The Swans fell 2-0 to Southampton in an FA Youth Cup tie that turned on one decision just before the hour.
To the naked eye, it looked as though Swans defender Caio Ifans had simply followed through with a defensive clearance and came together with Southampton’s Daley. After a period of treatment for both players, the referee issued a straight red card to a distraught Ifans, presumably for dangerous play.
The resulting smart free kick routine on the edge of our area drew a save from keeper Sam Seager, only for full back Okonola-Matthews to convert the rebound to put the Saints 1-0 up. For all their possession, that was Southampton’s first effort on target.
After that, it was always going to be a battle for our 10 youngsters to stay in the game. We gave it a determined effort, deploying 5 substitutes and an adventurous 3-3-3 formation in a bid to get back on terms.
The closest we got was an angled strike from Josh Pescatore that flew across the Saints’ goal.
As space opened up in 6 minutes of added time, we succumbed at the last to a 2nd when a Southampton corner resulted in a headed own goal.
Although Southampton’s pacey left winger Robinson had a few late sorties, it was a game of very few chances. We had to be very patient in the first half as Southampton dominated large stretches of possession. Our players showed great discipline during this period, Southampton being limited to a glancing header from Fry that went wide and a self-inflicted chance when centre forward Oyekunie charged down a Seager clearance only to watch the ball ricochet outside the goal.
Of our returning players, Tom Woodward looked a little rusty, while substitute Yori Griffith had a typically neat and energetic cameo in the later stages. It’ll be good to have both back to full match fitness.
Ramon Rees-Siso contributed a notable presence up front as we fought to get back on terms.
The team started 4-1-4-1 and varied to 4-2-3-1 before we went a player down: Sam Seager; Billy Clarke (s – Aidan Higgins 82m), Iestyn Jones, Brogan Popham, Callum Deacon (captain) (s – Ben Phillips 82m); Josh Pescatore (s – Ramon Rees-Siso 82m), Jacob Cook, Harlan Perry (s – Milo Robinson 90+3m), Tom Woodward (s – Yori Griffith 70m), Caio Ifans; Morgan Bates.
Unused subs: Kiel Higginson, Tom Wright (g/k) – regular deputy Isaac Dudding is out for some time with a knee injury picked up in training.
Scoring: Okonola-Matthews 0-1 61m; Popham og 0-2 90+1m.