Match Report |
Swansea City 1-2 Scunthorpe | |
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Swansea City 1-2 Scunthorpe
Swans crashed out of the Carling Cup in farcical circumstances with Swans finishing the game with just six players on the pitch. .jpg) Paulo Sousa once more made a number of changes with David Cornell given his first start in a competitive game and Chad Bond and Kerry Morgan starting only their second competitive games. New signing Besian Idrizaj started on the bench. Marcos Painter made his first start since his long term injury.
Side- Cornell, Rangel, Monk, Tate, Painter, Dyer, Britton, Lopez, Morgan, Bond, Pintado. Subs- de Vries, Williams, Collins, MacDonald, Gower, Idrizaj, Dobbie. .jpg)
When I first saw the team sheet tonight whilst not feeling too confident with the Swans starting line up, I noted the referee was a Mr Linington. A new name to me and I lived in hope he would be strong enough to deal with what was no doubt going to be a physical approach from
From the start Scunthorpe looked physically stronger and Swans needed Mr Linington to be firm and they needed to play their passing game and beat .jpg) .jpg) The first half was awful.
Referee Mr Linington had had a poor first half taking little action and only making showing one yellow card despite
At half time Paulo Sousa had little option but to make changes. He opted for just the one, with Stephen Dobbie replacing Chad Bond. That seemed to spark some life into the Swans and they were soon in the ascendency.
After putting
That was as good as it got as Swans night went from bad to worse with the help of the inept Mr Linington. .jpg)
On 83 minutes Scunny substitute Michael O’Connor dived just outside the box in an attempt to win a free kick. With Swans winning possession Mr Linington rightly played on. Garry Monk decided to have a word with O’Connor and the two players were face to face when play broke down. After taking advice from his fourth official Mr Linington showed Garry Monk a red card, but O’Connor who looked as guilty as Monk and had already committed a yellow card offence for the dive walked away scot free.
The game went into extra time with Swans a man down but Mr Linington’s performance was about to get a whole lot worse.
In the first period of extra time Scunny defender Josh Wright was turned by Stephen Dobbie and brought the Swans front man down with a kick to the chest. It was an awful challenge which seemed to be Mr Linington’s opinion as well as he screamed at the Swans physio to come on to treat the fallen Dobbie. Surely the red card would follow. No, Mr Linington didn’t even speak to the player and with Dobbie unable to continue Swans were down to nine.
Now we all know the provocation was enormous but players need to keep their discipline even in the face of one of the poorest displays by a referee you could hope to see.
Gorka Pintado escaped a red card for an awful elbow into the face of Jordan Spence which seemed to be ignored by both the hapless referee and the linesman who was no more than 10 yards away.
Mr Linington then spotted a hand ball by Alan Tate in the box and awarded a penalty. He showed Tatey a yellow card and I can’t quite work out how it could be a yellow card. If he has prevented a goal scoring opportunity by purposely handling the ball it’s a straight red card and if it’s accidental he can award a penalty but no card should have been shown. In any event Gary Hopper smashed the penalty past David Cornell.
Swans then pressed the self destruct button and Gorka Pintado got two yellow cards in the space of eight minutes. To make matters worse he went face to face with the referee and had to be dragged off the field by Swans back room staff. .jpg) Angel Rangel then got his marching orders for a petulant flying arm that caught the Scunny winger across the face.
With Swans down to seven and a few minutes still to go, substitute Besian Idrizaj went down clutching his knee. Football League rules don’t allow a side to continue with less than seven players and by now Mr Linington looked about as capable as a blind man doing brain surgery. He was obviously being told what to do by his assistants and his hand was permanently to his ear.
Paulo Sousa made life easy for him by making Idrizaj stand on the touch line for the last minute or so. All we needed to complete the farce was for Mr Linington’s shorts to fall down, but it wasn’t to be. .jpg)
FAW officials will be sharpening their pencils and rubbing their hands in glee with thoughts of a day out in a
Ratings –
Cornell 6 – Little to do. Very reluctant to come off his line.
Rangel 6 – Just when he’s getting his form back he gets himself a ban. Stupid. Monk 6 – Was there really any need to take the law into his own hands? Tate 8 – Excellent game marred by a harsh penalty decision and yet another booking. Painter 7 - Great to see him back and come through 120 minutes.
Dyer 7 – Another good game. Often our only threat. Britton 7 – Usual all action performance. Lopez 6 – Very tidy and always chooses the easy ball. Morgan 5 – Much as I’d love to see him do well, I feel he’ll struggle at this level.
Bond 3 – Big chance and never looked like taking it.
Pintado 2 – Just what was he thinking. With Dobbie possibly out for a few weeks he virtually asks to be sent off and then has a go at the referee and has to be dragged off. Should be fined two weeks wages and apologise to Paulo Sousa.
Subs –
Dobbie 7- Again looked sharp and will be sorely missed. Gower 6- Did quite well and offered more down the left that young Kerry Morgan. Idrizaj 6 – Looked every inch the striker. 6’2, lean but didn’t look fit or hungry. | |
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Swansea City 1-2 Scunthorpe
Click Here for More Match PicsSEVEN man Swansea City suffered extra time heartbreak to crash out of the Carling Cup as a controversial penalty settled an intensely fiery contest against Scunthorpe. With captain Garry Monk, Gorka Pintado and Angel Rangel all seeing red and Stephen Dobbie limping off injured, the game was dominated by referee James Linington's performance. With just seven Swansea players on the pitch the game was on the verge of being abandoned as tempers spilled over throughout the Liberty Stadium. In the end, with Gary Hooper's extra time penalty clinching victory following goals from Nial Canavan and Dobbie in normal time, Scunthorpe will be in the third round. But that will almost be an irrelevance in the storm that is sure to errupt over the next week. Swansea could now be without several key players for a number of games. And there will be plenty of questions asked as the dust begins to settle over the next 24 hours. The game wasn't always so eventful and, in what initially threatened to be a potentially dull affair, Swansea at least made a solid start as they looked to continue their recent good form. But, when they failed to take advantage of their early control, a quick counter-attack soon gave Scunthorpe a chance to open the scoring when Paul Hayes' low shot forced debutante keeper David Cornell to concede a corner at his near post. Josh Wright stepped up to curl in a dangerous ball and, having found space on the edge of the six-yard box, Canavan powered home an unstoppable header. If Sousa's men wanted to make the draw for the third round, they would have to do it the hard way. For all their efforts to get back on level terms, Swansea's passing game just wasn't clicking. And, had Cornell not denied Martyn Woolford with a superb save on the half-hour mark, they would have had an even bigger mountain to climb. The hosts did eventually start to get a grip of the game as it moved towards half-time. But, with both Gorka Pintado and Jordi Lopez fluffing their lines when presented with good chances, they went in for the break trailing 1-0. Sousa reacted to a disappointing first-half by bringing on Dobbie for Chad Bond. The change worked and the Scotsman was soon in the thick of it, creating space for himself in the box before sending a shot inches wide of Joe Murphy's right-hand post. As well as Dobbie making an instant impact, the Swans as a collective had clearly been urged to step up their performance. And, with Nathan Dyer, Angel Rangel and Pintado all having half-chances, the Irons goal was soon under constant pressure. The visitors managed to weather the storm though and Sousa's men were soon having to work much harder for their chances. And, when one finally did come, the impressive Dobbie was denied by the crossbar. Sousa then threw on his final substitute, giving new signing Besian Idrizaj his Swans debut. The former Liverpool man made an instant impact, using his first touch to set up Dobbie who fired home an equaliser from 25 yards. Any joy was shortlived though as skipper Monk was shown red for an off-the-ball incident with substitute Michael O'Connor. It was a harsh decision on the defender after a clash of heads which looked to be initiated by the Scunthorpe man. If the visitors wanted to make the most of their extra man, it didn't show. And, had a superb save from Murphy not denied Pintado after he latched on to Idrizaj's flick-on, Swansea would have snatched a late winner. In the end the game went to extra time and Sousa's men soon picked up where they left off. But they were dealt another cruel blow within 10 minutes of the restart as Dobbie hobbled off with what looked to be a rib injury, leaving them with just nine men on the field. As valiantly as they tried to find a winner, the Swans were then on the wrong end of another controversial decision from referee Linington when Alan Tate was adjudged to have handled Paul Hayes' goal-bound effort. Gary Hooper smashed home the resulting penalty and, with Pintado then seeing red for a second bookable offence and Rangel receiving a straight red late on, that was enough to send Scunthorpe into the third round. SWANSEA: Cornell, Rangel, Monk (Cpt), Tate, Painter; Britton, Lopez (Idrizaj 78), Bond (Dobbie 46); Dyer, Morgan (Gower 60); Pintado. Subs not used: De Vries, MacDonald, Williams, Collins. Goals: Dobbie 79 SCUNTHORPE: Murphy (Cpt), Spence, Mirfin, Canavan, Williams; Sparrow, Wright, Togwell (Hooper 87); Woolford (Thompson 76), Forte (O'Connor 64); Hayes. Subs not used: Lillis, Morris,Boyes, Byrne. Goals: Canavan 14, Hooper pen 110 Referee: James Linington (Isle of Wight) Att: 7,321 |
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