As you can guess by the title, I will be discussing Swansea's new found ability to mess things up for themselves and put us fans through near unbearable tension at the same time. I also want to discuss what is fast becoming one of the most interesting and entertaining World Snooker Championships within living memory. May aswell also take a look at the goings on in the Premier League and Wayne Rooney's end of season injury nightmare that is not only bad for defending champions Manchester United, but also a huge dent to England's World Cup prospects. So with all that to look at, I guess I better just dive right in.
Swansea City. Where do I even begin with the tension?? Honestly, as a fan, I thought we'd turned the corner after the splendid home performance against Barnsley last week. That then is why I am so frustrated that we went to Brammel Lane today and capitulated against a Sheffield United side who's season was over and who had nothing to play for. The player's knew how big a game this was, and that United were never going to lay down and let us beat them, and so they should've really done better than a 2-0 loss, a result which, incidentally, leaves us a point behind Blackpool (who after their 1-0 victory away to already-relegated Peterborough leapfrogged us into the last play-off place today) and drops us out of the play-off positions where we have been since December. That comes as such a huge blow to each and every Swansea City fan as most of us live and die by the results of our team out there. It makes the game against Doncaster Rovers next Sunday (a game which I will be in attendance for) at the Liberty Stadium into a must-win game. We then have to rely on Bristol City beating or holding Blackpool JUST so that we get our (much-deserved) shot at being in the Premier League. Am I tense??? You better believe it. On another Championship note, a few congratulations are in order. Well done to Leicester City for securing their play-off berth and to Watford who, after a quite stunning 3-0 victory against an in-form team (Reading), can now look forward to at least another season of Championship Football. Norwich also confirmed their status as League One champions today so well done to them for that, whereas by biggest congratulations have to go to League Two Bournemouth who, despite all their financial struggles, gained promotion to the erm, "dizzying heights" of League One. That's the congratulations out of the way for the Football League.
Manchester United won 3-1 against Spurs today. That result blows the title race WIDE open and Chelsea must now be looking very anxiously at their remaining fixtures given that United gained that impressive result against a Spurs team who had beaten Arsenal AND Chelsea in recent weeks, WITHOUT Wayne Rooney. That is mightily impressive. Apparently, Rooney missed out today because of a groin injury suffered in training during the week, but it poses the question as to how prone to injury he is becoming towards the end of the season. Obviously, fatigue plays a part in these injuries, but Sir Alex Ferguson has said publicly that he doesn't think Rooney will play again for Manchester United this season and that poses the problem of how match-fit Rooney will be when England kick-off their World Cup campaign agaisnt the United States on June 12th. I think Fabio will be very worried about his star striker, but then again, Rooney has seemed, at times, superhuman this season so perhaps it won't be such a massive problem for Enlgand come June 12th. To the relegation battle in the Premier League and some congratulations are due to West Ham who have virtually confirmed their safety today after a 3-2 victory against Wigan. That particular result made me smile, which has been rare today, as Roberto Martinez got beaten. I know I should hold him in high esteem, but becasue of the way he left Swansea last summer, I have little respect for the man, no matter how much he advanced Swansea City.
So, the Snooker. A couple of 2nd round matches have been completed today, and the fairytale story of the Championships so far has to be Steve Davis' little run to the quarter finals. Having come through (narrowly) against Mark King in the first round earlier in the week, he faced a 2nd round match against a man who had been heavily backed to retain the title, John Higgins. Now, I LOVE an underdog, but even I couldn't have predicted that Steve would defy all the odds and beat John Higgins. In a performance where Steve seemed to roll back the years, Davis came through a tense 24th frame (out of a possible 25) as a 13-11 winner. Not even Steve himself could've predicted that, but it was fantastic. It captured the imagination of every Snooker fan and has really lit up these Championships. There was an unfortunate instance where, during Davis' post-match interview with John Parrott, a Fathers For Justice campaigner ran onto the set, only to be detained by the many security guards around the presenters and players. This is a sports blog, but I would just like to say that I think the campaigner is an idiot, and they really don't help themselves by pulling these idiotic stunts. Rather they heavily discredit themselves and what they stand for and I wonder how that man is feeling tonight. Pretty low I should've though. So Steve Davis, who is his quarter-final opponent I hear you ask?? Well that honour goes to the man they call the Thunder Down Under, Mr Neil Robertson, who fought back superbly from 11-5 down overnight to overcome Martin Gould, the former croupier who caused the upset I wrote about the other day, 13-12.
Match of the round also got underway today, but I think I'll wait until a little more than one session has been played before I ramble on about that. Suffice to say the match is between The Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan, and The Welsh Wizard Mark Williams. Definitely could've been a final that one. Anyway, I've written a lot today, and I now feel I should go wallow in the dark for a bit/get blind drunk to make up for my teams inadequacies today. Fare-thee-well and as I always say, I hope you lot out there are still enjoying this blog, and keep reading. Thanks everyone
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