05.05.12 - MAGNA DPL RESULT - WINCANTON TOWN 2 SWANS 2
Swans Snatch Late Leveller
A resilient performance from a depleted Swans side saw an unlikely point gained from the long trip to fourth place Wincanton Town who's faint title hopes were dashed with today's result. Paul Whitton was - at the age of 43 - forced to pick himself in the Swans starting X1 after the side suffered late withdrawls from Adam Richards, Bo Herrington and Marvin Mutanga. Assistant manager Tim Brown was left as Swans only emergency sub and he was far from 100% fit after feeling the affects of a recurring back injury whilst on holiday. He would be on his own in the Swans dugout for the whole 90 minutes with Paul Whitton forced into action and Gareth Davies unable to travel due to work commitments.
A healthy crowd of nearly 100 gathered at Moor Lane hoping that this would be Winky's last home game at DPL level as the Somerset outfit have applied to go into the Western League next season subject to ground grading. On today's inspection, the promotion would seem highly unlikely as there is still no sign of floodlights at their home base. With a forward thinking committee however, it would seem that it will be when not if Wincanton progress to a higher division and that would be the DPL's loss but the Western League's gain.
Seeing the lack of bodies on the visiting bench, the home crowd may have thought that a Cricket score may have been on the cards but Swans have had a habit of proving people wrong when they least expect it - Portland in the Cup being a case point - and today was no different.
When Ian Jenkins put the home side in front early on you sensed the floodgates would open but they didn't and Swans hit back through when Ben Harding netted his fifth goal of the season to level things up for Swans. The scores would reamain level going into the break.
After the interval Swans continued to defy the odds and match the home side with both having good chances to win the match. With five minutes left, it seemed that both sides had settled for a point, or had they? Firstly Jacob Harrop rattled the woodwork for Swans before Dan Golden found a way past Nick Taylor to put Winky into the lead. With injury time being played, Sam Beale launched a hopeful ball into the box which wasn't dealt with by the home defence and after it travelled around the box like a pinball, a touch off Tony Parrott's mid drift saw the ball cross the line and Swans had gained a deserved but unlikely point.
Swans: Taylor, Carpenter, S Beale, J Beale, Parrott 1, Harding 1, Best, King, Harrop, Whitton, Bujor. Sub Not Used: Brown
Virtual Swans Cup Man Of The Match: The Whole Team
