Swans Reserves knocked out of Cup

Barton Town Reserves	0-2	Sculcoates Amateurs
		Flowerdew Todd

Following a week of due to fixtures elsewhere ongoing , the Reserves hosted Sculcoates Amatuers in the second round of the aptly named “Whiteheads Fish & Chip Cup”.

The Reserves welcomes back Whall, Atkinson from injury and handed debut to Stephen Cooper following his transfer in from Reckitts AFC.

#	Player
1	Jack Dunn
2	Bryn Everitt
3	Nathan Patchett
4	Thomas Dixon 🔻Atkinson 81
5	Clay Bryant
6	Stephen Cooper 🟡
7	Luke Kershaw
8	Tom Darwood
9	Harry Finnis
10	Ben Herrick 🔻Sampson 63
11	Adam Whall 🔻Goluch 71
12	Elliot Sampson 🔺Herrick 63
13	Daniel Goluch 🔺Whall 71
14	Joe Atkinson 🔺Dixon 81
15	Harry Peacock
16	Michael Broom

In blustery and difficult conditions Sculcoates boasted an array of former Swans first team men, Busby, Mortimer and Flowdrew all names in the opposition’s Matchday squad. Mortimer withdrew early in the first half following a heavy tackle, replaced by White.

The first half as in recent times drew a blank, with Sculcoates having the better of the chances, but finding Dunn in fine form to save at point blank following a corner midway through the half.  The Reserves had a couple of decent set pieces but no one in a Swans shirt was able to capitalise on loose balls.

The second half was also heading that way, and it was Sculcoates who found the upper hand in the latter stages of the game with what could be perceived as some fine substitutes from the opposition dugout.. as both second half substitutes scored. 

Former Swans forward Flowerdew was introduced and he excellently lifted the ball over Dunn, who was in a decent position into the far top corner to give Sculcoates the lead in the 73rd minute.

Goluch and Sampson had both been introduced at this stage and Cooper then went close as his effort crashed into a Sculcoates defender when seemingly heading goal bound inside the box following a corner.

In the late Stages Todd made it two, with a low deflected effort denting any hopes of the Swans getting back into the game.

Manager Liam Graham reflected following the game.

“If I’m honest I believe we were second best today, we couldn’t get a foot on the game and control it to the tempo we wanted.

“Credit to Sculcoates who found that extra, 10 percent last 30 minutes and got the goal which I thought was an excellent finish.

“We again were in the game , and defended well, just lacked that bit of creativity in the final third. We must be more ruthless when getting into areas that we can cause problems for the opposition.“