Thank you to all who voted over the weekend to send Wayne Routledge, Luciano Narsingh and Leroy Fer into the U23 side to face Middlesbrough U23 in the Premier Division U23 Cup Final.
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As you can see I voted for Wayne Routledge after a compelling argument from @medwynw that he has been at the club the longest.
So, here we go. It’s a Cup Final, silverware is on offer and Charlie Tango takes his seat in the crowd to watch over the product line of future Swansea City stars. Clearly, they will be for some other manager because I doubt they’ll keep me on next season.
Just to confirm the first teamers who are starting, Renato Sanches and Tammy Abraham both qualify for the U23 side due to being young and fresh-faced, while Routledge and Leroy Fer start. Narsingh is on the bench because even Cameron Toshack can’t find a place for him. For Middlesbrough’s Under 23 team, they include the lightning fast Adama Traoré and surprisingly Emmanuel Eboué.
I do feel somewhat guilty I stacked the deck in our favour but then I see Matt Blake cross the ball for Tammy Abraham to open the scoring with a volley at the far post and the guilt just disappears. Boro win a penalty and guess who, Eboué sticks it away. Of all people. Always get the right-back to take the pen.
Just after half-time when I didn’t even get a break for a pie and a pint of Bovril, Abraham sweeps home his second. Just as I’m relaxing again, Middlesbrough break and somehow Mahoney plays across to Thembinkosi Khanyile all on his own to score.
With Luciano Narsingh called into action to replace Abraham, who is still recovering from injury, Swansea looked like a modern-day Crystal Palace when Hodgson plays Townsend and Zaha as roaming forwards. It was Narsingh’s cross that saw Adam King head in the winner!
Congratulations to Cameron Toshack and the boys! That bodes well for our own FA Cup final to come…