Match report

Swansea City 2 v 0 Shrewsbury

By The Famous Five

The lone bugler that sat in the East Stand was, no doubt, ready to render the last post, but in the end he entertained the crowd with what sounded like a jazz improvisation as a revitalised Swans side leapt clear of the relegation places for the first time in weeks with what was a great 2-0 victory over a Shrewsbury side, 15th in the table before today's game.

As predicted by Mystic Mog in a recent private sitting, and despite recent form and results, the crowd was swelled by the attraction of the home debut of the two loan signings Alan Tate and Marc Richards and were it not for the awful weather, there would have been more than the 3,638 in attendance.

The Swans lined up

The ground staff had done well to keep the pitch in a playable state after some prolonged heavy rain, and it was something of a relief to hear the announcement that the game was on after we had passed over the cash to the turnstile operator at 2.30 pm.

As the game kicked off the amount of surface water became clear, and it was to their credit that from a very early stage the Swans adapted to the conditions far better than their opponents. With the high ball hanging in the wind and rain, and the ground ball being held up, this was a game with potential errors written all over it, but that is not how it materialised, and certainly to home supporters, it must have been one of the most entertaining and exciting games seen at the Vetch for many moons.

Tate at the centre of defence took immense pressure of Smith, and the Man Utd player demonstrated class throughout this encounter with his timing, anticipation and general footballing ability. He is a player who gives himself time on the ball, and his distribution is first class. Smith as a result, was able to concentrate on his own area of the defence and put in a superb performance also.

With Terry Evans returning at right back after a lengthy lay off through injury, the defence looked solid, with some poor passes from Howard being their only shortcoming in the first half. Roger was not troubled throughout the first forty five minutes, and the way the back four were playing must have brought back memories of what it was like to play behind such a solid formation.

With rumours of a third loan signing in the wings, this time in midfield, the performance of today's midfield trio must have been as heartening for the management team as it was for the fans.

Phillips ran for the full ninety minutes, and was always looking for the ball on the break. He manoeuvred some good moves down the right, and supported the defence in his previously familiar battling style.

Mumford easily had his best game for many weeks, and for the first half controlled the midfield across the width of the pitch. His two footed abilities were very evident, and despite fading a little in the second half, he made a huge contribution to today's team effort. He took one great free kick in the first half which had goal and '£110 for the Famous Five' written all over it, but a great save kept the score and our winnings at 0-0.

The stalemate was broken 3 minutes before half time, when a Mumford free kick from the touchline was headed home by Murphy. It was certainly no more than the Swans deserved after a battling and at times very skilful first half performance.

Lacey was a little off the pace generally, but the overall team performance today was far more important than any criticism of an individual's.

Up front, James Thomas may have been a little disappointed to be put out on the left for most of the game, but he played a very significant part in the win. His crossing was excellent, and his touch was far more impressive than in some games recently. With Richards out on the right, he and Thomas added a whole new dimension to our game.

Thomas benefited up front in the same way as Smith did at the back, from having another class player around him, allowing him some freedom from the lone star role that he has had to occupy for so long.

Thomas provided the pin point cross that brought Richards' second half headed goal, and were it not for an excellent point blank save from the Shrewsbury keeper a few minutes earlier, then Murphy would have got his second of the match from an identical delivery.

The other revelation up front was Matt Murphy himself, who was showing skill levels that many thought had escaped him. He fought for everything today, and his control, vision and distribution was great to watch. He is far more comfortable in this forward position, and is getting his name on the score sheet on a regular basis. This was by far his best game for the club.

There were a couple of needless bookings for kicking the ball away after a decision, and a couple for harsh tackling, but the most deserved entry into the referees book was that of Jemson, who had niggled, nudged and argued his way through the match, and his substitution in the second half was the only way he was going to avoid the red card we're sure.

So where are we now.

We are 20th in the league, and had a team on display today that could have given most teams in the division a run out. We have two excellent loan players, and when added to Thomas, Freestone and Jasojn Smith, who have been the onl yreally consistent performers this season, we have the nucleus of a very capable teram.

The list in performance and effort of most around them resulted in the best performance we have seen in ages, and if we can continue to play like this throughout December against the lower teams that we have to play, we can climb well into the safety zone, and give ourselves something to build on.

If the Trust scheme genuinely has helped to get in these loan players, then the fans should be delighted in how their money has been spent, because we saw no signs of avoiding tackles or lack of fight for the ball from these two boys, and they are very welcome in the white shirt. Let's hope they can stay for the duration.

We could easily have scored more today, and we were more creative than has been seen for a long time. We can now carve out chances, and also score from them. Some strange refereeing decisions denied us a couple of corners and other attacking opportunities, and the players deserved all the applause that the fans gave them at the end of the game.

What with Christmas shoppers, and the very real likelihood of larger crowds if we continue like this, we'll have to get to Macari's a lot earlier to book our seats for dinner this winter.

Forget words like one, swallow, summer, make and doesn't; just enjoy this result and start believing that there may be a lot more like this in the months to come.

Picking a man of the match today would have been more difficult if Tate had not been so outstanding, but for the first time this season, it would have been difficult because so many played well.

It was a great game to watch.

Player Ratings:

Freestone - 7 - Defence was that good he could have taken a deck chair out with him today.  

• Evans - 7 - Looked assured and his return hasn't come a moment too soon.
• Smith - 8 -Solid as a rock, looked like he'd done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson by the end. 
• Tate - 9 - Looks a superb loan signing. Total class today.
• Howard - 6 -A couple of telling crosses.

• Lacey - 5 - Whilst the new signings seemed to lift the performance of many, regretfully that didn't include Damien.
• Phillips - 7 -Back at his battling best.
• Mumford - 8 - Again, back to something like his best. Ran the midfield for most of the game.

• Thomas - 7 - Probably felt aggrieved to be asked to play on left, but did really well providing for others.
• Murphy - 8 -Great in the air and held ball up well. Is this the same Murphy?
• Richards - 8 -Added pace to the attack. Looks another very good loan signing.

Swansea City 2 v 0 Shrewsbury

By Gary Martin

With continuous misty rain falling since before daylight, it was no surprise to find the Vetch Field slightly waterlogged for this afternoon's match with Shrewsbury.

Flynn intending to play a 4-5-1 formation had to revamp his starting line-up due to the late withdrawals of Wood and Jenkins through illness.

Swans lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with leading scorer James Thomas occupying the wide left berth in midfield.

Mumford and Phillips were gaining quite a bit of possession in midfield and using it to good effect aided and abetted by Lacey. One beautiful placed through ball from Lacey to Thomas almost created the first goal, but the pace off the wet surface saw the promising move come to nought.

The Shrews defence had their hands full coping with the lively Richards who had an excellent home debut. Both him, Murphy and Thomas were seeing plenty of the ball from the attacking forays of Howard and Evans down the flanks.

From one such move, Evans tried his luck down the right wing by knocking the ball past his marker to chase after. To prevent his progress, the defender stretched out an elbow across his face and was immediately penalised with a free kick just yards from the corner.

The resulting free kick, saw Murphy climb highest on the 6 yard line and canon a header onto the crossbar when it looked for all the world that he would score. The ball bounced into the air and behind for a goal kick.

It wasn't too long before Murphy had a similar opportunity from the other flank. Mumford, having his best game to date, used his close control and a little fortune, to dribble past 3 defenders along the left wing. His tricky movement against the 4th saw him upended and another free kick awarded.

This time Murphy made no mistake with more of a glancing header to put the Swans a deserved goal ahead.

Second half saw a period of scrappy play before Swansea once again imposed themselves on the game. A period of pressure led to several good moves and tricky football on the difficult surface but the closest we came to a second was Murphy's strike against the right upright.

Shrewsbury never really cleared the ball from this particular spell of pressure and when the 3rd or 4th good chance had been created it was Richards who powered in a header from Lacey's cross.

Swansea sat back a little playing out time but still looked dangerous on the break.

As one would expect from a Ratcliffe team, tempers became a little a frayed and there was a general unsporting air about the last 10 minutes. Jemson was not alone in his display of petulance, and substituted to resounding jeers as his manager took steps to avoid him being sent off,

Despite the dreadful conditions, referee Curson adopted a very sensible approach re bookings and it was only Howard and Evans from the Swansea team, that found their names in his book.

This was Swansea's best performance for quite some time and there was fairly unanimous agreement that young Alan Tate was the pick of the bunch for man of the match.

An ungainly looking fellow - a bit like Lee De-Vulgt with an elongated neck - and a lumbering gait. Reminded me of Harry Enfield's Kevin in the way he walks and holds himself, but there is nothing ungainly about the way he plays.

Not only did he comfortably and assuredly deal with all through balls and high balls that were played at him, but he also had to cope with their giant centre half Redmile roughing him up at set pieces and Jemson's general niggly attitude and attempts to wind up.

The whole Swansea team were quite excellent today and Flynn confirmed this by not using any of his substitutes despite Jason Smith playing most of the second half covered in blood from a suspected broken nose.

Player ratings:

Freestone 7 - had very little to do. Did have to make one save in the first half when he did well to gather a low hard strike along the slippery surface. Kicking was more accurate but a little long 2nd half by not allowing for the wind.

Evans 8 - definitely adds something to the team when he plays. A busy game with some good runs down the right flank.

Smith 8 - had a real battle with Jemson who appeared to break his nose with some elbowing. Was also down for treatment on two other occasions but did complete the 90 minutes. Will benefit from the next fortnight's inactivity.

Tate 9 - won balls in the air throughout, but this was just a minor part of his performance today. A very assured home debut, bringing the ball down on his chest when under pressure and calmly and intelligently distributing it from the back. Was not afraid to dribble the ball out himself and also joined the attack on a few occasions. Definitely one to keep spending the moan-loan funds on.

Howard 8 - a similar performance to Evans - marauding up the left flank as defensive duties allowed.

Lacey 7 - despite the heavy conditions he impressed me today. Considering he's been out of match practice for several weeks, he was quite involved for the whole 90 minutes.

Mumford 8 - back to his best on this showing - spraying the ball around and playing an effective linkman role. Looked to have shed some weight which may be another factor in his improvement.

Phillips 8 - revelled in these conditions and played very well. The fact that he never looked like getting booked despite giving a full blooded display, illustrated the control he played with.

Thomas 8 - occupied the left wing to good effect which gave the team a much better balance than of late. He was also able to follow his natural instinct to head for goal which, coupled with Richards and Murphy's contribution, made for an uncomfortable time for Shrewsbury's rearguard.

Richards 8.5 - a late call-up because of Wood's withdrawal, a very assured young man on the ball. Bags of pace and good control. Was a threat throughout and judging by his goal celebrations, is fully committed to the Swans.

Murphy 8 - a revelation since being converted to centre forward. Could and perhaps should have had a hat trick. Not only did he unluckily strike woodwork twice, but was played through on a few other occasions, his first touch letting him down due mainly to the conditions.

In summary, this was game that we needed to win, if only for a welcome boost to the players. The added bonus of all other results going our way and lifting us out of the bottom four, will surely raise the optimism both on the field and in the stands.

Swansea clawed their way out of the relegation zone with their best performance of a troubled season.

Bryan Flynn's bold policy of selecting a three-man front line paid off, as Matt Murphy and Marc Richards, the latter making his home debut after his loan signing from Blackburn, got the crucial goals.

Shrewsbury travelled to the Vetch having lost just one of their last 10 games at the ground and defending a run of eight unbeaten games.

But the Swansea front three of Richards, Murphy and James Thomas, who passed a late fitness test, were superb, causing the visitors no end of problems.

Andrew Mumford drove them from midfield, his vision opening up a number of chances.

Shrewbury were no more than workmanlike, and home keeper Roger Freestone was redundant in the opening half.

The Swans' reward came in the 42nd minute. A free kick just outside the Shrewsbury box was delivered perfectly by Mumford, allowing Murphy to rise and head home.

The visitors increased the pressure in the second half, but Brian Flynn's men dug in and held the onslaught.

Ian Dunbavin denied Swansea's leading scorer Thomas in the 67th minute with a superb save, but just three minutes later Richards got the settling strike.

The front man, his loan funded by the long-suffering Swansea fans, rose to meet a cross and headed home.

They stayed solid for the rest of the game, allowing Swansea to record their first back-to-back home wins since February.

Swansea: Freestone, Jason Smith, Tate, Howard, Evans, Lacey, Phillips, Mumford, Richards, Murphy, Thomas. Subs: David Smith, O'Leary, Theobald, Watkin, De-Vulgt.

Shrewsbury: Dunbavin, Moss, Drysdale, Redmile, Artell, Glenn Tolley, Wilding, Atkins, Van Blerk, Rodgers, Jemson. Subs: Murray, Jagielka, Kendall, Ian Stevens, Murphy.

Referee: B Curson (Leicestershire)

Att: 3,638

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