Swans Dumped Out Of FA Cup

Saturday, 24 January 2015, 15:25
2 mins read

There is probably not much else that can be said on a day like today and it certainly cannot be a case of looking for excuses as the Swans – almost to a man – found themselves wanting against their Championship opponents who deservedly won the game simply because they wanted it more.

From the moment that Kyle Bartley, hesitated and bought down his man as early as the sixth minute and saw red, the game was always going to be tough for the Swans and so it proved. Bartley looked favourite to get to the ball when a long one was played from the Blackburn half but it bounced and King’s pace caught him unawares. It was a decision that maybe on another day wouldn’t be given but the moment the referee decided it was a free kick then he had little option bar to show the red card and give Bartley an early finish on his return to the team.

By that time we had seen Jordi Amat almost caught out by the lively King and he was joined in the backline by Federico Fernandez with Tom Carroll sacrificed to make way for him.

It was a time that the Swans needed to regroup and the best way to try and do things like that is to score a goal which Gylfi Sigurdsson did with some style just past the twenty minute barrier. He looked to be going nowhere when he lifted his foot and hammered a shot into the back of the net that gave the keeper no hope at all and the ten man Swans were in the lead.

One up and one man down, you hope from there that you can spend some time frustrating the home side. We failed. Less than 2 minutes later Blackburn were level when Tiendalli missed out at the back post and the ball was eventually prodded home to bring the home side level.

From that point forward for me there was probably only one winner as the Swans seemed to sit further and further backwards. We seem to have developed an instinct that the first pass needs to go backwards and the accuracy of the passing leaves much to be desired at times as we give the ball away cheaply far too often in games.

The surprise was that the goals were so late in coming from Gestade and Conway but they always were coming and had Blackburn been forced to come back to the Liberty I suspect that they would have felt very hard done so as they made that journey.

There was of course time for Gylfi to lose his head and get his own red card – slightly harsh but he should never have dived in and asked the referee to make a decision for him. It probably summed up the afternoon that we had in a performance where manty players need to take a hard look at themselves

Things just aren’t working at the moment the way that they should but fundamentally we have the same players that saw us through the early stages of the season so well although you would hope that a Saturday afternoon in Lancashire may burst the egos that some have shown in recent weeks.

The Swans will remain the only Premier League side without an FA Cup Final experience to their names and on this evidence we certainly cannot complain at that.

<#rovers>

Images courtesy of Getty Images, Athena Picture Agency and Swansea City Football Club.
NewsNow

League Table

Next Up

Forum Latest

Latest from Blog

Swans TV: Luke Williams ahead of Sheffield Wednesday | Press Conference

. . .Luke Williams talks to the press ahead of his side's Championship clash against Sheffield Wednesday the Hillsborough. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow…

Ronald’s Swansea move was “the happiest day of his life”

Brazilian winger Ronald admits that his move to Swansea in the January window was the culmination of a childhood dream that saw him wanting to play in Europe. Ronald has made an immediate impact at Championship level for the Swans and added a much needed injection of pace into a…

Swans TV: Junior Jacks | Press Conference

Swansea City's Harry Darling, Kyle Naughton, Jess Williams and Sammy Wynne sat down with some of our junior season-ticket holders for a press conference with a difference at the Swansea.com Stadium. The young supporters got the chance to ask the Swans quartet about what it's like to play for the…

Sheffield Wednesday v Swansea City – Your matchday guide

The Swans are back in matchday action on Friday as they take on relegation threatened Sheffield Wednesday with the impressive win over Cardiff City still fresh in our minds. That win over the Bluebirds gave the Swans a seven point cushion ahead of the bottom three and eight over Friday’s…