A surprisingly comfortable opening win for our young U18s today at a sunny Landore over an increasingly frustrated Sheffield Wednesday side.
Centre half Lawal had already been booked before he launched himself into a wild challenge on Bobby Lewis where he was never going to win the ball, getting himself sent off after 54 minutes.
Up to that point, the Swans had dominated the play and were 3-0 up, making it 4-0 from the resultant low Bobo Evans free kick into the box that Kaven Bloniarczyk stroked home.
Our squad was lacking a number of external summer recruits, whose FIFA clearances apparently haven’t come through yet (through no fault of the club). Although the club hasn’t publicised this year’s scholars, everyone in today’s squad featured at U18 level last season, including a smattering of U16s. Kai Rhodes started on the left wing, having played half an hour in the previous night’s U21s win over Birmingham. There was no goalkeeper substitute today.
Line-up: Tom Wright; Kaven Bloniarczyk, Archie Quick, Jack May (s – Rio Hassan 62m), Dempsey Singer; Alfie Jones (captain), Bobo Evans (s – Sol Baker 72m), Bobby Lewis, Alffi Hughes (s – Elis Thomas 62m); Ioan Johnston, Kai Rhodes (s – Alex Godfrey 46m).
We played a fluid formation, mostly 4-4-2, at other times 4-2-3-1, but it seemed to work well and our busy midfield found lots of space to operate in.
Alfie Jones was denied from distance on 8 minutes after a probing run by Rhodes offered room to shoot. Two minutes later Bobby Lewis profited from another Rhodes break, turning quickly in the area and arrowing a left foot shot into the far corner to put the Swans 1 up.
On 20 minutes, Scott was the first Wednesday player to be booked as the visitors struggled to deal with the clever close inter play of Lewis, Jones, Hughes and Evans.
A minute later, Johnston and Lewis harried a Wednesday defender out of possession, feeding Kai Rhodes in space inside the area to shoot through the keeper to make it 2-0. On 27 minutes, goalkeeper Bramhall made a catastrophic run out of his area to be beaten to a loose ball forward that Bobby Lewis got to first, rounding the stranded goalie, regaining control on the edge of the area and calmly slotting home past retreating defenders.
From this point onward, our youngsters were in complete control, finding and operating in space at will. Ioan Johnston headed wide from an inviting Hughes centre, Bobo Evans lofted a shot over and Rhodes fired wide before half-time.
That was Kai’s last action, being replaced at the interval by Alex Godfrey, who gave the Owls an equal amount of problems on both wings.
After Lawal’s reckless dismissal and Swansea’s 4th, Wednesday pretty much shut up shop, took off their centre forward and camped in their own half to stifle further opportunities.
A lack of defensive concentration on the halfway line allowed Cawley to gain possession, offering Liddell a rare chance to strike home cleanly from close range to take the score to 4-1.
On 74 minutes, Kaven Bloniarczyk got his 2nd and Swansea’s 5th with a hooked shot from Bramhall’s failure to hold onto a free kick. Kaven could even have clinched an unlikely hat-trick shortly after.
Thereafter it was a low key Swansea possession stalemate and a case of how many players the referee could book in the time remaining (it was hard to keep count, but I reckon Wednesday had 4 yellow cards plus a dismissal, May and Johnston were Swansea’s offenders).
For the Swans, an encouraging opening performance: Bobby Lewis excelled and there were strong performances from Evans, Jones and Bloniarczyk, plus Kai Rhodes’s first half cameo.
The club’s had a difficult past couple of years, but Sheffield Wednesday looked a poor and undisciplined outfit today.
Goalscoring: Lewis (1-0 8m); Rhodes (2-0 21m); Lewis (3-0 27m); Bloniarczyk (4-0 54m); Liddell (4-1 62m); Bloniarczyk (5-1 74m).
Why not have a browse of the Swansea City Under 18 v Sheffield Wednesday Under 18 Professional Development League match image gallery.
Feature image credit: Majestic Media