Mutterings for the Minority

Swansea v Luton Town

The Swans took their chance to move 14 points clear at the top of League One with a tense 1 nil win over the Hatters tonight - thanks to a cracking goal from man of the match Tom Butler. For once the match sponsors actually chose a worthy man of the match!

In all honesty Luton offered very little and it was obvious why they are 2nd from bottom. Having said that, they frustrated the Swans no end with their ’snapping at the heels’ approach and time wasting - which went unpunished by the referee (as appears to be the norm).

Such was the level of frustration in the first half, not even a 3 minute solid ‘Martinez barmy Army’ chant from the Dieters Bar 6 could crank the 13,900 odd home support into action. Obviously it’s only a goal that can do that or at ex-Cardiff player playing for the opposition! Bizarre I know, but true unfortunately.

So the promotion bandwagon rolls on - albeit rather tentatively at the moment - with the Galpharm stadium in Huddersfield the next stop. Guess what, the Dieters Bar Jacks bang bus will once again be hitting the road and heading up north.

Bad habit

Yes indeed. I’ve got into that awful habit of making draft posts in blogger - with the intention of completing the post later - but somehow never find the time to go back and finish them off.

So if you’re wondering why this blog has got more holes than a moth ridden blanket then you’ll now understand why. One day I’ll get around to putting some context onto the key points I’ve made in each draft post and I’ll publish them - by which time it’ll be totally irrelevant of course.

I decided to try my luck on the bike again today - the 2nd time this week woooo hoooo - as I slowly build myself up to get back into the ‘groove’ of my training. I headed off down to Forte’s ice cream parlour in Limeslade, a 11.7 mile round trip which took me 44 minutes 19 seconds. That included navigating the TWO sets of traffic lights just past Verdi’s and on Big Apple hill!! My max speed was 21.5 mph and I averaged 14.9 mph.

As for the conditions well it was overcast/murky/foggy and as a result it felt rather chilly - despite there being very little wind. At least it meant that there weren’t many human obstacles about - well other than the ones whom are oblivious to the world around them due to having headphones in.

But hey, I’ll take about the health and safety issues of that another time LOL.

Swansea v Walsall

A nervy 1 nil victory for the Swans tonight in what was a tough encounter against a well organised Walsall side. We were once again not at our best, but after the disappoinment of Saturday’s draw at Crewe it was the result and 3 points that mattered.

Not a great deal to say about the game really. We had plenty of possession without actually creating many clearcut opportunities.

I thought Alan Tate had a solid game - which was a big plus, considering that most fans were wary of his return to the starting line up (instead of the inured daddy long legs Dennis Lawrence).

The only negatives from my perspective were the missed penalty (again) with Darren Pratley being the culprit this time and the rather subdued home crowd - little wonder then that most of us who travel to the away games rant on about the atmosphere being better.

So we’re still 8 points clear at the top of League One, so I’m happy with my lot

Crewe v Swansea

We’re on the way home now after watching the Swans throw away a 2 goal lead at Gresty Road.

It was all the more annoying as we were cruising to an easy 3 points - until the last 8 minutes.

Still it was a point gained on the road and a point closer to promotion.

Videos of the Swans goals will be on YouTube later.

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson videophone

Holiday Time

My week long holiday is off to a flying start as the Dieters Bar Jacks head off to Crewe to watch the Swans.

Next stop Strensham services for a toilet stop. More later…

—- ?Sent using a Sony Ericsson videophone

Wallpapering

For the first time in my life I actually did a spot of wallpapering today. Well when I say wallpapering what I mean is I put up DDWT Junior’s dinosaur border up in his new bedroom - using the good old fashioned wallpaper paste.

I now understand and fully realise why I’ve never wallpapered before and why I never intend to do so again! What a fiddly, messy palava it is. Novice or not I reckon it’ll always be the same, little wonder then that I’ve always been an emulsion man

The other major downside of course is getting the old darn wallpaper off. You should have seen me struggle, even with a steam stripper. Still it’s been an experience and one which I won’t be repeating ever again I suspect!

As today was officially the last day of my enforced absence from training - due to my knee ligament injury - it seemed a sensible time to weigh myself, ths laying down a benchmark for future progress. It wasn’t a pleasant experience - 17st 5lbs. You can tell I’ve not done ANY cardiovascular training since December 19th.

Despite my frustration at only being able to do some upper body weight training, the rest has certainly appeared to help my knee ligaments, with the original pain and discomfort having now disappeared.

So it’s onwards and upwards starting tomorrow with a commute into work on my trusty old mountain bike. Fingers crossed for a safe return to fitness with no reaction in my knee.

Swansea v Oldham Athletic

A 2pm kick-off today - due to the England v Wales rugby game - meant a change in the normal routine for the Swans regulars, but it mattered little in the end as the Swans ran out 2-1 winners against the Latics.
The major change in the starting line up was the inclusion of Joe Allen to replace the suspended Darren Pratley or injured Paul Anderson. This seemed to affect our game plan and for the first 20 minutes or so we struggled to get into any sort of rhythym (as per previous weeks) against a physical and well organised Oldham side.

Slowly but surely we began to show glimpses of the form which has seen us take a 10 point lead at the top of League One, but it was obviously going to be a tough afternoon - not helped by a somewhat fussy and often irrational referree. On the subject of referrees, I past 3 weeks had seen a considerable improvement in the standard of decision making and indeed general marshalling of games - until today that was!!

A pretty frustrating first half came to an end with the scores level and it was obvious that something needed to change as the young Joe Allen was being muscled out of the game - thus making us light in midfield. Dennis Lawrence was a notable contributor in the first half with a commanding display in defence - long may his rich vein of form continue.

The 2nd half started off pretty much as the first had ended - until the introduction of Guillem Bauza. This was to be the turning point, both in terms of formation and goals. Suddenly we seemed to step up a gear and lo and behold, an own goal some ten minutes atfer his introduction put the Swans 1 up.

A harsh penalty decision against Bodde ten minutes later meant Oldham drew level, but the Swans were not to be denied as another substitute Fabian Brandy gave us the 3 points with a winner 3 minutes from time. Oh how we celebrated after such a hard fought win!

For me the notable performances of the day came from Big Den, Tommy Butler and good old Bauza - the latter also taking the sponsors man of the match award.

So next up it’s Crewe away and that means a trip for the Dieters Bar Jacks once again - gathering even more away grounds under their belt in the quest for membership of the 92 club.

One other peice of news today worth a mention is the fantastic efforts of the Welsh rugby team, whom finally laid a ghost to rest when they defeated the old enemy (England) 26-19 at Twickers. What a huge difference to the last time I mentioned a game against them back in August 2007 - what a humiliation that was. Let’s hope that we can now take some momentum from this and turn the Scots over in Cardiff next week.

As the songs goes “What a beautiful day”.