TNS 1 Swansea 1 (Swans Win 4-2 On Penalties)

Swansea progressed through to the final of the FAW Premier Cup for the third time in their history on Wednesday night, although it took extra time and penalties to see of Welsh Premier outfit Total Network Solutions. After failing to finish off TNS over 120 minutes of football, Brian Murphy proved the Swansea hero, saving two penalties and ensuring a safe passage into thi season's final.

Jackett named a mixture of first and reserve team players in his starting line-up, which was as follows:



The Swans took a dream start, when a cross-field pass from Adrian Forbes put Brad Maylett clean through on goal, who slotted home with a cool finish. However, despite going behind early on, it was TNS that took the rest of the first half to Swansea and created virtually all the chances.

Ex-Swan Jamie Wood was guilty of missing a number of excellent chances, as were a number of team-mates, before Izzy Iriekpen's baffling handball in the Swansea penalty area gave the match official little option but to award a TNS spot-kick. TNS equalised from the penalty and both teams went in to the half-time break level at 1-1.

Swansea came out in the second half looking to gain more controlled possession, but barring a long range effort from Kris O'Leary that shaded the post, both teams struggled to create anything worthwhile. However, the game soon changed when Kenny Jackett replaced Lee Thorpe and Adrian Forbes with Paul Connor and Kevin McLeod with around 20 minutes to go.

Jackett reverted to a 4-3-3 formation, with McLeod and Maylett playing as wide-men up front, which allowed Swansea's three-man midfield to enjoy far more of the ball. In particular, Andy Robinson began to drive at the home defence, causing all sorts of problems in the TNS penalty area. In probably Swansea's best chance of the half, a last ditch tackle from a TNS defender denied Kris O'Leary the chance to slot home from within the penalty area, after Andy Robinson had beaten two players and drilled low across the box. However, despite pinning TNS back into their own half for much of the second half, the 90 minutes ended and extra time loomed.

Within the first ten minutes of extra time, Swansea had three excellent chances - two from Andy Robinson who just missed the target on both occasions and the other from Brad Maylett, who struck the base of the post from outside the box. Maylett was soon replaced by Leon Britton in an attempt to add extra flair to the side, but Swansea could still not find the back of the TNS net. There was a late scare for the visitors, when a TNS shot struck the top of the crossbar, but the game more or less petered out to penalties.

To the despair of the TNS home support, Brian Murphy saved two of the four penalties to put Swansea in a fantastic position to progress. Andy Robinson, Leon Britton, Roberto Martinez all netted, before Paul Connor scored the winner to send Swansea into the final and giving them the chance to win £100k.

It is difficult to say whether or not Kenny Jackett will be happy about his side's performance, as it was hardly the morale-boosting victory that they had looked for. However, the playing conditions were hardly ideal, with the difficult surface hampering Swansea's creative players in their attempts to drive onwards with the ball. Nevertheless, Swansea are in the final of the FAW Premier Cup and will play either Wrexham or Bangor.