Swansea City avoided an early upset exit in the LDV Vans Trophy by beating League Two side, Torquay United 3-1 at Plainmoor.
Kenny Jackett decided to start some 2nd-teamers and youngsters. There were starts for second-choice keeper, Brian Murphy, Kristian O’Leary and youngsters, Shaun MacDonald and Mark Pritchard.
The hosts took the lead after 24 minutes through Jo Kuffour but Swansea were able to change things in the 2nd half as they went on to score 3 goals for a comfortable win.
Swansea City had the best opportunity of the game to get back in the game just 6 minutes later when we were awarded a penalty but keeper Marriot saved Robinson’s spot kick.
Lee Trundle and Roberto Martinez came on as a double substitution and within 6 minutes of the change, Adrian Forbes grabbed an equaliser with an excellent effort from the edge of the area.
Iriekpen then came on for the scorer and former Torquay striker, Akinfenwa delivered a stinging blow to the home side with what looked like the winning goal. He expected a tough reception from the fans as well as the players but he punished them with a goal to put the Swans ahead. Then to rub salt deep inside the wound, Robinson scored a third 2 minutes from the end to put Jackett’s side through to the next round of the LDV Vans Trophy.
After drawing blanks in our last two games, it was good to see us scoring again and hopefully we can do the same as we visit Rotherham on Saturday.
Manager Rating
Kenny Jackett picked a good side for this match. One including youngsters as well as a few players who are 2nd teamers. We then had the experience and the quality on the bench to come on and grab us the goals we needed to win.
Swans Manager, Kenny Jackett:
“I thought Torquay edged it in the first half. But you could see our confidence coming back as the game went on.
“I think our substitutions had a good impact in the second half. Our passing wasn’t the best in the first half and I felt we could do better with that. But the biggest thing was that we needed to get the ball out wide, and we did that in the second half.”
Torquay boss Leroy Rosenior:
“We did well in the first 45 minutes and I think a 3-1 score flattered Swansea a bit.
“We needed to hold the ball up well early in the second half, but we didn’t do that well enough and it brought Swansea on to us.
“I wanted to see a reaction after the way we lost at Wrexham on Saturday, and I got it. We didn’t get the result, but the players did bounce back with a performance.”
