Scunthorpe United v Swansea City
Glanford Park
Coca-Cola Championship - Saturday, October 31, 2009
Scroll down...
FULL-TIME:
Scunthorpe United 0 Swansea City 2
The final whistle is greeted with a series of short boos from the Rainham Steel terrace. Very few people clap United off the pitch.
I won't lie, or disguise it - that was a poor performance. Swansea played some good football at times - granted - but they were nothing special. The United inquisition will start now... what went wrong, and why? I suggested it at half-time, and I'll suggest it again - that the players were fatigued from Wednesday. Either way, United have taken no points from what must have been classed as a 'winnable' game.
The silver lining..? They are five points above the relegation zone, still.
SECOND-HALF:
89 Minutes: Four minutes of time are added.
86 Minutes: The game is fizzling out. Maybe United can grab a consolation. Or maybe they can't. Hooper just hooked a shot wide from close-range from inside a crowded penalty area. The fans are leaving in their droves.
84 Minutes: Darren Pratley dispatches Gorka Pintado, who should score. He doesn't though, as David Mirfin gets in a superb tackle, which is largely ignored by the crowd, such was the context of it.
80 Minutes: Joe Murphy is taking abuse from the Swansea fans behind his goal. "Murphy, what's the score?" they chant.
79 Minutes: Cedric van Der Gun is booked for diving. He took the ball around Joe Murphy, before falling gracefully to the turf.
77 Minutes: There's thirteen minutes to go, and as the evening gets darker, United's chances of getting something from this reduce in parallel. That said, they're having some good spells of possession at the moment, but Swansea are content to just shut up shop, and close the game out.
74 Minutes: Swansea and Scunthorpe sub - Craig Beattie replaced by Gorka Pintado; Paul Hayes replaced by Garry Thompson.
72 Minutes: Thomas Butler squeezes his way along the line, before finally beating Cliff Byrne, edging his way inside, and sending an attempted drilled cross into Joe Murphy.
68 Minutes: Swansea sub - Jordi Lopez replaces Joe Allen.
67 Minutes: Goal for Swansea! Spoke too soon. Cedric Van der Gun places a shot home off the far-post from a seemingly unfavourable angle on the right-side of the area. Game over I suspect.
Scunthorpe United 0 Swansea City 2
65 Minutes: United have improved a little in the last couple of minutes, and are actually starting to probe Swansea, and put them on the back-foot. Gary Hooper just tried to combine with Paul Hayes, but the former's ball towards the latter was wayward of its target.
60 Minutes: United create an opportunity. It's not exactly clear-cut, but it's a start. Byrne gets the ball on the wing, and sends in a searching cross, which Sam Togwell heads on. It then finds Sparrow, who glances it towards goal, but he can't find the target.
57 Minutes Scunthorpe subs - Sparrow and Woolford replace Hayes and Wright. They'll both play on the wings, which means that United have changed to the more traditional form of the 4-4-2 formation.
55 Minutes: It's very rarely that you say this, but Hooper and Hayes just aren't having a say in today's game. The only service they're getting are long balls pumped towards them, which the Swansea centre-halves are mopping up.
52 Minutes: Craig Beattie has the time to pause and decide what to do with the ball (in the final third), before giving the ball back to United when he attempts a pass - a very poor pass, it must be said. He should have punished Scunthorpe just then. He was given the time and space to do so.
49 Minutes: Darren Partley snatches the ball from Josh Wright, just as United's centre-midfielder was about to smash an opportunistic volley at goal.
46 Minutes: Let's also hope that the phrase 'start as you mean to go on' won't be applicable to United this period, as I actually want United to do some attacking! In the first attack after the break, Craig Beattie breaks loose, and forces Joe Murphy into a sturdy save.
45 Minutes: We're underway again. Let's hope the second period is much more enthralling than the first.
HALF-TIME:
Scunthorpe United 0 Swansea City 1
Forgettable. If I had to sum the first-half up in one word, then that would be it. It's just like watching a replay of the loss against QPR here a few months ago.
The only reason that I can think of, as to why United just haven't clicked, is that they're still tired from Wednesday's game at Manchester City. Apart from that, I'm stuck for reasons. Maybe it's just one of those days. I don't really know.
FIRST-HALF:
45 Minutes: The substiute, Thomas Williams, has looked lively since coming on. He's just given United the run around again, taking the ball in midfield, and angling a pass towards Craig Beattie. Thankfully, David Mirfin tracked Beattie's run like a predator following prey, and was able to take the ball back from him.
44 Minutes: Swansea are playing 'keep ball'. United are playing 'chase ball'.
41 Minutes: Spun into the box is the ball, via the boot of Thomas Butler. It failed to beat Michael O'Connor, the first man, but served as a reminder of just how frail United are looking - they're unable to retain or steal the ball.
37 Minutes: Swansea sub - Thomas Butler comes on. That must be due to an injury inflicted upon the guy he replaces - Mark Gower.
32 Minutes: Goal for Swansea! Maybe that will make a game of it actually - United might raise the tempo a little now. Swansea have been the better team; but I must emphasise that that means the better of two flat teams. The goal comes direct from a free-kick, and is scored by Craig Beattie. I guess it's from about twenty-five yards, and it dips into the bottom-left corner of Murphy's goal.
Scunthorpe United 0 Swansea City 1
28 Minutes: From a Swansea corner, Ashely Williams makes a nuisance of himself by throwing his muscles about as him and Joe Murphy tussle for the ball. Murphy eventually manages to punch it clear, but the referee soon pulls play back for a foul on United's Irish goalkeeper anyway.
25 Minutes: I have to say that today's game seems a little flat. The performance, from both teams, seems somewhat lethargic. Maybe United are a little fatigued from Wednesday still...
18 Minutes: Craig Beattie is looking dangerous. His shooting has been poor so far, but he's causing United problems with his tall frame and presence. In his latest contribution, he lofts a left-footed shot wide of goal from twenty-yards.
15 Minutes: Van der Gun charges towards the touchline, drawing the United defence into a wider positions, before cutting the ball inside for Joe Allen. Allen hits a cross-cum-shot at goal, but snuffs it.
10 Minutes: A long and opportunistic shot from Craig Beattie has Joe Murphy rooted to the spot. I'm sure that Joe would claim that he knew the ball was flying wide, but in all honesty, I'm not so sure. It's a good job it swerved wide!
9 Minutes: A sliding tackle from David Mirfin breaks up a great spell of play from Swansea. Craig Beattie was the man tackled, after some neat work in midfield by the twinkling toes of Cedric Van der Gun.
8 Minutes: The first real chance of Scunthorpe's afternoon finds its way to Gary Hooper. Sam Togwell slides a lovely ball into his path, but as Hooper tries to change his footing, he's tackled.
4 Minutes: Scunthorpe win a corner, after Hooper twists down the wing and fires a cross against Alan Tate. Niall Canavan flings himself towards the ball, but it's just that little bit too far away from him.
2 Minutes: Craig Beattie, the nomadic forward, tries to thread the ball through to Cedric Van der Gun, who's got beyond the last man. The ball gets caught-up on the surface, however, and United are able to clear.
1 Minute: Swansea kick-off, in-front of what's still a pretty empty Glanford Park, due to traffic problems on Scotter Road.
LINEUPS/DETAILS:
Scunthorpe United: Murphy, Williams, Togwell, Byrne (c), McCann, Hayes, Hooper, Mirfin, O'Connor, Wright, Canavan. Subs: Slocombe, Sparrow, Thompson, Forte, Woolford, Spence, Friend.
Swansea City: De Vries, Williams, Tate, Britton, Pratley, Beattie, Van der Gun, Monk (c), Rangel, Allen, Gower. Subs: Dyer, Lopez, Pintado, Trundle, Bessone, Serran, Butler.
Attendance: 5,201 (314 away)
The biggest piece of Iron news is the fact that conventional skipper Rob Jones fails to make the starting eleven, allowing Niall Canavan to start. Of course, Canavan did come on as a substitute in August's League Cup tie with the Swans, and got his name on the scoresheet that night.
In the other news, Gary Hooper gets back into the starting eleven to mark his return to full fitness - at the expense of Jonathan Forte, despite the fact that Forte grabbed a goal on Wednesday night. Martyn Woolford suffers a similar fate to Forte, as Sam Togwell is preferred to him in a compact midfield.
PREAMBLE:
It's Halloween, and the perfect way for United to celebrate will be via spooking their opponents, Swansea, vampire-style, by sucking three points out of them . The task is possible, but United's performance will need to be positively spellbinding to do so. Swansea have brushed aside their early-season cobwebs in recent matches, and are unbeaten in eight.
Additionally, if this afternoon's game is even fractionally as enchanting as United's 2-1 Carling Cup win down at the Liberty Stadium in August was, then the crowd will leave Glanford Park in the early evening darkness with value for their money.
SCENE-SETTER:
The three biggest pieces of news to filter out of Glanford Park in the last few days undoubtedly came yesterday and today, when Scunthorpe announced a trio interesting stories. Firstly, the loan signing of left-sided utility player George Friend from Wolves, had been completed. This is for an initial period of one month; and while Friend doesn't expect to go straight into the eleven today, he is likely to be named amongst the Iron's substitutes.
Secondly, Josh Lillis had done something similar - also making a loan move - but contrastingly, his was outbound; to League 2 side Rochdale. For Josh, this presents another fantastic opportunity to gather some more precious first-team experience.
Finally, Scunthorpe this morning announce the loan arrival of Bondz N'Gala, who won't be involved today but is set to start with the club on Monday.
Ben May's near-future is not looking quite so bright, however. He misses out again today, as he continues to recover from his long-term ankle problem. And Captain Rob Jones could be joining him on the sidelines, after been withdrawn during Wednesday's defeat at Manchester City due to a back injury, and then spending Thursday in the company of club physiotherapist Alex Dalton, while the other players trained.
Elsewhere, Sam Togwell will be pushing for a return to the side after failing to make the starting eleven at Eastlands; as will Gary Hooper, who has battled a foot injury over the last week - a battle from which he now appears to have emerged victorious.
For the Welsh side, Guillem Bauza and Ferrie Bodde are certainly out, while Captain Garry Monk, on his return from injury, may have to settle for a place on Paulo Sousa's bench. Oh, and watch out for Lee Trundle - United's nemesis. In eleven career appearances against the Iron, he's scored no less than seven times.
David Mirfin may be particularly familiar with the match referee, as it's the same one who sent the Iron defender packing no less than ten minutes into his club debut, in the 2-1 defeat at Walsall, last season. His name..? Mr. Karl Evans.
