Oli Wonder Goal Lights Up First Friendly

Swansea gained a hard-fought 3-1 victory at non-league Worcester City, courtesy of two goals from Dennis Oli and one from Assistant Manager Kevin Nugent. Jackett made full use of his Swansea squad, fielding a total of 20 different players during the 90 minutes, yet trialist Oli stole the show with a wonder-goal and an excellent display of pace and aggression. Other new signings including Monk, Ricketts, Austin, Forbes and Fisken all participated, although injuries prevented appearances from Trundle, Iriekpen and Hylton.

First Half Action

Swansea’s First Half Squad:

Murphy

Ricketts - Tate - Monk - Austin

Britton - O’Leary - Fisken - Robinson

Connor - Forbes

Jackett began with a basic 4-4-2 formation with all of his new signings and in the intense heat of the St George’s Lane stadium, passed the ball about neatly and with purpose. Swansea’s right flank provided the majority of the balls into the box, with Ricketts scampering up the wing to link up with Britton at every opportunity.

Fisken and O’Leary acted merely as ball winners, before laying the ball out to the more creative players, whilst Adrian Forbes battled for every ball up front. After missing a header in the opening few moments, Adrian Forbes nodded a Ricketts cross past the Worcester keeper, only to see the ball cleared off the line by a covering defender. This dogged defending from Worcester was to set the tone of the first half, as Swansea squandered numerous half chances and dominated possession.

Worcester’s only chance of the first half came when indecision at the back had looked to let an opposition striker in on goal. However, Murphy was out quickly to claim it and had little to do for the rest of the half. Communication at the back was excellent, with Monk in control of the line and Austin acting as the power-house on the left. All in all, a decent first half, lacking only in goals.

Jackett made nine substitutions at half time, fielding a more inexperienced eleven.

Gueret

Jones - O’Leary - Monk - Davies

Maylett - Martinez - Corbisiero - Thomas

Oli - Nugent

Trialists Dennis Oli and Willy Gueret both made their first Swansea appearances, whilst youngsters Antonio Corbisiero and Kevin Davies were also included. The only remaining players (and to play 90 minutes) were O’Leary and Monk, with Jackett taking a look at a different sort of defensive partnership.

Despite a decent start from Swansea, Worcester took the lead after slack defending from a corner gifted an opposition attacker with a simple tap in. At one point, three Swansea defenders were caught ball watching in this move and memories of frustrating old times were rekindled. Moments later, the impressive Oli slipped through the Worcester defence, but found his shot blocked by the goalkeeper’s shoulder. Almost immediately, Oli excited the fans again with a mazy dribble and 30-yard shot that missed the top corner by inches.

Minutes after Thomas had gone close with a header, Dennis Oli grabbed the inevitable equaliser with a moment of sheer brilliance. Worcester failed to close the trialist down and from 25 yards out, Oli found the top corner of the net with a stinging half volley.

Suddenly Swansea came to life and after neat inter-play between Martinez, Thomas and Corbisiero, the latter crossed for Nugent to head into an empty net and give Swansea the lead. The Swansea midfield pairing of Martinez and Corbisiero continued to dominate midfield and there was no surprise when Stuart Jones’ looping cross was headed back across goal by Nugent, for the debutant Oli to finish from a yard out.

Martinez lines up a free kick...

Worcester had their chances to grab a consolation goal, but the Swansea defence remained determined for most of the half. Trialist goalkeeper Willy Gueret had precious little to do, apart from to pick the ball out of his own net from an unstoppable close range finish.

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Jackett will probably be pretty pleased at his team’s showing today, with plenty to be optimistic about. There are several candidates for Swans MAD's Man of the Match, but the first half award goes to Adrian Forbes, with Dennis Oli winning for the second half. Any more performances like that and the ex-QPR striker will surely be signing a professional contract before too long.

Check all the individual Swans MAD player ratings by returning to the home page.