Dire Swansea City turned in their worst
performance of the season as they were embarrassed by struggling
Stockport County. Any hopes of another FA Cup run were washed away in
the Greater Manchester rain, leaving boss Kenny Jackett wondering how
his team could be so bad having been so good in their previous game.
A lacklustre showing was summed up by the Stockport goals, both of which should have been snuffed out by the visiting defence.
But Swansea sloppiness left Chris Turner’s men celebrating only a third win of the campaign.
This
tie was a repeat of last year’s second-round meeting between the clubs,
when Jackett’s side were the League Two outfit hoping for an upset.
The
roles were reversed this time round, with Stockport suffering in the
Football League basement and Swansea pushing for a place in the
Championship.
Hence the visitors were hot favourites to emulate
their performance of 12 months ago, when they emerged 2-1 replay
victors after a hard-fought goalless draw on this ground.
One of
the Swansea goalscorers then, Paul Connor, was back in the starting XI
yesterday for the first time since damaging ankle ligaments at
Hartlepool seven weeks ago.
The former Rochdale man was recalled
for Bayo Akinfenwa – left on the bench because of a suspected stress
fracture in a shin – in the sole change to the line-up which thumped
Chesterfield last Saturday.
Stockport were on the other end of a 6-0 beating at Carlisle last time out, prompting boss Turner into five changes.
The Hatters are enduring a terrible season, but there was no sign of a lack of confidence as they began on the front foot.
Keith
Briggs brought the first save of the game from Willy Gueret and Ludovic
Dje nudged wide of the post inside the opening six minutes.
Briggs
forced a smarter Gueret stop on the 20-minute mark as Stockport
continued to make light of the gulf between these sides in the league
tables.
Swansea threatened occasionally on the break, with their first shot on target coming from an unlikely source.
Alan Tate galloped down the right before cutting inside and drawing a decent stop from home keeper James Spencer.
Swansea
were gifting possession to their hosts too often and Gueret was
grateful to see two dangerous set-pieces scrambled clear before the
half hour.
The French keeper palmed Michael Raynes’s looping
header over the woodwork as Swansea’s sluggish start grew into a sloppy
first period.
Sam Ricketts was on hand to snuff out a dangerous
Matt Hamshaw break before the League One high-flyers finally offered a
hint of their attacking quality.
Lee Trundle was the creator, lofting a pass over his shoulder for Connor to chase.
The recalled striker turned his man neatly but saw his left-foot shot parried to safety.
Within inches of an undeserved lead, Swansea finally went behind four minutes before the turnaround.
There seemed little danger when Kevin Austin cut out Dje’s wayward pass just outside his own box.
The
normally reliable centre-back dallied, though, allowing EASTER to steal
possession and tuck his shot under the helpless Gueret.
Swansea
could have gone two down with the last act of the half, Tate and Austin
getting themselves in another pickle before watching gratefully as
Easter rifled over.
Jackett’s men began the second half knowing
a serious improvement was required to give them any hope of making it
to round three of the cup for the third successive year.
Whatever
the manager said, however, his players did not take on board and the
second goal Stockport had been threatening soon arrived.
This time it was Izzy Iriekpen’s turn to be robbed by the pacy Easter on the edge of his own area.
The Cardiff-born striker fed Danny Boshell and his pass found BRIGGS in space on the right edge of the penalty area.
The angle to goal was tight but that was no problem to the Stockport skipper, who drove emphatically into the roof of the net.
Jackett,
relieved to see a yellow rather than red card flashed at Kevin McLeod
for a reckless challenge on Ross Greenwood, sent on Akinfenwa and Andy
Robinson in a bid to stem the tide.
Still Stockport looked the
more dangerous side, though, and Adrian Forbes was soon summoned by the
increasingly desperate Jackett.
Forbes joined Akinfenwa and Trundle up front as Swansea reshuffled, but the changes had little impact.
In fact it was Stockport sub Michael Malcolm who almost made a difference as Gueret was called into action once again.
Jackett waved his arms in the dugout, his players huffed and puffed on the pitch.
But
this was one of those dreadful days to be a travelling fan, and
Stockport were not to be denied one of the upsets of the weekend.
Robinson’s late 25-yarder would have made no difference even if it had flown under rather than just over the crossbar.
Report: Sporting Post
Manager Rating
Jackett 4/10 – He named a strong side which was more than capable of beating Stockport. He was unable to get his side geared for this match and they’ll need to improve when we visit Roots Hall next Saturday.
Opponent Rating
Chris Turner 9/10 – His side bounced back well after a 6-0 defeat last week and they were certainly up for the tie and well deserved their win.
Kenny Jackett:
It’s a big reminder that we have got to work hard and do the basics right in every game,”
“I would like to think that we came to Stockport with the right attitude, but it was a poor performance, not cohesive in attack or defence.
