Town started off brightly and there was no real surprise when we took the lead after 15 minutes. Some bright approach play ended with O’Briens effort being turned away by ex-Town man Hamer into the path of Sinani who could not miss. As the second half progressed Town were the better of the 2 sides and really needed to score a second and put the game to bed but Swansea held on and had a feew half chances themselves.
The second half was like a different match. Town camped in their own half and Swansea controlled the play. The Swans lacked any real cutting edge but had all the posession and if they had of been more decisive in the final third and we had not of had Nicholls in goal then they would have comfortably picked up 3 points. It was no surprise really that eventually the continued possession brought about the equalizer on 78 minutes. Town then upped their game again and Danny Ward had a great opportunity to win the game but rushed his finish, putting it wide.
In the end probably a fair result but we really let Swansea back in in the second half and offered very little in attack in the second period. We needed to be braver rather than retreating. When we won the ball which wasn’t often there were no options for us to retain possession as we were all in defense and static.
Ratings
Nicholls
Easily MOM. He kept us in the game in the second period and commanded his area well.
Rating 9
Lees
Read the play well and defended strongly.
Rating 6
Pearson
Tackled well when needed and marshalled the defence well.
Rating 7
Turton
Defended well, but a little eratic with the ball at times.
Rating 6
Hogg
Defended well and won the ball back in good areas in the first half. Disappeared a little in the second and dropped a little too deep. at times.
Rating 6
O’Brien
Did well in the first half but struggled to get into the game in the second period. Rarely got on the ball and we really needed to challenge more to gain possession.
Rating 6
Toffolo
Struggled to be an attacking presence but did ok in defence. Forced to drop deeper in the second period.
Rating 5
Thomas
Occasionally showed what he could do in attack but another one that was playing in defence too often.
Rating 6
Koroma
Showed more often in the first half but as the game wore on he disappeared. A lack of control kept giving the ball back to the opposition.
Rating 5
Sinani.
Did ok in the first half closing down and linking up the play before going off injured at half time.
Rating 7
Ward
Worked hard but failed to take his chance late on.
Rating 5
High
Came on at half time and really struggled to get with the pace. It is some time since he operated alongside Hogg and appeared to struggle with what was required at times.
Rating 5
Carlos
Today felt like 2 points dropped rather than 1 gained. Having taken the lead we gave Swansea too much time and space. If we had of got into them I feel that we would have upset their rhythm. They were too comfortable on the ball and we failed to force them into any mistakes it became a easy second half for Swansea defensively. It may have needed some bookings but we fell short of being physical in this game. The other aspect missing in the second half was the ability to retain possession in their half. We lacked composure and we lacked the bravery to keep a man or 2 up the pitch as an option for us winning the ball. Tactically we could have been better in this period and we should have made the substitutions earlier as well.
Rating 5
View From the Stand 