Ten years at the Liberty: A five-goal thriller

9th February

To celebrate Swansea City's tenth season at the Liberty Stadium, we will be looking back on the stand-out moments over the last decade.
Here, we reflect on a memorable five-goal thriller against Leeds United in League One.

Swansea City 3 Leeds United 2
Coca Cola League One
December 29, 2007



By the time English football's fallen giants Leeds United came to town, Roberto Martinez's Swansea City were sat proudly at the top of the League One table.
With the Yorkshire men just four places and four points behind the Swans, everything was set up for a real festive cracker.
Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was electric - helped by the 2,500 Leeds fans that had travelled to South Wales to create the best away support seen at the Liberty Stadium to date.
Straight from kick-off, the teams responded to the raucous atmosphere, with Darren Pratley and Ferrie Bodde contesting the midfield for the Swans against Leeds' Jonny Howson and Alan Thompson.
It took just nine minutes for this captivating contest to see its first goal as Swans winger Andy Robinson sent the home crowd into raptures with a curling free-kick from 25 yards.
But their celebrations were muted three minutes later when Leeds levelled the scores through Jermaine Beckford, who capitalised on Dennis Lawrence's weak header back to goalkeeper Dorus de Vries. The striker was quick to react to Lawrence's error and lifted the ball beyond the helpless de Vries from an acute angle.
At 1-1, the game continued at a frenetic pace, with both sides probing for the advantage.
The game's third goal came on 23 minutes when Swans captain Garry Monk headed home from a near-post corner to restore the home side's lead.
Monk's glancing header seemed to wrestle control of the game in Swansea's favour, only for their momentum to be disrupted when influential midfielder Bodde was sent off after 38 minutes.
Benefitting from their one-man advantage, the visitors began to assert themselves on the game, but it wasn't enough to prevent Swansea from snatching their third of the afternoon.
A long clearance from Paul Anderson saw Leeds defenders Rui Marques and Matt Heath hesitate, allowing striker Jason Scotland to race towards goal and slot home past the advancing Casper Ankergren to make it 3-1.
Following a breathless first period, it was always going to be difficult for the ten-man Swans to hold out against determined opposition.
And after just one minute of the second half, Leeds had reduced the deficit through an excellent Thompson free-kick, who then hit the post with an almost identical effort just three minutes later - much to the relief of the Swans faithful.
But the home crowd endured the remaining minutes with bated breath as Leeds dominated possession, despite the best efforts of the Swans midfield - Pratley, Anderson and Leon Britton - who ran themselves to a standstill in order to limit their opposition to few chances.
Leeds' best opportunity fell to Tresor Kandolis, whose shot was well saved by de Vries, before Angel Rangel blocked Beckford's resultant rebound.
Time was running out for Leeds, as was their belief and patience. Despite playing out the entire second half with ten men, the defiant Swans were able to hold on for a deserved victory to strengthen their position at the top of League One.



Player profile
Jason Scotland (2007-2009)
Born in Morvant, Trinidad and Tobago, Jason Scotland initially made his name with Defence Force, where his prodigious goalscoring form caught the attention of Scottish Premier League side Dundee United.
After impressing on trial, Scotland featured mostly as a substitute in his first season with The Terrors, scoring his first goal for the club in March 2004.
He helped Dundee reach the Scottish Cup Final during the following season with a goal in the semi-final, before signing for St. Johnstone in July 2005 due to work permit issues. Scotland was denied a new work permit by the SPL, but St. Johnstone were successful in gaining a permit for the player to play in the Scottish First Division.
Scotland became a big success at McDiarmid Park, scoring 33 goals in 60 appearances, earning himself a place in Trinidad and Tobago's 2006 World Cup squad.
In May 2007, Scotland signed for Swansea City for a nominal £25,000, upon the persuasion of manager Roberto Martinez.
The striker scored on his debut at Oldham Athletic, which was the first of the 29 goals he scored to fire the Swans to the League One title.
After earning a place in the PFA League One Team of the Year for his goal-scoring exploits, Scotland continued to fire on all cylinders in the Championship, leaving many a side to cast an envious eye at the player.
When Martinez departed South Wales for Premier League side Wigan in 2009, one of his first moves was to go back to his former club to sign Scotland for £2million.
Unfortunately for Scotland, he was unable to recapture his goal scoring form in the Premier League, finding the back of the net just once in 33 appearances.
A year later, he moved back to the Championship to join Ipswich Town, where he spent three seasons prior to a switch to Barnsley.
Scotland was on the move again in 2013, returning north of the border to join Hamilton Academical, where he currently plies his trade.

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