Swansea City 3-1 Pilgrims

Coca Cola League

Boston United's poor away form continued as they went down 3-1 to high flying Swansea at their Vetch Field ground. The only change to the starting line-up over that which had been so successful in the Pilgrims' last game against Darlington, was that Lee Thompson started in place of suspended Mark Greaves. Boston went a goal behind after just four minutes. Swansea were awarded a free kick when Paul Ellender fouled Adrian Forbes. It proved to be a very costly misdemeanour as first Austin McCann was booked for dissent, then the kick was moved forward to the edge of the area, then Lee TRUNDLE powered the free kick home, with the aid of a wicked deflection off the edge of the wall that gave Nathan Abbey no time to adjust to cover the new trajectory. Stung into action by the goal Boston now searched for an equaliser. Lee Thompson fired a shot goalwards and Swansea keeper Willy Gueret had to make a fine save to prevent it from curling into the top right corner. Dean West then blasted a long range effort high and wide. Play then switched to the other end as Swansea won another free kick on the edge of the area. This time Abbey made a great save. On 23 minutes Swansea increased their lead with a bizarre goal. Adrian Forbes broke clear down the right wing. Just as Abbey decided to move to the centre to cover the incoming forwards, FORBES decided to have a crack at goal himself causing Abbey to slip as he had to change direction, allowing the ball to bounce tamely into a gaping net. Boston were soon on the attack again. A Danny Thomas free-kick caused panic in the Swansea defence and a wild punched clearance by Gueret only found Thompson, whose shot across the goal was only inches too wide.

Swansea went three up on 27 minutes. A through pass by Trundle let Marc GOODFELLOW beat the offside trap and he made no mistake with his powerful finish. Goodfellow almost made it four a couple of minutes later, but his shot was just wide of the far post. Just before half-time Lee Thompson produced another good shot, but the keeper made an equally good diving save. At half time Simon Rusk came on for the ineffective Steve Melton and Boston began to gain a bit more cohesion in their play. An overlapping run down the left wing allowed Danny Thomas to set up Daryl Clare, who cut inside only to see his shot saved. Andy Kirk then broke down the right wing and he picked out Thomas whose shot was blocked. Boston won a corner from which Rusk's header was tipped over the bar. Swansea now had a couple of good chances. Trundle curled a free-kick just too high, then Abbey made a good claim following a goalmouth scramble. Manager Steve Evans brought on Jason Lee for Andy Kirk for the last twenty minutes, but this just seemed to spur Swansea on. First a shot by Paul Conner hit the post, then four minutes later the same player fired over after being picked out by Trundle. Boston did however get a consolation goal five minutes from time. Following a corner Lee Beevers' shot hit the post, but the rebound fell nicely to Jason LEE who scored a rare goal with his feet from six yards out. Boston almost made the score respectable when Thomas was scythed down as he sped down the wing. From the resulting free kick Rusk saw his shot blocked.

United team: Nathan Abbey, Lee Beevers, Austin McCann, Dean West, Paul Ellender, Chris Holland, Lee Thompson, Steve Melton (Simon Rusk 46), Daryl Clare, Andy Kirk (Jason Lee 72), Danny Thomas. Subs not used: Matt O'Halloran, Courtney Pitt, David Staff.