Ross County 2 v 1 Falkirk

Saturday 17th March 2012
Scottish League First Division
Victoria Park, Dingwall
Admission: £14.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 4.302
Match Rating: 3



















When Easyjet had their 20% off sale a few months back, a flight to Inverness was the most attractive. I had already visited the home of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, so the target would be a trip north from Inverness to the small town of Dingwall, to visit the home of Ross County. At the time of booking, Ross County looked well placed to push on for the fabulous achievement of belatedly following their near neighbours Inverness from the Highland League into the Scottish Premier League, with this game against their main rivals for the title, Falkirk. Fast forward a couple of months and the scenario still remains now, although Ross had by now carved out an even more commanding lead above Falkirk. It would be a game Falkirk would simply have to win to have any realistic small chance of denying Ross County the title.

Having arrived at Inverness airport in the morning, a zone two bus ticket for £5.50 enabled me to get to Inverness city centre and catch a connecting bus for the 15 mile trip north west to Dingwall. On arrival in the town, it was hard to imagine that such a small, sleepy, old fashioned market town is on the brink of becoming home to a Scottish Premier League outfit - to emphasise the point, the town of Dingwall has less inhabitants than the small 5,800 capacity of Victoria Park. Located a five minute walk from the town's train station, just slightly more from the town centre, Victoria Park has quite a new feel about it. Along one touchline is an all-seater stand, while another all-seater stand is situated on the other touch line, this one only straddling the middle third though. Behind one goal is covered terracing, and there is a section of uncovered terracing between the covered terrace and the smaller stand. Behind the other goal is uncovered terracing, where the away fans are located. I chose to stand on the covered terrace behind the goal, as this would be where the passionate support would be, but also because the terrace will soon be consigned to history, as Ross County will be converting Victoria Park to an all-seater stadium in order to comply with Scottish Premier League regulations in the close season. The 32 page programme was a very good read and sensibly priced.

There was surely little prospect of Ross County challenging for promotion at the start of this season, having finished one place above the relegation places last season, and opening this season with a goalless draw and a 1-5 drubbing at Hamilton Academical. Remarkably, that was the last time Ross County have been defeated in the league, and they have now gone 25 games without defeat, and have been top of the table since mid October. Falkirk have been their closest challengers since October, only for one week dropping below second since, and they have lost just once of their last twelve league games. Too many of those games have draws though, which has meant that Falkirk found themselves twelve points behind Ross coming into this game. In the three previous encounters between the two teams this season, both games at Falkirk were drawn 1-1, whilst Ross won 3-1 in Dingwall.

On a bright, sunny afternoon, played in front of a packed and vociferous home support, it was the home side who dominated the opening exchanges with a confidence one would expect from a team in their position. On fifteen minutes, Falkirk made a tough task all the more tough when defender Stephen Kingsley played a poor back-pass to his keeper Michael McGovern, who tripped the Ross forward Colin McMenamin as he raced for the ball. A penalty was awarded and McGovern, who had moved from Ross to Falkirk last summer, was shown the red card, with youth team keeper Graham Bowman coming on for his league debut. Richard Brittain smashed the penalty home to give the home side, which provoked a streaker from the Falkirk end. Ten minutes later and Ross doubled their lead, when a cross was only half cleared and Rocco Quinn blasted home from 15 yards from a fairly narrow angle. The only surprise for the rest of the first half was that Ross did not increase their lead further, as they completed dominated proceedings, and Falkirk looked a surprisingly poor side, not managing a single effort on goal throughout the first half.

At half time, it looked game over, perhaps not just for today but for the title race too, and the second half started off in a similar vein. However on the hour mark, Falkirk were suddenly back in the game, as Michael Millar hit a glorious 30 yard free kick into the top corner. Inexplicably, Ross seemed to go into their shells after they conceded, and one had the strong feeling that sooner or later, Falkirk would score an equaliser. However, eight minutes from time, they shot themselves in the foot again, when their top scorer Farid El Alagui was sent off for a second yellow card. Even down to nine men, Falkirk still looked capable of snatching an equaliser as Ross looked nervous, but it was Ross who held on to claim the three points, to extend their lead over Falkirk and Dundee to 15 points. With only 27 points left to play for for now second placed Dundee, it would take a monumental collapse for Ross County not to be promoted to the Scottish Premier League.

It was somewhat surprising to read the Falkirk manager, Stephen Pressley, claim after the match that his team was the only one trying to play football and criticized Ross County for relying on the long ball game. There was little to support his on today’s showing, as his side were desperately poor in the first half and only came back into the game when Ross seemed to get the jitters following a world-class free-kick to get Falkirk back in the game. Enormous credit instead should go to Ross County, a club that is clearly very well organized on and off the pitch.

Farleigh Rovers 0 v 1 Westfield

Saturday 10th March 2012
Combined Counties League Division 1
Parsonage Field, Warlingham
Admission: None
Programme: Free
Attendance: 11 (h-c)
Match Rating: 2

For today's fare, I quite fancied taking in a game in the northern Surrey area, having not been there for some time. Although Godalming, Sandhurst Town and Ash United came into consideration, in the end I plumped for a visit to Farleigh Rovers, with the weather set fair for the long walk to the rural location of the ground.

Parsonage Field is located about a 45 minute walk north eastwards from Whyteleafe rail station (or Upper Warlingham, the two stations being almost adjacent to each other on different lines). It is not an easy walk however, being steep uphill for about the first half of the three mile walk, although buses do ply the route for those less energetic.The ground is something of a throwback to the very basic grounds that one used to encounter in the County Leagues decades ago, the type that the FA appear determined to elminate from senior football, more's the pity. Indeed, surely Parsonage Field is living very much on borrowed time, with Farleigh Rovers already having played some games at Croydon FC in recent seasons and the ground could certainly not host Combined Counties Premier League football without extensive improvements. Considering the team's current position, that is not likely to be an issue for quite some time. Located down a track, the ground appears to have not received any TLC for many years, and is all the more quaint and charming for that. There are no floodlights, and facilities are very basic, with two buildings housing the clubhouse and the changing rooms, with some corrugated cover stretching between those and the pitchside railings providing the only cover in the ground. For the rest of this length there is hard standing, along the other length is just grass to stand on although there is old-fashioned railings which are collapsing in places, and it is not possible to stand behind either goal. Behind one of the goals is the track to the ground and fields and behind the other are trees closely lining the goal line, all of which provides a nice rural feel to the ground. Ugly strewn junk behind the hard standing area does detract from the appearance of the ground though. Surprisingly, there was nobody to take any admission money (although the attendance only just reaching double figures that may have included club officials probably meant there was little motivation to bother having someone on the gate). The official attendance was published as 20 - surprising, as by my counting, the figure peaked at 11. Programmes were available - free of charge - from the bar, and the 20 page publication was basic but well presented and with enough information of interest to read to fill ten minutes or so.

Farleigh Rovers are battling against relegation, although they deserve credit for it not being a foregone conclusion already, having lost their first eight games of the season and only picking up three wins and three draws from their opening 20 games. However, a 0-6 home defeat to near neighbours Warlingham at the turn of the year seemed to inspire a change in their fortunes, having won three and drawn one of their subsequent five games, the only defeat coming against runaway leaders Guernsey. Going into this game, they were in fifteenth place in the eighteen team league, six points clear of the bottom two and the potential relegation places. Westfield are settled into a season of mid table obscurity, in eighth place, but having played more games than all other teams, there is very little prospect of making up the 12 points to a promotion place. Their recent form has not been good though. Before winning last time out at home to Feltham, they had picked up only one point from their previous six games. When the two teams met earlier in the season, Westfield let a two goal lead slip and the match ended 2-2.

The first half was a rather dull affair, with no real chances being fashioned, although the home side probably showed more of the attacking ambition, particularly in the early stages. A goalless scoreline at half time was not surprising.

As the bright warm sunshine gave way to overcast skies for the second half, within eight minutes of the restart, Westfield were awarded penalty when a fierce shot towards goal was blocked by a defender's hands. Shane Cheeseman placed the ball excellently low into the bottom left corner with the keeper going the other way. This did spark the game into life a little more, and 64 minutes, a lovely curling shot from a Farleigh's Thomas Nyarko from fully 25 yards hit the crossbar. As the second half wore on, Farleigh Rovers put more and more pressure on the Westfield goal, although they rarely convinced that they could find an equaliser. Three minutes from time and Westfield could have put the game to bed when a jinking run into the box resulted in a placed shot that was deflected just wide. Deep into injury time, and Farleigh Rovers had their best chance of the game when a corner, which their keeper came up for, was headed over the keeper to the back post, but the ball was stabbed just wide, and so it was Westfield who kept their first clean sheet away from home since August to earn the three points.

Bournemouth 0 v 2 West Auckland Town

Saturday 3rd March 2012
FA Vase Quarter Final
Victoria Park, Winton
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 414
Match Rating: 2

When I booked a weekend stay in Bournemouth well before Christmas, it was with the intention of watching Charlton's League One visit to Dean Court, home of AFC Bournemouth.. However, tickets in the away end were surprisingly sold out very quickly, and my season ticket history at Charlton would have fallen foul of AFC Bournemouth's stringent checks on ticket purchases in the home areas. In any case, I have never found it a pleasant experience to be in "the wrong end" for a Charlton match. It looked like a game in the Wessex League would have to suffice instead, until the other club in Bournemouth, Bournemouth (Poppies) FC, set up an intriguing looking FA Vase quarter final match, arguably the biggest occasion in the club's history at their home ground. The match would also send the most northerly club left in the competition and 5-2 favourites to lift the cup to the home of the most southerly club remaining in the competition, who are stuck firmly in mid-table in their league and are rank outsiders at 25-1 to lift the Vase.

Victoria Park is located in the suburb of Winton and around two and a half miles north of Bournemouth town centre, slightly less from the town's train station. The walk took around 40 minutes, although regular buses are available. The Wessex League has many gems of grounds to visit - Victoria Park is not one of them, indeed, there is precious little reason to recommend a visit to Victoria Park in its own right, with it hard to imagine a ground lacking more in character and charm. There is a stand straddling the half way line, two thirds of which offers wooden bench seating, the remainder housing a rather cramped clubhouse - admittedly, it probably felt more cramped with a much larger than usual attendance today, Around the rest of the ground is just hard standing behind a metal perimeter rail. Behind one length and a goal is housing, and behind the other goal is a busy road which produced a constant backdrop of loud traffic noise. Enormous credit though should be given for an excellent 44 page programme, containing much interesting and relevant information about both clubs and hardly any advertising. It made for a very pleasant change from the over priced publications that are little more than a local business directory that one finds more and more at this level of football.

A glance at the Wessex League makes it most surprising and augments the feeling of considerable achievement that Bournemouth have managed to reach the last eight of the FA Vase, the last remaining Wessex League club to do so, as they are in eleventh place in the 22 team league. This is also by far the furthest Bournemouth have ever reached in the competition, only getting as far as the Third Round previously, and since setting out on their FA Vase journey back in September, they have dispatched AFC Portchester, Hartley Wintney, Torpoint Athletic, Barnstaple Town, Royston Town and most recently Billingham Synthonia after a replay last weekend. Their recent league form has not been good though, picking up just one point from their last four games. It is much easier to understand West Auckland Town's presence in the FA Vase Quarter Finals, as they are second placed in the Northern League - one point behind the leaders, Sunderland RCA, but with three games in hand, and are unbeaten in their last nine league games. To reach this stage, they have beaten Cleator Moor Celtic, Marske United, Shildon, Bacup Borough, Askern Villa, Bitton and finally they knocked out the holders, Whitley Bay, previously unbeaten in four years in the competition, away from home. This would also be West Auckland Town's first appearance in the FA Vase Quarter Finals.

On a day of blue skies, bright sunshine but with a strong wind, the game started quite evenly, but with Bournemouth using the wind behind them to do most of the attacking in the early stages. They hardly fashioned out any golden chances and the visitors, supported by an impressive contingent of travelling fans, assumed superiority as the first half wore on and they had the best chances although a bobbly pitch was proving a good leveller, making playing good football - which presumably West Auckland Town would be the more capable of - difficult.

A goalless half time scoreline was not surprising, but in the second half, although the game remained something of a stalemate with little to set one's pulse racing, it was West Auckland who looked in control of proceedings, and having several golden chances to score, it looked like it would be just a matter of time before they opened the scoring - the Bournemouth keeper, Max Frampton, was by far Bournemouth's best player with numerous wonderful saves to keep his side in the game. Bournemouth still occasionally threatened, but it was really surprising that the whole club, from the players, coaches, officials, right through to the supporters, did not really seem to be that "up" for one of biggest days the club has had or are ever likely to have, as they put in a solid but uninspiring performance. Bourmemouth's task became harder with the daft sending off eight minutes from time of Fawzi Saadi, hero of the last round after scoring the winning goal against Billingham Synthonia, after pushing an opponent to the floor who had prevented a free kick from being taken quickly. As extra time was looking more and more an inevitability, immediately after the fourth official indicated four minutes of added on time, Michael Rae forced yet another fabulous save from Frampton, but the rebound fell back at the feet of Rae, who slotted home to provoke joy unconfined amongst the West Auckland players, who rushed over to their coaches and supporters to celebrate. It was a devastating blow for the home side, but there was still time for another goal in the remaining minutes of added on time. A Bournemouth player lost possession in his own half to Mattie Moffat who strode forward and unleashed a fabulous swerving shot into the top corner beyond the reach of Frampton. The celebrations were just as wild as after the first goal, and it really was game over now, as the favourites deservedly progressed to the semi-finals, whilst Bournemouth have just a Wessex League Cup semi final in 11 days time to keep their season interesting.

Charlton Athletic 2 v 0 Stevenage

Saturday 25th February 2012
Football League One
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 26,546
Match Rating: 4

An all too rare return visit to the Valley - indeed, my first Saturday afternoon visit since I allowed my season ticket to lapse after Charlton's relegation from the Championship three seasons ago, inspired by yet another imaginative offer  by the club of reducing all ticket prices to just £5.00.

Description of The Valley can be found during a previous visit here, and I took the opportunity to choose a seat in what is usually the most expensive part of the stadium, in the Upper Tier of the West Stand, virtually on the half way line. In my opinion, Charlton have always produced good, interesting programmes, and so today's 60 page issue proved.

Even as a naturally sceptical fan of Charlton, promotion to the Championship is looking increasingly likely, as they still find themselves well clear of the chasing pack - indeed, they have been on top of the table constantly since mid September. Going into this game, Charlton were seven points clear of second placed Sheffield United, and twelve points clear of third placed Sheffield Wednesday. There has been a relative blip recently. Although unbeaten so far in eight league games in 2012, they have "only" picked up three draws - against three lesser teams in Bury, Tranmere Rovers and Rochdale - in their last four games. Stevenage have been the real surprise package this season, inside the play-offs and currently in sixth place, a position they have occupied since Boxing Day. Since I last watched Stevenage just over a month ago, when they caused an upset by beating Reading at the Madejski Stadium in the FA Cup Third Round - a competition they are still in, after drawing 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur in the Fifth Round last weekend - they have lost their manager Graham Westley. When the two teams met at Broadhall Way earlier in the season, Stevenage inflicted the first of just two defeats all season on Charlton with a 1-0 victory.

With the game less than 1,000 short of a sell-out, the first half was a rather dull affair, with Stevenage always looking to break up play and disrupt Charlton's play, whereas Charlton seemed to surprisingly lack ideas. Both sides had half chances, but a goalless scoreline at half time was of little surprise.

Within four minutes of the restart however and the deadlock was broken, and in fine style too. A long throw in into the box was headed out of the box, falling at the feet of centre back Michael Morrison, who controlled the ball before unleashing a 20 yard rocket into the top corner. The game completely changed from this point, as Charlton dominated the rest of the match and Stevenage had the air of a team aiming for damage limitation. They had numerous golden chances to score, most notably top scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips, who had not scored in his last eleven games but he could easily have had a hat-trick today. In the end he had to settle for the one goal, scored in the 64th minute, when he raced wide to the edge of the box, beat the defender to the ball and his cross-shot was turned in by Ronnie Henry on the goalline, although Wright-Phillips' shot was going in anyway.

Everton 2 v 0 Blackpool

Saturday 18th February 2012
FA Cup Fifth Round
Goodison Park, Liverpool
Admission: £25.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 38,447
Match Rating: 4

After a happily very rare Saturday without a game last weekend thanks to the big freeze, today I took advantage of the excellent "Great Escape" ticket from the train company London Midland, which meant a trip from London to Liverpool and back would cost just £9.90, as well as reduced ticket prices for an attractive looking FA Cup tie at a ground that I have been wanting to visit for many a year.

There are a couple of options for reaching Goodison Park by public transport. A soccerbus operates from Sandhills rail station, however wishing to avoid the crush that would inevitably accompany the buses particularly after the game, I opted instead to alight at Kirkdale rail station, which is about a fifteen minute walk from Goodison Park. The ground is certainly something of a throwback to former times, an all too rare and refreshing change from the many modern identikit top flight stadia. Closely packed to neighbouring terrace streets, the main stand is of a double decker variety, with a large "top balcony" perched about a two tier stand - it is impressive in terms of its size, has character but is somewhat tired and dated. I selected a ticket in the top balcony, and whilst it offered an excellent "birds-eye" view, and on entering the stand one can look out over Stanley Park and Anfield in the distance, the wooden seats were uncomfortable, legroom was minimal and a large pillar obstructed my view. On the opposite side and behind the goal to the left of the main stand are two tier stands joined together, again with many obstructing pillars, but again they have character which made them quite endearing. Behind the remaining goal is the one modern stand in the ground, a large single tier affair. The programme was fairly average for a Premier League club, unspectacular but with a decent amount of interesting reading material and a pleasingly low proportion of adverts.

Today's match would be between two teams in good recent form. As has become fairly typical in recent seasons - and even less surprising given the lack of investment in the first team last summer - Everton had a slow start to the season, stuck firmly in or just below mid table all season, but are unbeaten in their last six games, winning three of those, and have only lost twice in their last thirteen games and find themselves in tenth place in the Premier League. To reach this stage, they overcame non-league Tamworth 2-0 and then Premier League Fulham 2-1, both games at Goodison Park.Having been relegated from the Premier League last season - coming much, much close than most had predicted to surviving, Blackpool are gathering pace nicely for a return to the top flight. Having been outside the play-off places almost all season, they entered them at the beginning of this month and are now in fourth place in the Championship, having been unbeaten in their last seven games, winning five of those games. To reach this stage, Blackpool comfortably saw off neighbours Fleetwood in round three, and then Sheffield Wednesday after a replay. A glance at the team sheets showed where the priorities lie for each manager. David Moyes selected pretty much a full strength team for Everton from the players he had available, whilst Ian Holloway chose to make seven changes from the Blackpool side that had beaten Doncaster in the league in midweek.

The game certainly had an explosive start, as the home side went in front with less than a minute on the clock.Magaye Gueye swung a cross into the box, which Marouane Felliani controlled before layng the ball off to Royston Drenthe, who fired in a powerful, controlled shot just out of the reach of the keeper and into the net. Just five minutes later and it looked like a tough task for Blackpool had already become mission impossible, when Drenthe's corner was flicked on and landed at the feet of Denis Stracqualursi a few yards out, who fired home at the second attempt. One feared this might have killed the game, with the higher ranked side at home two goals to the good with just six minutes on the clock, however nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst rarely threatening to score, Blackpool played some good football, whilst Everton continued to play with plenty of attacking endeavour.

In the second half, Blackpool continued to give a good account of themselves, again rarely looking like scoring , although Everton missed golden chance after golden chance to extend their lead. In the final stages, it was Blackpool though who came agonisingly close to scoring on three occasions.Lomana Tresor Lua Lua had a powerful shot tipped onto the post by Tim Howard, Kevin Phillips saw a wonderful free kick hit the corner of crossbar and post, and in added on time at the end of the game, Blackpool were awarded a soft looking penalty for a push, but Phillips put his shot well over the bar. So a deserved victory for the home side, with it always pleasing to see the club taking an FA Cup tie the more seriously rewarded with progression.

Video Highlights at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ESFJE7shA

Chesterfield P v P Charlton Athletic

Saturday 11th February 2012

Football League One

B2Net Stadium, Chesterfield

Admission: £18.00

Today was a rare occasion when the weather beat me. Having already purchased a ticket for Charlton's first ever trip to Chesterfield's new ground, continued freezing temperatures all week always put this game in doubt, and although the pitch passed an inspection at Friday lunchtime, temperatures fell to around -8c in northern Derbyshire on the Friday night. Considering that, even with a frost cover, there was little likelihood in this game surviving, I decided not to make my way up to Chesterfield, and indeed, this proved the correct call as the game was duly called off at a 10am, pitch inspection.

Most other non-league games also fell victim to the artic conditions, including all games in Kent. I finally managed to find two games that had passed inspections, at Whitehawk and Newhaven, and so off I set out for Brighton to catch Whitehawk's game. Unfortunately I arrived at the station to find all trains delayed and little definite sign of one arriving any time soon, I decided to write today off in football terms and watch the Manchester United - Liverpool game on television instead

West Bromwich Albion 1 v 2 Swansea City

Saturday 4th February 2012
Premier League
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich

Admission: £25.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 24,274
Match Rating: 3

On a day when the belated big freeze put paid to the vast majority of local non-league football - and even many games in the lower divisions of the Football League, it was rather fortunate that I had already planned to make a rare visit to a Premier League ground, where undersoil heating would mean that freezing weather would be little threat to the game unless the surrounding roads would be too treacherous. Today would also be the first opportunity for me to see with my own eyes the remarkable transformation in Swansea City's fortunes, having spent many an afternoon watching Swansea in the nineties as they struggled in the lower leagues in the ramshackle (but, for me, much missed) Vetch Field.

The Hawthorns, which has the surprising distinction of being the highest ground above sea level in the English Premier and Football Leagues, is located a few minutes walk from the railway station of the same name. Having been completely rebuilt since the early nineties, it is now a stadium that, while is small by Premier League standard, has been very well designed, fully enclosed, offers excellent, unobstructed views throughout and does not suffer from the identikit look. The East Stand, the most recent major development of the ground, is the tallest stand and the only stand to consist of two tiers. Set slightly lower is the "home" end, and lower still and of equal height are the West Stand (where I was sat today) and the stand behind the other goal, half of which houses the away fans. A nice touch is the placement of a large throstle, retained from the pre-development stand, on the wall above seating in one corner of the ground. The programme was truly superb, one of the best I have encountered at any level, and excellent value at £3.00. Imaginatively designed, a minimum of adverts and plenty of interesting reading material, it certainly helped while away the time on the long journey back down south after the game.

A glance at the Premier League table pointed to a game between two evenly matched teams, with Swansea just one place and one point better off than West Bromwich Albion, in fourteenth place. West Brom's recent form has not been good, picking up just one win from their last six games. The Hawthorns is also proving to be something of a bogey ground for the home side, having picked up just one point from their last five league games at home, stretching back to mid November. Not unusually for a promoted side, Swansea have been very strong at home this season - losing just once (to Manchester United) in twelve games - but have struggled on their travels. They had only won one and drawn three of their eleven games away from home - that win coming in January, on their most recent visit to the West Midlands, at Aston Villa. When the two sides met at the Liberty Stadium back in September, Swansea coasted to a 3-0 win.

On a bitterly cold afternoon with heavy sleet showers, the first half was quite a dull affair. Swansea displayed the brand of football they have become known for - lots of short passes, keeping possession and very, very rarely going for a long punt upfield, not even from goal kicks, but it was West Brom who could consider themselves the most unlucky not to open the scoring in the first half. They were denied a penalty when Swansea's Ashley Williams' apparent handball was not punished, and they had two shots cleared off the line in quick succession just before half time.

As half-time arrived, the increasingly heavy snowfall was beginning to lay on the pitch, requiring brushing away from the critical areas during the interval. On 54 minutes, against the run of play it must be said, it was the home side who took the lead when a Graham Dorrans corner was flicked on by Jonas Olsson, landing at the feet of Marc Antoine Fortune at the corner of the 6 yard box, and he took a moment to compose himself before firing into the net. The home fans celebrations did not last long. Appropriately on such a snowy, wintry afternoon, it was a case of the Iceman cometh, as the game soon turned on its head. Within a minute of going behind, the Icelander Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled the scores when he passed the ball into the net following a low cross by Neil Taylor after a fine run down the flank. Just four minutes later and Swansea were suddenly in the lead, when Sigurdsson surged forward before whipping in a cross, which top scorer Danny Graham cooly poked home. After that sudden burst of activity, the game settled back into its previous pattern, with Swansea playing some impressive football while yet again it was West Brom who fashioned the best chances, none better than when Peter Odemwingie blazed high and wide when unmarked just eight yards out. In the closing minutes, West Brom threw everything at Swansea, including keeper Ben Foster, and although an equaliser looked a possibility during this frantic period, Swansea held on for a deserved victory, lifting them ten points clear of the relegation zone.