MEMORY MATCH: Lee Trundle
27th March
In the next installment of our 'Memory Match' feature, former striker and current club ambassador Lee Trundle reflects on a home win over Bournemouth in League One in 2006.
A sign of the progress made by Swansea City and Bournemouth in recent times is that ten years ago, the two clubs met in a League One fixture.
Back in November 2006, the Swans were sixth in the third tier going into a Friday night home game against a Cherries side who were sitting 21st.
"It was always special playing in a Friday night game," remembers Lee Trundle, who started up front for the hosts that evening.
"As a football fan, you have just finished a hard week at work and you're looking forward to the weekend, so you can really enjoy the game on a Friday. I always found the atmosphere for those games was especially good."
Just four minutes into the game, defender Izzy Iriekpen gave the Swansea faithful a reason to be cheerful, bundling the ball over the line from close range to put his team ahead.
After a fairly uneventful first half other than that, it was in the second period when the game really came to life.
New Zealand international Rory Fallon hit a brace on 58 and 60 minutes, which had seemingly wrapped up the three points for the Swans at that stage.
"Rory Fallon was a fantastic target man who was good in the air and he got some important goals for us," adds Trundle.
"He was a good player to play alongside as he was always looking to bring others into play.
"That was obviously a good night for him, getting two quick goals against Bournemouth."
Despite being 3-0 down, Bournemouth continued to play some neat passing football in the final half hour of the match, as they had done all night.
Their team included a young Ryan Bertrand, who was on loan from Chelsea at the time, legendary striker Steve Fletcher and former England international Darren Anderton, who was pulling the strings in midfield.
"Darren Anderton was a quality player," adds Trundle. "Even though he was in the latter stages of his career then, you never lose that quality.
"He played top-flight football for a long time and also played a good number of games for England. You could still see what a good touch he had and what a brilliant passer of the ball he was."
Substitute Danny Hollands offered Bournemouth a glimmer of hope when he hit a powerful left-footed shot beyond the reach of Swans goalkeeper Willy Gueret with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.
Brett Pitman got a second goal for the Cherries six minutes later, ensuring a nervy end to proceedings for the Swansea players and the majority of the 11,795 crowd.
"When you've been cruising in a game and the opposition score, you know how important it is to hold on to your lead," reflects Trundle. "Drawing after being three up would have been like a defeat that night.
"When they got their second, there was a definitely some concern because their tails were up. They would have been thinking an equaliser or even a winner was possible so it was obviously vital to get the next goal."
To the relief of the home team, it was Trundle himself who wrapped up the three points with a nice turn and shot to make the final score 4-2 to Swansea.
"Probably my biggest strength as a striker was receiving the ball with my back to goal, turning and getting a shot off like that," smiles Trundle.
"I liked getting the ball in those situations because you can hold defenders off and block their view, and that makes it hard for both them and the goalkeeper. I scored lots of goals like that."
Trundle was a goalscoring machine for Swansea during the 2006-07 season, with 19 strikes in 34 league appearances. He also netted in a 3-1 FA Cup victory at Newport County.
Going into the final match of the campaign, the Swans harboured promotion hopes, as they were level on points with sixth-placed Oldham Athletic and were just two strikes shy of the Latics on goal difference.
Unfortunately, a 6-3 home defeat to Blackpool saw the team who were by that stage under the guidance of Roberto Martinez miss out on a place in the play-offs.
"I enjoyed the football we played during that season but it was also hugely disappointing to miss out on a place in the play-offs on the final day," laments Trundle.
"I felt we had the quality that season to get at least a play-off spot but we ended up falling just short."
For more memorable matches, CLICK HERE
