WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

Swansea City won their second cup in the space of 5 days as we beat Carlisle United 2-1 to lift the Football League Trophy.



Goals from the two strikers, Lee Trundle and Adebayo Akinfenwa was enough to give us the victory in front of nearly 30,000 Swans supporters at the Millenium Stadium.

Kenny Jackett named just one change from the side that beat Wrexham on Wednesday for the FAW Premier Cup Final win. Rory Fallon was cup tied so that meant Akinfenwa was given a chance to start up front alongside Trundle.

We started the half much the better side, keeping possession well but often using a lofted long through ball which worked on several occasions as our strikers were able to get behind the back four.



Alan Tate and Britton were attacking constantly down the right hand side and just 3 minutes in, we went ahead courtesy of a simply awesome individual strike from Lee Trundle. Their keeper made an error as his kick was blocked by Trundle, Britton picked up the ball on the right and Lee controlled his cross with his chest before volleying it into the corner from an acute angle.

Swans fans were raving after a stunning strike and Willy Gueret was hardly troubled in the first 45 minutes.

Robinson could have made it two when he was put through on goal but he scuffed his low shot wide of the target.

We then received a scare as Carlisle's top scorer Karl Hawley had a goal ruled out for offside. Defence was non existant and I didn't think they were purposely playing the offside trap, but luckily the linesman raised his flag.

We started to step off the gas near the end as Carlisle began to get back into the game more. Their dissallowed goal gave the fans and the players some confidence.

Hawley turned Monk ( or was it Lowe?) inside out inside the box and looked certain to score but Gueret made a great save to keep his shot out.



With 5 minutes of normal time remaining, we were punished for not extending our lead with the amount of possession we had as the League 2 leaders grabbed an equaliser just before the break.

The ball was flicked on at the front post from a long throw-in and Murray was free to head the ball home.

5 minutes of injury time were then to be played as their goalkeeper went down injured earlier in the half because of a clash of heads.

Carlisle started the second half the stronger side as Swansea's passing game deteriorated. The defence seemed to cope with their attacks but Willy Gueret was called upon on a few occassions to keep the scores level.

At this stage, the game was looking like going into extra time and possibly penalties as neither side looked capable of getting a winner.



Jackett made his first change of the game by bringing on Leon Knight for Kristian O'Leary. A rather strange decision as I thought we were losing out in the middle of the park, the striker was played out of position on the left flank.

Gueret made an excellent save from a close range header as he tipped the ball over for a corner.

The Cumbrians would feel unlucky to concede a late goal with 8 minutes left as they were the better side in the second half. Akinfenwa though, who impressed throughout the 90 minutes, shoved off his defender and his shot was only paried by their keeper as the ball bounced into the net.

It proved to be enough to win us the trophy as we kept possession well although a flurry of corners late on nearly resulted in another equaliser.







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Adebayo Akinfenwa 8 - Looked much fitter today and fought well. His strength caused problems and this enabled him to shrug off his defender for his winning goal.
Better in the air than usual and made some great saves in second half to keep the scores level. An improved performance from those in the league, provided attacking options and looked calm in defence. Hawley caused problems during the game and the defence was non existent for the dissallowed goal and poor marking led to their equaliser. See Monk. One of our best performers. Constantly involved in our play and supported Britton well especially. Worked hard but should have scored when he was put through on goal. Could have defended better at the near post for their goal, we were losing out in midfield at times. Improvement from Wrexham game on Wednesday and made some vital challenges. Still doesn't look fully fit yet though. Worked hard on the right and they couldn't cope with his attacking runs, good cross for Trundle's opener. Superb goal and a great day for the star striker but I think Akinfenwa deserved the man of the match award. See star player further up the page.

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