John Marshall’s second-half strike was enough to fire Fulham past promotion rivals Swansea City at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Welsh visitors will rue their final to finish a hatful of chances in new manager Ian Evans’ first fixture in charge – and unless they solve their goalscoring problems before the transfer deadline at the end of the month, the Swans will risk dropping out of the play-off race altogether. Evans admitted his side need more firepower after watching Paul Raynor fail to test Jim Stannard despite having two early one-on-ones with the Fulham goalkeeper and Alan Knill hit the post.
Fulham were far from fluent in the first half and their three forwards struggled to impose themselves on the contest. Andy Sayer headed wide when he should have done better in the first half as the visitors battled hard to disrupt the home side’s momentum to Ray Lewington’s growing frustration. This tight contest looked destined for a draw until Marshall’s moment of magic midway through the second half.
The veteran midfielder ran from the halfway line towards the Swansea penalty area and, with the visiting defenders still hesitant to close him down, unleashed an unstoppable effort that dipped underneath Lee Bracey’s crossbar and into the net. Bracey had no chance with that superb shot, but the Swansea goalkeeper did save well from Sayer and Davies – whilst Jim Stannard produced one fantastic stop to keep out a goalbound effort from Robbie James.
FULHAM: Stannard; Eckhardt, Thomas, Rougvie, Langley, Marshall, Scott, Skinner, Cole, G. Davies, Sayer. Subs (not used): Elkins, Wilson.
GOAL: Marshall (67).
SWANSEA CITY: Bracey; Hough, Coleman, Melville, Lewis, Knill, James, Wade (Bodak 72), A. Davies, Raynor, Hutchinson (D’Auria 72).
REFEREE: K. P. Barratt.
ATTENDANCE: 4,710.
