FAN’S VIEW 22/23 – NO.4: CARABAO CUP ROUND ONE

Carabao Cup

This is a competition that attracts little attention at the first round stage but I quite like it. Even though we’ve got ’86 it will never as a competition match the FA Cup with all its rich history and folklore but it does have something about it.

With most Championship sides coming in at the very start alongside L1 and L2 outfits there’s a decent chance we get drawn against someone we don’t play regularly and if drawn against a team from the level above, as is the case here, there’s a chance to test yourself against better technical players even if the opposition faced may be inexperienced and experimental in nature. The quest for league points tops everything and that applies to us too. Meaning there’s a good chance of seeing a youngster or two of our own. After Tyler Goodrham on Saturday that’s something very much to look forward to.

A win gets a round two draw when all of the Premier League teams except those playing in European competitions play for the first time. The same as above applies only a bit more so and there’s the possibility of being drawn away to a sizeable club and also maybe a new ground. Off the top of my head I can think of Brentford, Leicester and Southampton.

But that’s getting ahead of myself. First up its Swansea.

We haven’t played them in the league for 18 seasons. That was at The Vetch Field under Ramon Diaz and resulted in a 1-0 defeat. What a crazy time that was for us. Can’t believe it was that long ago.

Since then we’ve both moved on. The Swans away from their very unique old crumbling home to the Liberty Stadium and the Premier League from 2011/12 – 2017/18. Our Kassam journey as we know took us the other way.

Now though the gap between the two clubs isn’t that great in terms of league position. They’re only one step above and have not started 2022/23 well having drawn 1-1 at newly promoted Rotherham on the first day and this Saturday got tonked 3-0 at home by Blackburn.

In the interim we have played them once in the FA Cup. It was in 2016. We were in League 2 and Swansea were still a top flight club albeit a struggling one. Michael Appleton was in charge and we had a very good player by the name of Kemar Roofe playing for us. He scored twice and we ran out 3-2 winners. We also had some other top talent on show that day particularly given the level we were playing at. George Baldock. Chris Maguire. Jon Lundstram. Calum O’Dowda came on as sub.

There’s no denying we’ve been well entertained and heartened by what we’ve seen over quite a few seasons now but if these things are cyclical as some would have (and I don’t necessarily subscribe to that school of thought) we’ve still got a way to go to cancel out the Conference years. Championship (at least). Luton have done it.

Oxford United 2 Swansea City 2

Penalty Shootout – Oxford United 5 Swansea City 3

This was a night of drama indeed and once again was proof that you just don’t know what you’re going to get when entering a football ground. Even when a game looks fair set to take a certain course, as here, there’s no guarantee that it actually will. Then there’s individual stories. The highs and lows – or more like the lows and highs in Eddie McGinty’s case because that was the order they came in. Talk about a debut to remember.

Throw in those fine line margins, another goal in the last minute of added time and then penalties, all for fifteen quid or a tenner if you are over 65 or between 18 and 21 and there’s a good chance you won’t get better value for money for your footballing pound.

By way of contrast league match day ticket prices at Banbury United, newly promoted to the National League North are £15 for adults and £11 for over 65s. (NB: It is possible to get in a bit cheaper at Oxford City and Brackley Town who both play at a similar level)

The manager had said there would be changes and there certainly were. Only three of Saturday’s starters began against the Swans who themselves had made seven changes.

At half time I’ll admit to having said, “I don’t think we’ve solved the issue with our goalkeepers”. When I saw our latest signing first running out on to the pitch I thought this guy isn’t very tall. Although our official site doesn’t give his height as they have done for our other two keepers (both six foot two) other internet searches show him to be an inch taller. Perhaps I’d focussed on him standing next to Elliott Moore or I’d somehow gone into a kind of Father Dougal small/far away mode.

It’s indisputable that in the first half the visitors were streets ahead of us. We looked like a team that had not played together before and our inexperience was clearly evident. Learning on the job though is the best way and there were no league points at stake. Nevertheless I 100% wanted a win. Always do.

Swansea to me looked like they play a level above and were bossing just about everything. In midfield and up front they looked bigger and tougher. Whenever we had the ball they were very quick at taking it back from us. We did have a couple of chances but were nowhere near clinical enough.

They were making strong runs off the ball that were being picked out in a fashion that was shredding our defence.

In the seventh minute a Swansea defender strode forward in possession and although we got three men around him, couldn’t stop his pass dissecting our centre-halves. With both of them still in with a very good chance of beating Liam Cullen to the ball McGinty came charging out, his enthusiasm clouding judgement as to where the boundary of his penalty area lay. If he’d put the brakes on he’d likely have gathered the ball easily.

Swansea ended up with a free-kick on the very edge and our man from Sligo with a yellow card. That it was this colour and not red must have been because referee Thomas Bramall deemed that it prevented a promising attack as opposed to denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. Swansea fans will naturally disagree but their official match report which states that the handling was cynical is way OTT. I agree it probably was correctly given as a free-kick but people may well think I’m mad when I say I don’t think it was certainly so. The replay shows McGinty quickly pulling his hand away and it has to be the whole of the ball and whole of the line. Granted the linesman had a reasonable view and it was he who signalled.

The way we set up our wall with Alex Gorrin detached from the left hand side and the whole thing not being far enough across, had goal written all over it. Goal it was. No redemption for McGinty at this point.

Midway through the half the deficit had doubled. As the Jacks came at us yet again the rushing back Gorrin did their work for them. Like a keeper saving but knocking the ball into the danger area and not away, only worse. Instead of an own goal it was an own assist. Cullen was on to it in a flash. McGinty was angry with himself. Quite possibly he should have done better.

It was pondered whether he should be taken off at half time, but that was not going to happen. Confidence would have been shot to pieces.

To be fair to him he didn’t crumble and nor did we as a team when for much of the first half it appeared we might be on the end of a good hiding.

In that first period I thought Elliott Moore was decent and also Ciaron Brown, who for me should be a starter in the league. I’d pick him over Steve Seddon every time.

If we were to have any chance of turning things around more solid experience was needed. The introduction of Stuart Findlay and Cameron Brannagan brought that. It was Seddon and Jodi Jones who played no further part. I was really disappointed in the latter and thought he had no influence on the game. When he received the ball he seemed to wait before setting off on a run and then didn’t proceed with much conviction. It was as if he had no confidence and wanted opponents to get close so he had an excuse not to do much. Early days.

With our reinforcements introduced the visitors were no longer so dominant but could have put the game to bed quite early on.  Nathan Ogbeta missed a good chance and Cullen flashed one just wide after a pacey attack that came after Lewis Bate had been robbed.

We strengthened again in the 62^nd minute when Marcus McGuane replaced Bate and Marcus Browne for James Henry. Bate had not looked the player he had done in the short time he’d been on three days earlier.

We might have been two down but there was a definite spirit in our play now. We were closing them down much quicker and collectively in their half. They no longer looked comfortable. Many of their fans have argued that they lost their grip on the game when, as we made our two changes, they made four.

Swansea manager Russell Martin is an advocate of playing out from the back and that was seen when he was in charge of MK Dons. We caught them out and the same happened here.

Just keep at it. Exploit weaknesses that are there to be exploited and you’re in with a chance. Azeem Abdulai, one of those who had only come on five minutes earlier, played a ball back to his keeper that put him under pressure. A calm side footed pass to his left would have sufficed for his team but he tried to smash it clear and it hit the rapidly approaching Gorrin who had anticipated wonderfully and we were back in it. Benda the offender? A fluke some will say. We’d worked for it and knew exactly what we were doing.

Although we were giving it our best and had them on the back foot it appeared that this best wouldn’t be quite good enough.

As on Saturday four extra minutes were added. As on Saturday we entered the last minute really needing that goal. As on Saturday we got it. Unbelievable Jeff.

In the last few minutes we were throwing players forward and getting the ball into the box. Slavi Spasov, an 80^th minute sub for our nominated front man of the day, half got the ball to Findlay who was kicked. The whistle had probably gone before a resulting shot hit the bar. Findlay was stood on the line. It could have been a penalty. It wasn’t. It didn’t matter though. Brannagan hammered the ball at a better set up wall than ours had been but the result was the same. Goal. The barricade jumped and broke as the kick was taken and the deflection favoured us big time.

Seconds later the final whistle went and it was only then that I became aware it was straight to penalties. I knew that McGinty had won a penalty shootout for Sligo in the Europa League qualifying already this season.  I wasn’t feeling unconfident.

Browne 1-0. Benda nowhere near

Cullen 1-1. Good penalty low near McGinty’s right hand post but our keeper got close.

Gorrin 2-1. Alex had had a very mixed game. Nowhere near his best. I worried a bit. His run up was too straight. A little stutter and then a great strike, Benda going the wrong way.

Ntcham 2-2. Their turn to send the keeper the wrong way and hammer home.

McGuane 3-2. Started to the right of the ball then moved left before hammering into the roof of the net. Benda went the right way but there was no stopping it.

Allen. 3-3. He was never going to miss.

The pressure mounts.

Spasov 4-3. I was worried once more. Where are all the experienced guys? A slow short run up. Don’t like it. Shot very close to the keeper but he didn’t stop it.

Sorinola 4-3 (Still). McGinty went to his right, got a hand to the ball, didn’t stop it going goal-ward but knocked it into the ground. It travelled on its way but up onto the bar. Fine save. Fine margins.

Brannagan 5-3. Bang. Another penalty that cannot be stopped. We’re through.

One player who didn’t take one of those pressure spot kicks was Goodrham. I still had him as my man of the match though. There’s a liveliness and spark about him. For one so young he’s not frightened to take players on and he can beat them. Also for such a small guy he’s got one hell of a leap in him and he nearly drew us level just before we did peg Swansea back. What a story that would have been on top of his debut story. Got to worry that he starts to be so good and develop so quickly that he’ll become the next Shandon Baptiste?

All eyes on the draw tonight after the Sheffield Wed v Sunderland game.

A debut to remember. Photo Simon Jaggs