The Swan Football Club

The games are coming thick and fast now as The Swan try to fit all there postponed games in before the end of the season. This was however The Bell?s final game of the season. The Bell made a good start especially in defense as they held out against The Swan?s fierce attacking style, they proceeded to punish them on the counter attack and took the lead against the run of play. The Swan raised their game and Corley, Young and Cooper all came close before Hillman drew them level, a silly goal keeping error gave The Swan a free kick from 6 yards, Young took it quickly to Hillman who just had to tap the ball home.

The second half saw The Bell collapse as Young bagged his obligatory hat trick and 2 red cards were issued to Bell players for violent conduct. Further goals were added from Howkins, White and Jones.

A walk in Dog Shit Park!

The Swan 3 ? 1 The Duke of Wellington

This was a brutal and heated game with plenty of talking points. The Swan looked the more dominant from the start and pressured every ball. They attacked well as a unit and looked dangerous. It was a good 25 mins before the deadlock was broken, Dean Fuller picked a fantastic 40 yard pass to Duncan Cooper on the edge of the Duke?s penalty area, Cooper whipped a lovely low drive across the 6 yard box for that man Chris Young to smash the ball home. The Swan were playing some really attractive football and a 2nd goal soon followed, some good interplay between the Swan forwards slipped a cheeky weighted ball through to Bayley Hillman, the finish wasn?t easy as Hillman elevated the ball over the advancing Keeper and into the net from a tight angle. There were some tasty challenges throughout the match and a number of players picked up cards, The Swan?s Steve Howkins who was immense throughout the match saw yellow for a late tackle and 2 Duke players also saw yellow for similar badly timed challenges. The Duke hit back against the run of play and were right back in it! The first half came to a close 2 ? 1.

The second half was a scrappy affair each team had their moments but seemed to be running on empty. The Duke?s pressure mounted as The Swan failed to retain possession, Man of the Match Matty Firmin made some wounderful saves to keep The Duke out. A few heart in month moments followed for Swan fans. The Duke?s Keeper joined the attack in the dying minutes for a corner, the ball was cleared and the Swan managed to break. It was a race for the Keeper to get back in time. Dan Drummond aka Turk traveled with the ball. He took his time and delicately lobbed the retreating Keeper from 40 yards???Game Over! The Swan collected their first piece of silver ware.

Swan FC 'V' Duke of Wellington

Date: Sunday 20th April
KO: 10:30am
Venue: Easington Sports, Banbury