the lead.

Five minutes before half time, and the fans are not fooled this time, as the ball does actually go into the net. A foul on the left hand side of the penalty area (by Ilesanmi on O’Kane) results in a free kick to Torquay, which is quickly taken, and the Daggers defence is not alert to this possibility. The ball eventually ends up at the feet of Lee Mansell, and his shot is lashed past Lewington to give the home team the lead. It’s hard to take, as we have more than matched Torquay up until this point.

The last five minutes consist of Torquay gaining the upper hand in the game, and there is an almighty goal mouth scramble in which they almost make it 2-0, but luckily for us, the ball is hacked away. The priority is clearly to hang on until half time, and get through to it with just the one goal deficit. Any more, and this will be very difficult to come back from. Thankfully the team manage to get through to the interval with no further addition to the scoreline, and it is 1-0 to Torquay at the break.

The peace of half time is shattered by a shrill voice over the public address system, announcing the 50/50 winner, as well as the number of a lucky ticket whose owner will have a chance to win £25 in the crossbar challenge. The first effort would be more trouble to a mole who has just stuck it’s head out of the ground (and this is described as “close”) than the cross bar, although the second effort is close, but still doesn’t hit. It means that the prize rolls over to the next home game (to £50). While this is going on, the ground staff are working on the penalty area that the home team will be defending in the second half., but appear to leave well alone the other end where our keeper will be positioned.

The start of the second half is one way traffic, with the Daggers not managing to get the ball out of their half, and it is starting to look like the worst for us. But as we get to the ten minute mark in the half, we are starting to get back into the game again. The crowd is announced as 2280, with 39 away fans. The home terrace is busy, which could be attributed to the fact that Main Stand has been demolished. In its place is a large wall, behind which we can see the adjoining school. The amount of footballs lost over the wall is impressive, and tonight, we must be approaching two dozen clearing the obviously not high enough wall.

The closest we come to a goal arrives just after an hour has been played. A foul on Bingham by Mansell results in the Daggers gaining a free kick just outside the penalty area, and in perfect free kick territory. Two players emerge as favourites to take it, but the one entrusted with the effort is Spillane; his curling effort looks to be creeping just inside the post, but Olejnik flings himself across the goal to save the attempt and push the ball out for a corner. Spillane’s anguish is replicated by those on the terrace, as we all thought that it was going to creep in. It is an excellent save, and demonstrates perfectly how things can seemingly conspire against you if you are stuck at the wrong end of the table.

The game continues with its ebbs and flows, but the goal keepers aren’t really tested for the remainder of the game. Stevens shoots straight at Lewington with less than ten minutes to go, but while Torquay can’t quite put the game out of reach, we can’t actually get that goal that would get us back into thie one either. With five minutes to go, the Daggers have a free kick near to the home goal, but it is Torquay who actually get the scoring chance from the situation although Stevens is denied again. Three minutes are added on, but there aren’t any further chances, and it ends in a 1-0 home win.

There are a couple of our number who reckon that we are now doomed, and that we might as well give it up now. Although it is looking tough for us at the moment, it can still end in a positive way for us. In our first season up, it was looking grim for us at this stage of the campaign, but we had a great run where we collected enough points that would eventually see us safe. Those that attended Crewe on Saturday assured me that this was a much better display than on Saturday, but we need to start finding the goal. If we can’t do that then we are finished.

About twice a season, Dagenham Dan and I eschew the delights of Dagenham, and board a flight to the Iberian Peninsula to take in a game or three over the course of a weekend. Normally these involve a trip to the Camp Nou to watch Barcelona destroy whichever team happens to be that weeks whipping boys, but this time around we thought we would try something different. Neither of us has yet made it to the new Espanyol stadium, so we decided that a trip to watch them instead was in order.

Well, that’s not strictly accurate. Just before the tickets went on sale, I spotted that the fixtures had been altered because of a player’s strike that had postponed the first round of league games. So when I rang Dan with the news, the conversation went something like this;

“have you seen what they’ve done with the fixtures?”

“no”

“they’ve changed them round, because of the players strike”

“what?”

“all the games that were in week one are now being played when we go; they’ve switched them round”

“what?”

“when we are supposed to be going to Barca- Malaga, they are going to be in Malaga, and not Barcelona”

“you’re kidding”

“I’m not. It’s on the Barca fixture list on the website”

“hang on, I’m going to log in now. Oh s@*@”

At this point, the flights had already been booked, and it would have cost us the same amount again to cancel and re-book. So, a simple solution presented itself. Namely that we would still travel, but go and watch Espanyol instead, with the hope that we would still be able to fit in another couple of games along the way.

So naturally, as the weekend approached, we were back on to the fixture websites, seeing what was in around the city that we could get to. With the Espanyol game being confirmed as a Saturday evening kick off, it meant that we had the whole of Sunday to fit in as many as we could. We had managed to get to three games in a day back in May, so while Dan was confident of at least emulating that, I was a bit more cautious. There have been a few trips planned where we could get to several games, only to have them kick off almost simultaneously, and ruin that idea.

Saturday 21st January 2012, Espanyol v Granada, Estadi Cornella-El Prat
Up until the early nineties, Espanyol played in the city centre, at the Sarria Stadium. This was one of the venues for the 1982 World Cup, and hosted one of the finest games ever played, when Italy beat Brazil 3-2 (thanks to a Paolo Rossi hat-trick) in the second round. From there, the club moved out to the Olympic Stadium, and stayed until about eighteen months ago, when they finally got their own stadium. It’s one of the first “new” stadiums to be built in Spain, and the club are rightly proud of it.

Today, the club are unveiling a statue to their former player, Dani Jarque. The statue has been placed just inside the stadium, at gate 21, which was his shirt number. Jarque was the player whose name was emblazoned across the vest of Andres Iniesta, after he had scored the only goal of the 2010 World Cup Final, and the vest is on display on a memorial wall inside the stadium.

The fans obviously still have Dani Jarque at the forefront of their thoughts, because twenty one minutes into the game, the whole crowd bursts into a minute’s applause. Both Dan and I look at each other in a state of puzzlement wondering what is going on, before we both realise what is going on; this is a another sign of affection to Jarque.

The main noise from the home fans is coming from the opposite end of the stadium to where we are sitting. I have mentioned before about the comparative lack of atmosphere at the Camp Nou, but here that doesn’t seem to be the case. There are two blocks in the lower tier where seemingly every occupant is engaged in the choreographed jumping up and down, or singing. There are also certain chants that involve the whole home support in the stadium, and when everyone is joining in, it makes for a much better atmosphere than down the road in the Camp Nou. Here, there seems to be many more that will join in with the singing than at Barcelona; clearly the current European and World champions are a bigger draw to the visiting tourist, but there feels like there is a greater desire to join in here. Perhaps those that attend the Camp Nou are waiting (or expecting) to be entertained, whereas here, there is a feeling that they should get behind their team in order to inspire them to achieve more.

The team must be getting some kind of positive vibe from the fans, because by half time in this one, they are 2-0 up. Just over mid-way through the half they are in front, thanks to a header by Baena which is followed by a penalty (scored by the impressive Verdu) in stoppage time. Granada are competently showing why they are towards the bottom of the division with a fairly toothless display in which they are only creating any kind of opportunity through unforced Espanyol errors. One such mistake allows a lone Granada forward through with a one-on-one opportunity with the home keeper, but his shot is well saved, and that is their best chance of the half gone.

In fact, that’s their best chance of the whole game. Four away goals all season will probably tell you all you need to know about Granada on their travels, and with ten minutes to go, Espanyol make it 3-0; Rui Fonte scores after a free kick is not cleared by the Granada defence. For the preceding thirty five minutes they have been the better side and have deserved to increase their lead to a score that goes someway to reflecting their dominance of the game. A crowd of just over twenty six thousand is inside the ground to see this comprehensive win, and once the third is scored, some start to make their way out. As the game peters out to its conclusion, Granada have been lucky to get zero, while this result will see the home side move up to sixth in the division, and just three points from fourth place. If Espanyol continue to pick up points like this, they could be into the Champions League next season.

Once the final whistle is blown, the club song is played over the public address system, and we take our last pictures before heading back towards the metro station, which is about fifteen minutes walk away. To let some of the crowds disperse into the night, we head towards a small museum, which contains among other things, a scale model of the new stadium, as well as old players shirts, another tribute to Dani Jarque and a few other pieces of club memorabilia. It’s an interesting few minutes spent in the warm, before we head back out into a rapidly cooling evening.

Sunday 22nd January, CD Masnou v Pobla de Mafumet
Day two of our trip starts with a trip north of the city to the seaside town of Masnou. With most of the games that we could attend all kicking off at mid-day, we had a choice to make as to which one we would go to. Whereas I would be quite happy to go back to places that we had been before, Dan has this thing about trying to get to as many new grounds as possible. There were a couple of grounds that are near to metro stations that we could get to without too much difficulty, but as it was a nice day we decided to go to the game slightly further away. Having made a trek by the mainline trains to Sabadell in the rain a couple of years ago, it is best to get these games done when the weather is decent, and today, it is certainly that, with temperatures in the high teens, and a clear blue sky.

It seems to be a league rule that the pre-match music must consist of as much beat-heavy stuff as you can possibly play; given that the stadium is surrounded by apartment blocks, it must drive the residents nuts when the team pays at home. It’s audible a few minutes down the road, and as we draw near to the ground, we also notice that we will have to walk across a dry river bed to get to the ticket office to purchase our tickets. A gruff, disembodied voice asks for our €12 each, and we are issued with a thin strip of paper that looks like it was run off of someone’s home printer. Just before the teams emerge, the scoreboard operator ambles across the pitch, with his collection of huge numbers for the board tucked under his right arm. As he clambers over the wall and readies himself for action, the away team emerges to a round of applause from those in attendance. Then the home team enters the pitch to the same applause. Finally, the officiating team runs onto the pitch to supreme indifference to the fans.

The game is between teams at opposite ends of the table, and it is easy to see why. There are a few yellow cards dished out, but the play is very disjointed, and it is certainly not much to write home about. As we leave the only seated area of the ground at half time, we walk past the tables and chairs of the club bar, where four men are playing dominoes. Clearly the half has not entertained them much.

It’s not much better in the second either, with a couple of further cautions, but still nothing to make the bloke with his giant numbers get up and move. The final whistle is blessed relief, and the game ends goal-less. We then have the walk back to the station, and as we approach the crossing outside the station entrance, we can see the train approaching. Dan rushes across the road and legs it into the ticket barriers, thrusting his ticket into the machine. I try the same, but manage to get only a “out” barrier instead. Luckily I manage to get through, and just jump on board as the doors are shutting. It’s a close thing, but for thirty minutes at least, we can relax. Game three is just a few hours away.

Sunday 22nd January 2012, FC Barcelona B v Xerez, Mini Estadi
Despite checking every game in the third and fourth division, and even dipping into the two groups that make up the Catalan Premier Division, the kick off times announced meant that we could only get to three games over the course of the weekend. Our quest to get to four games over the course of a Spanish weekend has to be put on hold again, or at least until the next journey out here.

Being a bit of a Barca fan, it has been strange not going to Camp Nou on a visit out here, so this is the next best thing. On our last visit to watch the B side last May, they blew a 3-1 lead against Las Palmas to lose 3-5.

Tonight though, there are less people here than on that warm May evening; we try to work out the crowd as the game goes on, and reckon that it might be around the 800 mark. It’s a cold evening, and with a 7.45pm kick off, the hats and gloves are already on by the time that the game starts.

Barcelona are playing in more or less the same style as the first team, although as you would expect, it’s not quite as slick here. The news has already filtered through that the first team are well on the way to victory in Malaga when the home side take the lead through the impressive Tello. With six minutes to go before half time, he drifts in from the left side of the Xerez penalty area, and curls a right footed shot past the goalkeeper and into the far corner of the net. Barca have been the better side up until this point and they now have the goal to go with their superiority.

As Dan disappears at half time, I wonder if these games are being promoted enough through the membership. All current Barca members can get in for free, and bring up to three guests in for €5 each. I accept that this isn’t the first team, and that it can be difficult to get yourself excited to watch a team that actually can’t get promoted any higher than they are now. But even so, it’s still a relatively cheap night out, and you could at least bring the kids along. And this is the second division, not the Spanish equivalent of the Isthmian League. Can you imagine any club in the English second tier getting 800 for a home league game?

With an hour played, Barcelona are 2-0 up and the game is as good as done. Another good piece of play by Tello on the left wing results in his low cross eluding everyone and is tapped home at the back post by Rodri. His acrobatic goal celebration is followed by a mass migration to the bench, where everyone joins in with the celebrations. Xerez have never beaten Barcelona B in the mini estadi, and they certainly don’t look like doing it tonight.

Which they don’t. By the end of the game, it is still 2-0, and the home side have moved up to 12th following this win. There is enough time for a trip to the golden arches before boarding a train back to our hotel on the other side of the city. While we might not have had the quality of football that we have had on previous trips, it’s still been a good one, and we have at least been to two new grounds. With our next trip into Europe being in five weeks time, at least we don’t have to wait too much longer for our next fix of the beautiful game, continental style.

Swansea City went into Saturday’s game at The Stadium Of Light undefeated in their previous 5 games, and on the back of 3 consecutive victories were looking to retain their 100% win record in 2012.

Brendan Rodgers made just one change to the side that started against Arsenal six days ago, as loan signing Gylfi Sigurdsson was handed his full Swansea debut, following a sensational second half performance last weekend.

The Swans should have no shame in the manner in which they lost the game on Saturday, with it taking a sublime strike either side of the interval to condemn the Welsh side to their eighth defeat of the campaign.

The home side got the game under way and were the quicker to settle into their rhythm putting Swansea’s defence under instant pressure making their intentions clear from the outset, Martin O’Neill’s side didn’t allow the Swans to dominate proceedings with their fluid passing movements early on.

Nicklas Bendtner and David Vaughn applied relentless pressure on Swansea’s back line, not allowing them any time to dictate the pace of the game or pass the ball out from defence as they often do to great effect.

Despite Sunderland’s early dominance, it was the visitors who should have found themselves in front, when Nathan Dyer supplied a dangerous ball across the face of goal which eventually fell for Scott Sinclair, however the winger could not keep his shot down as he failed to work the keeper with his effort.

The Swans were made to rue this missed opportunity moments later when Sessegnon fired home a superb strike following some neat interplay with James McClean inside the area.

The home side threatened again soon after, this time Welsh international David Vaughn had the shot, however blasted the ball high over the cross bar.

Having signed on loan for the Swans less than a month ago, Gylfi Sigurdsson has already made a name for himself in the Swansea City side and the Icelandic midfielder almost set up the equalising goal for the visitors, however his delivery into the box for Danny Graham didn’t quite fall for the striker who couldn’t direct the ball on target.

McClean was enjoying mass success down the left flank due to Angel Rangel’s poor positional play at full back, which saw the Catalan caught high up the field on numerous occasions.

Swansea soon began to get a foothold on the game, dispossessing Sunderland with ease and stringing some good passages of play together as Joe Allen and Sigurdsson began to command the midfield. However, despite Swansea’s dominance in possession, they were not sufficiently testing Sunderland keeper Mignolet who was not made to work until the hour mark when he did well to palm away Sigurdsson’s free kick.

There appeared to be very little penetration pushing forward from the Welsh side as they were lacking a cutting edge in the final third, as they passed the ball around well however were not advancing into the 18 yard box often enough.

Neither of our wide players enjoyed much success on Saturday, being muscled off the ball frequently with defenders doubling up on Sinclair each time he was looking to advance into dangerous areas of the pitch.

With little over 60 minutes played, Sigurdsson was replaced by fellow loan signing Josh McEachran. I feel the Swans missed Sigurdsson after his departure despite McEachran doing well with the few touches of the ball that he had.

Swansea controlled the game in the majority of departments, however Sunderland punished them for not capitalising on their opportunities and sealed victory 5 minutes from time when Gardner lofted a sensational strike over Vorm ensuring Sunderland’s resurgence under O’Neill continues.

With Swansea suffering their 7th defeat on the road, I feel changes may be needed away from home. Personally I would opt for a diamond formation, omitting our wide players for games away from The Liberty, as I believe we would still be able to offer width going forward due to our attack minded full backs.