6th November 2000  

More Swan's report's

ATHLETIC boss Andy Ritchie was among the millions cursing the bad weather today after his reserve team was hit by another postponement. Several senior players were due to play against Tranmere tomorrow and Ritchie admits he is worried about a lack of sharpness in the squad. Athletic tried to switch the Avon Insurance League match from Stalybridge to Prenton Park, but Tranmere said their pitch was unfit. The news came as a blow to players hoping to battle their way back into the first team, including Andrew Holt, Matthew Tipton, Phil Salt and Danny Boshell. 

They are all short of match practice, although, contrary to some reports, John Sheridan would not have figured in the game. The veteran midfielder is back in full training after knee surgery, but Ritchie thinks he needs another week before playing competitively. Athletic had two trialists pencilled in for tomorrow night, Faroe Islander Ossur Hansen and 19-year-old Leeds defender Jason Lanns. Lanns is still under contract at Elland Road, but he is being allowed to play in two reserve games. Athletic emerged injury-free from Saturday’s draw with Swansea, leaving only Sheridan, Mark Hotte (broken hand) and Barry Prenderville (knee) unavailable for the next test, at Stoke next weekend. 

But Ritchie admitted: “The reserves being called off is a big problem. Some of the lads need a workout, but they aren’t getting the games. “Fitness isn’t a problem because we can still work them hard in training. But some of them need sharpening up in case they are needed for the first team.” The recent rain has meant Athletic are even struggling for a training base. Today, they were using the JJB Soccerdome, Wigan

THERE was nice weather for ducks on Saturday — and a nice result, too, for The Swans. When Swansea City stole a point at rainswept Boundary Park, it left Athletic cursing the poor finishing which dogged them throughout. They controlled the match for long spells, but only managed a single goal — the second of Paul Jones’ league career — and paid the price six minutes from time. Swansea insisted they were worth their draw and, after a hard-fought encounter between two honest teams, they could well have been right. Athletic are now back in the dreaded relegation zone, but this was far from being a day of unbroken bad news. Though they were held at home by fellow strugglers, Andy Ritchie’s side again shaped with promise and did enough to suggest their recent improvement is more than just a false dawn. One of the biggest factors in Athletic’s modest rise has been the fluidity of their play.

The idea of the now-abandoned sweeper system was to bring freedom of movement, allowing men to get forward or drop in to cover according to demands. But Athletic had become too static before their switch to 4-4-2. Now, they are a much slicker outfit, with a midfield which takes turns to attack and a width which was lacking when there were wing-backs, rather than wingers. There are also more options for the man in possession, a sure sign of a team playing with belief. When things are going badly, some players have a tendency to hide from the ball. At the moment, Athletic are going out and looking for it and the results, despite the disappointment of being pegged back on Saturday, are encouraging. Once again, it was the superb left foot of David Eyres which pierced the gloom of a dank and dismal afternoon. Whether keeping it simple or spraying long balls from one flank to the other, the veteran hardly put a pass out of place. Neil Adams did well on the right, while the central midfield partnership of Lee Duxbury and Tony Carss continued to impress. And Athletic’s defending was generally sound — apart from the lapse which cost them victory — leaving only the forwards as a cause for concern. Both Mark Allott and Carlo Corazzin fared creditably in their toe-to-toe battle with Swansea’s formidable back three. But Allott was wasteful in front of goal and Corazzin is currently well below his best. For all his hard toil, the Canadian rarely looked like breaking a scoring duck which stretches right back to early September.

Ritchie made one enforced change from the win at Bristol Rovers, with Jones replacing the banned Shaun Garnett. And his side started with predictable brio. Eyres announced himself with a skimming 25-yard drive, but Swansea came close to going in front after only five minutes when Gary Kelly expertly tipped over Steve Watkin’s header. It was the Welshmen’s turn to be thankful when Corazzin wasted a clear opportunity from Eyres’ cross moments later. Although Carss put Corazzin’s miscued shot into the net, he was ruled offside. Athletic’s dominance continued with almost everything going through Eyres, who curled a powerful free-kick past the post from 22 yards. But, for the hosts, frustration was already mounting. While Swansea’s defence takes plenty of credit, Athletic should have made more of their pressure. Other than an opening for Allott, they were mostly restricted to long-range efforts, two of which came from the ubiquitous Eyres. They were, though, unlucky in the 37th minute when Adams hit a cracking 18-yard drive which didn’t quite dip enough before clipping the crossbar. Swansea hardly posed a threat until just after the break when Matthew Bound’s angled free-kick whistled a foot wide.

Athletic then had a terrific chance, only for Allott to blast straight at Welsh international goalkeeper Roger Freestone after a touch from Adams. The longer the visitors stayed on terms, the more dangerous they became. Giovanni Savarese — a Venezuelan striker who must wonder what has hit him on these storm-lashed shores — began to cause problems as the game developed into an even contest. Athletic added extra spice by bringing on the in-form Craig Dudley, who was unlucky not to be recalled from the start following suspension. The idea was a good one: Dudley’s pace was tailor-made to exploit some tiring Swansea legs on the heavy pitch. And it almost paid instant dividends as the striker darted through the centre before being thwarted by a terrific low save by Freestone. Dudley brought new life to his team and, in the 76th minute, they finally broke through Swansea’s brave resistance. Not surprisingly, Eyres was the supplier. When he delivered a corner from the left-hand side, Jones lunged 10 yards out to send an unstoppable header past Freestone. A minute later, Athletic were almost caught out when their opponents broke free down the left. Watkin surely couldn’t miss when a cross dropped invitingly on to his head four yards out. But he hit the post to suggest that this, after all, would be Athletic’s day.

It wasn’t. And, after 84 minutes, they were punished for a lack of communication at the back. Scott McNiven and Mark Innes failed to cope with a simple long ball, the result being a Swansea corner — only their second of the game. It was met by Jason Smith and, though Kelly blocked the header on the line, Savarese pounced for his fifth goal in six games. Maybe the transition from South America to South Wales isn’t so hard, after all.

ANDY RITCHIE admitted that the killer instinct had been missing as Athletic took a single point from their encounter with Swansea. The Boundary Park boss was convinced his side should have won and, not for the first time, felt a lack of firepower was to blame. “It’s definitely two points dropped,” Ritchie insisted. “Swansea didn’t deserve anything at all. “We totally dominated them, we controlled the game and we carved them open a lot. But we have to start putting our chances away. “Even their goal was a long punt upfield which we should have let go out for a goal-kick. “All it needed was a shout of `leave it’ but, even after that, we defended the corner badly and it has left us very disappointed. “We had 99 per cent of the game. They only had one chance in open play, whereas we had several. “We should really have five wins out of five now, instead of three wins and a draw. “But at least we are heading in the right direction and, to a man, I couldn’t fault them for effort. They worked very hard in difficult conditions.”

Ritchie opted to leave out fans’ favourite Craig Dudley, who was free from suspension, and stick with the partnership of Mark Allott and Carlo Corazzin. As it turned out, all three strikers missed chances to round off some good build-up play. Ritchie explained: “Craig had a bit of a dead leg and was still feeling the effects slightly, but I have always believed you shouldn’t change a winning side. “Mark did very well (at Bristol Rovers) last week and it was the same in this game, other than his finishing. “We brought Craig on because we thought he might get us a goal with his pace. And he should have done, but he isn’t having much luck with one-on-ones. “We keep getting into those positions and either the ‘keeper makes a good save or we don’t hit the ball crisply enough.”

Corazzin, Athletic’s Canadian international and the man Ritchie pursued for months, has now gone nine games without a goal. But his manager played down any concerns, saying: “That kind of thing has always happened to strikers, so I’m not at all worried about him. “He is still getting in there and the rest of his game is fine. Carlo is very important to us.”

Swansea manager John Hollins took a different view of the game to Ritchie, believing his side could have left Boundary Park with a win. He said: “We did well to come in for half-time at 0-0, but after that we were much brighter and sharper and we had some good chances. “If Steve Watkin had scored instead of hitting the post (with 13 minutes to go), it would have been interesting.”

Thank's to all who offered me their voucher B. My fiancee is talking to me again !!!!. Gary

From Gary Martin's Unofficial Swansea City Site

Certainly a game of two halves at Boundary Park today. At the end of the first half we saw a dispirited and misshapen Swans side troop off knowing they were lucky to be on level terms, only for them to return 15 minutes later, to produce a performance of passion and commitment, which rescued them a deserved point. Why they didn't play that way from the start, only they can answer.

The Swans midfield had once again been shuffled, seemingly to try to accommodate Romo, with Jenkins and Cusack in the middle, Romo on the right and Roberts on the left. Despite a bright Swans start, with Watkin nearly giving us an early lead with a terrific header well saved by Kelly, the formation quickly fell apart. The centre midfield was overrun, our flanks increasingly exposed, and several players found themselves confused about their roles. At one point Roberts and Price inexplicably changed positions (until ordered back by Hollins) and shortly after, Roberts switched to the right and Jenkins went wide left. This game of musical chairs spelt the start of the increasing Oldham pressure which we endured for the rest of the half.

We thought we had gone behind on the tenth minute, when Price was caught out of position (a recurring theme for the afternoon) and a low cross was turned home, only to be flagged offside. Shortly after, Oldham's David Eyres hit a powerful free kick just wide of Freestone's near post, and after half an hour Mark Allott seemed poised to score but was foiled by a terrific saving tackle from Smith. A few minutes later we thought the pressure had finally told when Neil Adams struck a superb right foot shot which crashed back from the cross-bar with Roger beaten. It was with much relief that we trooped towards our half time coffee, wondering how we could get back in the game, though it seemed that the introduction of Martin Thomas to stiffen the midfield would have to happen.

Much to our surprise it was a transformed, although unchanged, Swans side that emerged after the break. We nearly took the lead when Romo touched a free kick to Bound who hit a vicious shot just wide. Shortly after, the rejuvenated Roberts showed some superb skill on the wing and his swirling cross was met by Savarese who nearly played Watkin in. Suddenly we were the better side playing the more fluent football, but we nearly blew it when Roger dropped the ball from a corner, resulting in a scramble which we eventually emerged from. We responded with our best move of the game involving Cusack, Roberts and Savarese which almost set up Watkin. The home side replied with some powerful long range strikes which Freestone handled comfortably but then Roger produced his save of the match with a diving stop from impressive substitute Craig Dudley.

We struggled to handle Dudley, and this resulted in a booking for Cusack who brought him down in a dangerous position. From yet another corner, some lax marking allowed Paul Jones to head home. This even brought some noise from the perennially subdued Oldham fans, surely the quietest (and wettest!) in the division! Just as we thought another game had got away, the team produced an excellent late rally inspired by substitute Martin Thomas. His brilliant run and cross found Watkin, who unfortunately headed against the post from close range. But we weren't long denied - from our first corner of the game a powerful header from Cusack was parried by Kelly, but Giovanni was there to tuck away the rebound from no more than a yard. At the end it was the Swans chasing the win in a game which could have easily seen them buried at half time.

Freestone - 7 Handling poor in bad conditions, but some good saves.
Price - 5 TOO often out of position at full back and ineffective up front also talked himself into the book early on
DeVulgt - 6 Often exposed, but needs to build up his experience
Smith - 8 Good in the air and covered well for Price
Bound - 8 Good in the air and covered well for Smith who was covering for Price!
Roberts - 8 A quiet first half but inspirational in the second
Jenkins - 6 Some neat touches here and there
Cusack - 7 Battled well, but not enough influence
Romo - 5 Seemed to do a good impression of Hartfield today!
Watkin - 8 Held the ball up well and unlucky not to score
Savarese - 7 Improved on previous away performances and got the goal when it mattered

Subs -
Thomas (for Jenkins) - 8 On this form should certainly be picked ahead of Romo
Boyd (Watkin) Not on long enough to make an impression...he ran for the showers for warmth at the end!

In summary - an uplifting second half, following an inept first. In the end it was a deserved point against an in-form team, but we also found ourselves regretting that we didn't take three from an Oldham side which seemed pretty ordinary. Conditions today were very poor with deluges frequently in the first half; a swirling wind also didn't help. But no excuses - if we had played more consistently we could have won, and one or two players will need to add some battling qualities to their armouries if we are to get back to winning ways. A comment on Boundary Park - the highest ground in the league, and the highest prices in the division(?) Have they forgotten they have been relegated!