Swansea v Scunthorpe United

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Football League Two

Swansea :
Gueret, Ricketts, Austin (Gurney 45), Monk, Iriekpen, O'Leary, Forbes, McLeod, Bean, Trundle (Tate 89), Thorpe
Subs not used:
Murphy, Britton, Connor

Scunthorpe United :
Musselwhite, Byrne, Ridley, Butler, Angus (sent off 58), Sparrow (Taylor 69), Baraclough, Kell, Corden (Williams 62), Hayes (Keogh 70), Torpey
Subs not used:
Barwick, Evans

SULSESC REPORT

by Nick Whitworth at The Vetch Field

AS per the Yeovil game on the Tuesday night a few days earlier, the only members of SULSESC to make the trip to the delights of the Vetch Field, as far as I know, were Andy Skeels, Mark Borrill and myself.

Just because the Welsh Rugby team was having a decent season for once, the game was brought forward to a 1.30 pm kick-off so that, presumably, the home supporters could then go home to catch the start of the rugby match.

With the train times all to cock, it meant another car trip with this time Mark Borrill doing the driving honours. After much discussion about where and when we were all to meet up, it was decided that Mark would drive from Milton Keynes to pick Nick up from his front door in Thatcham, then drive the short distance to Newbury train station to pick Andy up (who'd taken the train from Leatherhead), then drive to Swansea. This sounded good to me!

With the M4 closed westbound near Swindon, this meant a detour and delay to the journey. We arrived in Swansea at about 12.30 pm, which meant enough time to grab a bite to eat but no time for pre-match refreshments!

This was the last time the Iron would be playing at the Vetch Field as the Swans prepare to move into their brand new 20,000 seat stadium for the start of next season - and thank God for that! I despise the place - run down, neglected, appalling toilets, joke of a refreshment 'hut', blah, blah, blah, de-blah.

Having been to the Vetch Field a few seasons earlier, the ground was just as bad as I remembered it then, the only difference, which amused yours truly no end, being the display signs that have by all accounts just appeared this season, apologising for the state of the facilities!

Just because you're moving into a new ground...

The game itself was disappointing for two teams with automatic promotion ambitions. Swansea took the lead through a Lee Trundle header from a corner midway through the first-half, with the Iron equalising soon afterwards, Andy Butler lashing in a shot from close range.

The second-half started with little incident, and the game got very scrappy, both sides cancelling each other out. The turning point came just after the hour mark when a ball over the top caught the Iron defence square. Musselwhite came rushing out to clear but was beaten to it by Lee Thorpe, the Swansea forward, who knocked the ball over the 'keeper. Just as the ball was about to be rolled into the empty net, Angus came charging across to make a last ditch challenge. Down went Thorpe, the referee pointed to the penalty spot, and then dished out a red card to Angus. Trundle tucked away the penalty with ease.

The incident happened at the far end of the ground from where we were standing, but the fact that Angus' red card was subsequently rescinded by the FA suggests the referee got it wrong.

Now at this point I'm going to go into a tirade about the appeal system against bookings and red cards, and the stupidity of the fact that the Welsh clubs appeal to the Welsh FA and not the English FA, even though they're playing in the English leagues! If my memory serves me right,

Trundle was sent-off the previous Saturday in Swansea's home match against Rochdale, and should have been suspended for the game against the Iron. But, surprise, surprise, on appeal to the Welsh FA, Swansea's best player was allowed to play and scored twice to help Swansea win the game.

Now I'm not saying there's any kind of conspiracy going on here, or that I'm bitter and twisted, but it does seem an unusual way of going about this issue. Also, I've nothing against Trundle, he's a good player - when he's not throwing himself to the ground anywhere in or around the penalty area which he does on a regular basis.

So a very disappointing day out all round. Oh well, at least I won't have to go to the Vetch Field ever again (well, not until until the play-offs - Ed.).