Gower reaches promised land with Swans but no such luck for other ex-Shrimpers

Swansea looked to have wrapped the game up by half-time after two goals in two minutes from Sinclair, the first from the penalty spot, were followed by another from Stephen Dobbie.

However, Noel Hunt gave Reading hope with a deflected near-post header from a corner shortly after the restart, and another header from Matt Mills just before the hour set up an exciting finale.

Jem Karacan was inches away from drawing the Royals level when his shot struck the post but Brian McDermott's side saw their hopes go up in smoke 10 minutes from time when Andy Griffin clumsily gave away a penalty which Sinclair gleefully converted.

In the process he became only the second player, after Clive Mendonca, to bag a play-off final treble at Wembley and ensured Swansea are the first non-English club to compete in the Premier League since its formation in 1992.

Victory ends a 28-year wait for top-flight football for Swansea and - aside from the estimated £90million windfall - completes an astonishing eight-year turnaround for the south Wales club after they narrowly avoided relegation from the Football League.

For manager Brendan Rodgers, it was victory against the club he served for a total of 14 years as player, youth coach, reserve coach and an unsuccessful six-month stint as boss in 2009.

His replacement 17 months ago, Brian McDermott, was able to call upon influential winger Jimmy Kebe after he passed a fitness test on a thigh injury.

Rodgers kept faith with the same line-up who saw off Nottingham Forest 3-1 in the second leg of their semi.

That meant defender Alan Tate and midfielder Leon Britton walked out for the club having been part of that dramatic final day survival in 2003.

And once the fireworks had gone off and the red carpet had been tucked away, it was the anticipated free-flowing, passing football which failed still to materialise in the opening exchanges.

Swans skipper Garry Monk survived a convincing appeal for handball in the penalty area, and no sooner had he got off the hook then Zurab Khizanishvili brought down Nathan Dyer at the other end.

It left Sinclair to send Adam Federici the wrong way from the spot and the Georgian centre-back lucky to avoid a second yellow card.

And just 60 seconds later, with 22 minutes on the clock, it was 2-0.

Khizanishvili was having an afternoon to forget and he was left standing by Dobbie on the right who squared the ball into the danger area and Federici's weak hand failed to stop it travelling to Sinclair who tapped home at the far post.

Swansea's lead was further strengthened five minutes before the break as Dyer used his pace down the right and his cross was only half cleared by Khizanishvili to the grateful Dobbie who fired home a third from the edge of the area.

Reading's 25-goal top scorer Shane Long then mis-kicked a glorious opportunity wide just before the break.

Matters went from bad to worse for the Royals at half-time as first-team coach Nigel Gibbs was sent to the stands and substitute Jay Tabb also dismissed for something said to referee Phil Dowd.

But the Berkshire outfit were given a glimmer of hope within four minutes of the restart as Hunt narrowly got in front of Joe Allen at the front post to head home Jobi McAnuff's corner, albeit via a deflection off Allen (og).

And the Wembley roof was soon raised yet again as Mills made it 3-2 in the 57th minute.

Swans once more failed to deal with a McAnuff corner from the left and the Reading skipper rose highest to head home from six yards.

Rodgers' side were rocking and Karacan saw his low 25-yard effort deflected against the foot of a post before Monk brilliantly denied Long on the rebound.

The clash remained firmly balanced as it approached the final quarter, but that all changed 10 minutes from time as Griffin brought down Fabio Borini in the area, leaving Sinclair to beat Federici for the second time from 12 yards.

And the strike was the cue for over 40,000 visiting Swansea supporters to party.


Gower in the Premiership; who would have thought it!

&
Adam Federici and Hal Robson-Kanu; ex-Royal Shrimper loanees

However, on the Reading side they had a couple of our former loanees from the Berkshire team; Aussie international keeper Adam Federici who looked class personified when he turned out for the Shrimpers and is the present Royals No.1, and midfielder Hal Robson-Kanu, whose cultured left foot will be remembered best for a terrific winner against Yeovil in the rain, and let's not forget his heading ability, where he grabbed a late first half equaliser for Southend against........Swansea City, but sadly didn't come off the bench on what turned out to be a sunny late May Bank Holiday Monday afternoon in north-west London after all.

Match highlights:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011r2hh/
The_Football_League_Show_2010_2011_Episode_43/

Competition: npower Football League Play-Offs (Lvl 2) Date: Monday, 30th May 2011 Time: 15:00 Venue: Wembley Stadium
	Reading 2	v	Swansea City 4

Ref: Phil Dowd (Stoke)

Att: 86,581


Peterborough United: Celebrate their victory

Sadly no such luck for Clarkey & the Terriers who found the Posh too much for them and it's another season for the former Southend United centre-back.

Peterborough secured promotion back to the Championship with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield in the League One play-off final at Old Trafford.

Tommy Rowe, Craig Mackail-Smith and Grant McCann scored the killer goals in the 78th, 80th and 85th minutes as Huddersfield suffered their first defeat in 28 league matches.

Rowe's goal - a header from McCann's free-kick - came after a spell of dominance by Huddersfield, but there was no sign of that by the time Mackail-Smith had fired his 35th goal of the season and McCann delivered the knockout blow with a fine free-kick five minutes from the end.

Victory marked a triumphant return to Peterborough for Darren Ferguson, who was sacked by Preston in December after leaving London Road in November 2009 - and he has now led Posh to a third promotion in four seasons.

More than 35,000 Huddersfield fans looked on in disbelief as their season was shattered in seven devastating minutes, Lee Clark's side denied promotion in the cruellest of fashions by a first league defeat since December.

The West Yorkshire outfit made one change from the side that kicked off the second leg of their penalty shoot-out win over Bournemouth in the semi-final, with midfielder Scott Arfield replacing leading goalscorer Jordan Rhodes.

Peterborough were unchanged following their 4-3 aggregate win over MK Dons in their semi-final.

Posh fans were on their feet in the fifth minute when Mackail-Smith scampered clear, but his low shot was deflected on to Ian Bennett's left-hand post.

Peterborough had Clark's side on the back foot in the opening exchanges before Town skipper Peter Clarke's header, comfortably held by Posh goalkeeper Paul Jones, signalled a better spell for Huddersfield.

Posh striker Lee Tomlin and Town midfielder Lee Peltier were both booked for rash tackles during a feisty six-minute spell towards the end of the first half.

And although chances were at a premium, Peterborough's three-pronged attack of Mackail-Smith, George Boyd and Tomlin carried by far the greater threat than Huddersfield's isolated striker Benik Afobe.

But Town rallied and winger Gary Roberts' curling free-kick was saved at full stretch by Jones just before the break, while Afobe's shot on the turn flashed just wide.

Mackail-Smith then spurned another golden chance in first-half injury time following good work from Tomlin and Boyd, firing wide from 12 yards again with only Bennett to beat.

McCann curled a left-footed free-kick just over the crossbar five minutes into the second half.

But Huddersfield began to get on top and went close to taking a 59th-minute lead when winger Danny Ward cut inside and crashed an angled shot against the top of the crossbar.

Town defender Antony Kay was lucky to receive only a yellow card after cutting down Mackail-Smith in the 75th minute and Tomlin wasted the free-kick.

But three minutes later Town defender Gary Naysmith tripped Boyd on the edge of the penalty area and from McCann's free-kick, Rowe flicked his header beyond Bennett.

Posh fans had had no time to catch breath when Boyd stole clear down the left and his cut back into the area found Mackail-Smith, whose low shot took a slight deflection off Kay and spun away from Bennett inside the far post.

Town were then dealt a knockout blow after Clarke felled Mackail-Smith, with McCann clipping home an exquisite free-kick to seal a stunning finale.

Match highlights:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13594587.stm

Competition: npower Football League Play-Offs (Lvl 3) Date: Sunday, 29th May 2011 Kick off: 15:00 Venue: Old Trafford
	Huddersfield	0 - 3	Peterborough Rowe 78 Mackail-Smith 80 McCann 85
Match Finished

Starting line-ups
13	Ian Bennett
32	Jack Hunt
3	Gary Naysmith
5	Peter Clarke
2	Lee Peltier
20	Kevin Kilbane
16	Scott Arfield (Lee 81)
8	Anthony Kay
10	Daniel Ward (Cadamarteri 79)
7	Gary Roberts
24	Benik Afobe (Rhodes 81)
Substitutes
4	Joey Gudjonsson
17	Jordan Rhodes (Afobe 81)
19	Alan Lee (Arfield 81)
21	Lee Novak
18	Jamie McCombe
25	Nick Colgan
9	Danny Cadamarteri (Ward 79)

Starting line-ups
28	Paul Jones
27	Grant Basey (Lee 64)
2	Mark Little
16	Ryan Bennett
5	Gabriel Zakuani
11	Grant McCann
7	James Wesolowski
14	Tommy Rowe (Whelpdale 84)
12	Craig Mackail-Smith
24	Lee Tomlin (Ball 90+2)
10	George Boyd
Substitutes
19	Nathaniel Mendez-Laing
6	Charlie Lee (Basey 64)
30	Barry Richardson
18	Chris Whelpdale (Rowe 84)
35	Joe Newell
4	Kelvin Langmead
9	David Ball (Tomlin 90+2)

49.4%	Possession	50.6%
0	Goal Attempts	3
0	On Target	3
0	Off Target	0
0	Hit Woodwork	0
5	Corners	4

Referee	Attendance
Steve Tanner	48,410
Additional information
played at Old Trafford

Huddersfield cards shown
34	Peltier	Unsporting behaviour
39	Hunt	Unsporting behaviour
76	Kay	Unsporting behaviour
Peterborough cards shown
29	Tomlin	Unsporting behaviour
65	Lee	Unsporting behaviour

A Bank Holiday weekend to remember.........for some!:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/feat/edy4/
bank_holiday_weekend_of_destiny_for_marky__
clarkey_but_dont_forget_the_aussie__hrk_679618/index.shtml