High anxiety at the end of a tough Nathaniel MG Cup semi-final here at Landore this evening. The Swans and Cardiff Met couldn’t be separated at 90 minutes. The 0-0 tie went straight to penalties, the Swans triumphing 5-4 when the contest moved to sudden death.
A very decent crowd at the academy, with a fair representation from the visitors. The weather held off until midway through the first half, when it suddenly and brutally belted down for much of the rest of the game.
We fielded a very young squad, with no overage players and 4 of our U18 on the bench. Cardiff Met fielded their normal Welsh Premier team, with former Swans Alex Lang and Tom Price playing significant roles.
Starting line-up was a fluid 3-5-2: Remy Mitchell; Harry Jones, Filip Lissah (captain), Richard Faakye (s – Glory Nzingo 58m); Joe Thomas, Liam Smith, Mitchell Bates, Dan Watts (s – Maliq Cadogan 82m), Lincoln McFayden; Cameron Congreve (s – Thomas Woodward 82m), Kyrell Wilson. Unused subs: Charlie Veevers, Kit Margetson, Yori Griffith, Jack Fanning.
It was quite apparent that – without the departed Kristian Fletcher – we lacked any real presence and focal point up front: Kyrell Wilson isn’t the type of player who’ll flourish with balls in the air or indeed with his back to goal. Cam Congreve carved out a couple of clear chances for himself, otherwise struggled to cope with the close attention he received.
Joe Thomas had perhaps the most clear opening when a great burst by Dan Watts found its way to our right winger in the area. Keeper Lang stood up to the shot.
We dominated the early exchanges, winning most of the midfield scuffles but without creating too much in the way of clear chances. Met rallied with a series of crosses into our area.
Into the 2nd half, it was more of the same – Swansea looking to break methodically, often falling at the final pass; Cardiff going more direct and hoping for a mistake by one of our defenders.
Coach Anthony Wright, who was cautioned for disputing a refereeing decision, tried to change things with some innovative substitutions. We went 4-3-3 for the final period: Joe Thomas moving to right back, Harry Jones joining Lissah in the middle, Lincoln McFayden dropping to left back and Wilson and Smith taking up wing positions either side of Cam Congreve.
Glory Nzingo, back after a lengthy spell out with injury, struggled to get to the pace of the match. With quarter of an hour to go he was unlucky enough to have our best chance when the ball appeared on a plate for him in front of goal, but he couldn’t get it out from under his feet to get a clean strike away.
16 year old Thomas Woodward took up the troubled centre forward role for the last 10 minutes and was harshly pulled up for offside when put clean through.
Met didn’t tire. In fact, they got stronger toward the close and we looked increasingly vulnerable against deadball deliveries. We rode our luck and into the penalty shootout.
Filip Lissah, who was our standout player on the evening, stepped up to take the opening strike. Each side missed a penalty in the first 5 – Remy Mitchell choosing correctly to stop from Evans and then again in sudden death from Vincent to win the tie for the Swans.
Met had a couple of bruisers at centre half and it was also predictable that combative midfielder Tom Price would be first among 3 Met bookings taken in the game. Although Met clearly have to win physical battles to thrive in the Cymru Premier – and there were lots of direct balls and set-pieces tonight – they weren’t without skill. This was a very good scalp to take.
The other semi-final tie this evening was called off due to a waterlogged pitch, but it’ll be another demanding ask of our players in the final at Barry on 20th January. It must have been a great experience for our youngsters tonight, pitting their wits against a team that’s presently 5th in the Welsh Premier. Assuming TNS come through against Guilsfield in the rearranged tie, they’ll be different gravy again – TNS are currently 12 points clear in the Cymru Premier – and a mere 23 points ahead of Met. Bring it on.