Young Swans triumph over Bristolian counterparts at Stebonheath
Swansea's development side took on Bristol City on Monday night, and managed to come out on top 3-1 thanks to goals from Ryan Hedges, Rory Donnelly & a penalty from Lee Lucas.
It will come as a much-needed confidence boost to O'Leary's men, after previously only experiencing defeat in their three prior matches (against Cardiff, Millwall & Brighton). For one player in particular, the result was possibly a little bittersweet. Kristian Scott, a summer acquisition from Stoke City's academy, previously spent a number of years at Bristol City (where his father was head of player recruitment), so no doubt it would have been nice for him to show his former employers what he's capable of.
Kristian O'Leary will be hoping his side can use this result as a springboard, and go on to put together a run of results.
As for his players, they clearly buy into the ethos the Swans operate with, and midfielder Scott went on record after the 1-0 loss to rivals Cardiff last month to say that he's loving life in SA1, and that the style of football is, to him, a breath of fresh air:
“I’m settling in well. It’s a good club for the type of player that I am. At Swansea, at every level, the club play the same way – playing from the back. Everything is with the ball. There’s no just kicking it long. It’s about keeping the ball and keep moving to find spaces, so I’m really enjoying it.“It’s nice because everyone is together. You see all the first-team players all the time, and you get to eat food with them. It’s good to be in an environment with everyone together, so us younger players see Premier League players around the building.”“For the first 30 minutes [against Cardiff] I don’t think we were at our best. They had more of the ball, so we were just trying to win the ball back high up the pitch. I felt, in the last 15 minutes of the first-half, we did well. We created a few chances, and I think we should have played more like that for the whole game, instead of letting them have time on the ball.“It was my first game in four months – my first 90 minutes – so I felt it went quite well, overall.”“Obviously I want to develop with the Under-21s, and as the season goes on, hopefully get to train with the first-team. Hopefully, if I’m doing well enough, I can try and push into the squad.” Kristian Scott
http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/scott-swansea-1062516.aspx#jJu0AMrBWBVbDXr7.99
As long as the club can maintain a positive atmosphere then operating in this manner is sure to reap rewards in the near future, and I can't wait until we start to see a stream of young talent fighting for places in the first team.
To quote a Kevin Costner movie: "If you build it - they will come". Well, something like that. You know what I mean.