by Simon Hough
... our very own Roving Reporter!

Yet another play-off failure but at least this time we come away knowing that we didn’t let ourselves down and came within a post-width of at least forcing extra time against a tiring opposition. As Billy predicted, refereeing decisions and Lady Luck would have a big say on the outcome of these games and he was proved correct. With three efforts off the woodwork, missed chances and a number of penalty decisions declined, things could have been so different.

It’s fair to say that none of the major decisions went in our favour after the first ninety seconds of the opening game and last night was no exception. The blatant handball decision from Earnshaw’s shot summed up our mis-fortune with weak officials over the ninety minutes.

Davies, with one eye on extra time, got the tactics spot on. Using the workers and runners (with Tyson and Tudgay) in the early stages and then adding the extra quality of Boyd and Earnshaw as the game progressed. The only exception to this was the use of McGoldrick who was lucky to remain on the pitch for so long with another indifferent display.

Having started the game so well, keeping the crowd quiet (apart from one deflected effort off the bar for them) and creating a number of decent chances, we let ourselves down for a short spell and got caught out twice. Firstly, we didn’t react to a quick corner, Tudgay didn’t close down their player properly who curled the ball past an unsighted Camp and into the far corner. We still hadn’t regained our composure when some neat footwork and calm finish across Camp doubled their lead. At that stage, we were grateful to get through to half-time without any further damage.

The second half saw Forest come out looking resolute and with purpose and soon had Swansea under pressure. Suddenly we were winning the midfield battles with Moussi looking much more like himself and Cohen showing the energy and purpose missing from the first half.

Tyson again was the creator down the left and Tudgay missed from twelve yards when it looked easier to score. Shortly after the bar denied us again. McGugan lined up a free kick on the edge of the area, fired it towards the top corner but with the keeper beaten, it crashed against the bar and away to safety.

Swansea still threatened on the break but the majority of the play was in their half as we were improving at just the right time. With Earnshaw, Boyd and Majewski we had real quality going forward and finally found a way through. Majewski’s pin-point pass released Earnshaw to find the sort of finish he makes look so easy.

There was still time for Earnshaw to hit the post again and then denied a blatant penalty for a doubled handed “save” – a shocking decision at any level. With Camp coming forwards for late set pieces, they took advantage of Gunter’s slip and he scored with a composed finish from the half-way line.

MOTM Moloney had another impressive evening keeping Sinclair quiet and was one of the few players to perform consistently in both legs. He doesn’t posess the quality of Gunter going forward and that cost us on occasions as we had a number of promising openings down the right hand side in the second half. Throughout the whole tie, Sinclair contributed very little and great credit to Moloney for that. Gunter looked lost at left back and had another tough evening against the lively Dyer. We had so many opportunities crying out for a naturally left footed player which were wasted. It’s a real shame that we had to sacrifice the best right back in the league for the failings of others at the club to address the annual left back situation.

Moussi had a terrible opening to the game but still contributes more to the game than McKenna ever does. When he’s fit and on form, there’s nothing stopping him. In contrast to the pedestrian pace of Thursday night, we had a dynamic force in midfield to drive forward at every opportunity even if the passing is sometimes wayward. Always willing to take responsibility of possession from Chambers and Morgan and get the team moving forward. Will be sorely missed if this is the last time we see him in a red shirt.

Majewski showed plenty of quality on the ball in the second half and that through-ball to Earnshaw for the second goal was the pass of the season. One of few naturally gifted footballers in our squad and he’s too good to be wasted on our bench. We have to find a way to include both him and McGugan into the same side next season.

It’s surprising that Billy still tolerates this type of performance from McGoldrick, very wasteful in possession following good work from others and surely it’s time to admit that it’s not going to work out for him here. Just not mobile, physical or clinical enough to play up front and goes missing for too long to play him in midfield.

Assuming that’s Tyson’s last game for the club, he could not have done any more until he left due to another injury. Rightly criticised for a lack of quality or goals in the past, on this occasion he created straight-forward chances for McGoldrick and Tudgay at the start of each half which would have changed the course of the game.

The quality of Earnshaw’s finish was a rarity this season after a number of missed chances in recent games and almost earned us injury time with another cool finish. Boyd came on through the second half, bashed their centre halves around and made life much more difficult for the home defence. Has been an excellent addition to the squad and his performances have improved noticeably in-line with his fitness levels. Based on reported wages, it remains to be seen whether there’s a deal to be done here but shows the need for a physical target man to lead the line, especially away from home.

So certainly no disgrace unlike previous seasons but just a general feeling of frustration at our own inability in front of goal, such bad luck and the poor officials who bottled the easiest of decisions.

Tags: Games Lost, MOTM Brendan Moloney

Whilst this might look like an opportunity lost, in reality, we failed to produce the real level of performance we’re capable of and can consider ourselves fortunate not to be losing. Despite the early red card, we failed to take advantage and Swansea could easily have taken a lead back for the second leg.

However, if we had taken a narrow lead into the second leg, it’s likely that we would have adopted a defensive attitude which never seems to suit us well. With the current situation, it’s a straight ninety minute battle for Wembley and there’s no excuse not to go to Swansea and give them a game.

In the absence of Moussi it was back to the slow pedestrian style of play that we struggled to shake off earlier in the season. The importance of Moussi to the team cannot be over-stated and his presence on Monday could be the difference between the sides. Whilst McKenna is happy to watch the defence passing the ball aimlessly between themselves, Moussi takes control and gets the team moving forwards with purpose. Anyone at the Scunthorpe home game saw the difference without and then with Moussi and we badly need his influence in the second leg.

The loss of their left back produced a creditable response from Swansea and made life very difficult for us. Our build-ups were slow and predictable with the visitors attacking on the break with purpose.

Things livened up in the closing stages with the introduction of the pace of McCleary and Tyson. Apart from a hand ball shout from Cohen’s shot, an offside finish from Earnshaw plus a number of poor finishes from the same player, we did little to justify a lead. Despite sitting back for the majority of the half, Swansea had the best chance to break the deadlock when Dyer broke forward and Camp saved well at his near post.

There were a few positives to be taken from the game. At least we kept a clean sheet. MOTM Camp looked back to his best and made a number of decent saves to keep us in the game. He adjusted his positioning well to tip over a dipping free kick, got his body behind a deflected low shot and then prevented the dangerous Dyer from catching us on the break. Moloney, started nervously but coped well with Sinclair down our right hand side as he barely made an impression on the game. Boyd made a number of decent contributions but never found himself able to get an effort on goal. McCleary, provided width in the closing stages and at least tried to commit their defence into making tackles whilst running at them with pace.

In contract, the midfield in general was very poor, with the usual exception of McGugan who was expected to create everything for us. Having struggled to cope with their quick, incisive passing, McKenna’s inability to find a red shirt, he simply handed possession back to them. Cohen had a poor game by his standards, whilst Anderson seemed to be everywhere but where he should be and created nothing. Unless he’s playing wide on the right hand side and giving extra protection to the defence then we don’t get enough from him. Especially against ten men, we needed to stretch the game with players out wide but too often we ended up with a muddled mess of red shirts in the middle of the pitch.

Another poor performance from Earnshaw, a number of decent chances came his way with the most likely result being an aimless shot over the bar. One half-decent effort was hit straight at their keeper but that was it, he doesn’t contribute much else. If only one of those chances had fallen to Boyd instead.

There’s every reason to approach the second leg with confidence where Swansea have to come out and justify their favourites tag. Whilst we could easily have conceded five or six in the same fixture earlier in the season, we created a number of our own chances and caused havoc in the closing stages. Assuming we can get through the first twenty minutes there’s no reason why we can’t start imposing ourselves on the game but a lot rests on the fitness of Mr Moussi.

Tags: Games Drawn, MOTM Lee Camp