By Jack Watson
I did not go to this one; I had to be up early the following day and it was too expensive. I was able to watch it on Ifollow and I have to say it was one of the most enjoyable matches to watch, not so much the first 45 minutes, but the second 45 was exceptional. We were able to claw our way back from being in the mire and this is something that would not have been imaginable last season. I really do have high hopes for this season.
Rosenior named an unchanged eleven from our clash against Huddersfield before the break; that meant we were lined up as follows: Ryan Allsop between the sticks; Lewie Coyle, Alfie Jones, Jacob Greaves and Sean McLoughlin holding the fort; Jean Seri, Tyler Morton and Ozan Tufan anchoring the middle and Jaden Philogene, Scott Twine and Liam Delap as the front three. Back on the bench was Jason Lokilo, with Regan Slater a week away from joining him. Let’s hope we pick up no more injuries as that has been our nemesis this season.
We did not start brightly, with our defence looking a bit wobbly and certain players giving the impression that they did not want to be there. A quick start from Swansea gave them a well-deserved early lead; in the 17th minute, they were on the attack with Ollie Cooper delicately flicking a ball forward to send Paterson into space. He neatly cut inside Sean McLoughlin, before drilling a low ball past three defenders and the keeper before hitting the back of the net. It was a lovely goal.
That opener gave the hosts a confidence booster and it did not take them long to double their advantage; in the 23rd minute, another Swansea attack gave Paterson the opportunity to drive towards the box and shoot from range, which was too hot for Allsop, who dropped it, and Yates was there to pounce and tap it in. Both these goals were very cheap and we needed to be a bit tighter at the back. Perhaps the break has affected them, but nonetheless, we were two nil down early on and I have not seen us comeback from this position in the league.
We did, however, hit back and began testing the Swansea defence; Jacob Greaves made a darting run into the box before smashing it straight at Rushworth, who parried it away and Ozan Tufan had a wonderful opportunity on the edge of the box; however, he did not hit it hard enough and Rushworth was able to calmly pick it up.
Rosenior made two vital changes at the start of the second period; McLoughlin and Tufan were replaced by Lokilo and Cyrus Christie. This was the game changer and we came out of the changing rooms a different team.
It did not take us long to reduce the deficit; in the 48th minute, some great play from the back allowed Seri to thread the ball to Christie who drove forward and played in Philogene who had an abundance of space to play into and neatly whalloped it into the back of the net from a tight angle. That was more like it and he is proving to be a very valuable player for us; we cannot afford to have him out injured.
Then, towards the hour mark we went level, but the flag went up for offside; Philogene swung in a dangerous ball into the box towards an unmarked Delap, who managed to chest it in, but his celebrations were cut short. They did not show us the replay, but he did not look offside. Not to worry, though, we eventually equalised shortly afterwards.
In the 68th minute, Christie made a darting run on the right before neatly setting up Morton, who volleyed it into the back of the net. Lovely. That was more like it. We looked like the side who were going to finish off and take all three points back to Humberside, but Delap was denied twice by an excellent Rushworth and Philogene blazed over one of his rebounds.
Well, we got out of the woods and could have even finished it off; however, it wasn’t to be, which was unfortunate for the 400+ travelling supporters. We are so close to turning these draws into wins and the upcoming fixtures should allow us to build on this performance.
Next up is Rotherham under the lights of the MKM Stadium and Watford at home on the following Saturday. I would be very surprised if we did not get all six points from these matches, but it would be like us to draw both and get turned over by QPR the week after that. Let’s hope that is not the case.
