Our strike force is being frustrated by a physical home defence, and all our attempts to deliver the ball from wide positions are being gobbled up by the honey monsters at centre half. The game is crying out for a Swans player who can get the ball to feet and run at the heart of the opposition defence, skip past a few tackles and generally unsettle them. Stu Roberts is warming up on the touchline, and the 250 or so Jacks behind the goal are chanting his name, hoping that his introduction could be the last throw of the dice before relegation becomes and inevitability. But what happens?

On the hour mark, and from our own badly delivered corner, the home side break (long ball down the flanks as usual) and find an unmarked striker who is then pulled down in front of goal by Jason Jones. He is rightly sent off, Jenkins is sacrificed to make way for a replacement goalie....2 - 0 down, one man down, game over, season over, and Stu Roberts' track suit remains firmly zipped up. There remained some faint hope, of course, that we still might see the introduction of the player who will inevitably be voted player of the season on this site. But when the use of our final substitution arrived, it was not the introduction of a striker that we witnessed - instead it was the withdrawal of a midfielder, to be replaced by.....another midfielder.

Forgive us, John, if the sight of Gareth Phillips entering the fray did not trigger a stirring round of Bread of Heaven. In truth this was a game that went away from us from the very first whistle. Indeed it was hard to believe that it was almost the same team that played so well on Tuesday night, but this time capitulated so lamely. Bound, Howard and Price made up the back three, with the midfield of Lacey, Romo and Cuscak ahead of them, Fabiano and Jenkins as wing backs (though the Frenchman's role was very much a roving one) and Savarese partnering Verschave up front.

Of course, the game was only a few minutes old when a clash of heads robbed us of Savo, and thus denied us a physical presence up front. We will never know what difference this might have made. But the writing was on the wall when the nervous Jason Jones got himself booked after only four minutes, bringing down a Bury player outside the area. A few minutes later it got much worse when Colin Cram skipped past a couple of tackles only to fall over the outstretched leg of Jason Price in the penalty area. It may well have been a dive, but I don't blame him for it - the temptation of JJ's extended leg must have been just too much to resist, and every ref in the world would have given it (apart from the bloke in the Liverpool-Roma game perhpas).

The spot kick was despatched easily by Reid. The Swans did rally somewhat as they tried to get a passing game together on a very difficult and sandy surface, with Fabiano in particular working very hard to create space, and Romo doing his best to provide some guile. A good move involving Watkin and Fabiano set up Lacey for a volley which he hit wide; Fabiano set up Verschave for a shot, which also went wide, and there were good efforts also from Cusack and Watkin, but none which actually forced the rotund keeper Paddy Kenny into any sort of a save. The home side's tactics were very straightforward, lofting the ball continuously over the two "full backs" in order to exploit the space created by our formation.

And generally it worked for them, and on several occasions they created panic in the heart of our defence by delivering fairly routine crosses, which Jones watched from the goal- line and which Bound, Price et al made heavy weather of clearing. On the 35th minute Jason Jones made a smart save from Reid, to ensure the scores remained level at half time. There remained cause for optimism at half time, but after the break the Swans just didn't seem to respond at all to the challenge, and the game disintegrated into a tedious hoofing match, as neither side seemed able to match the conditions.

Then came the crucial second penalty, but let's not forgot the role of the referee on this one. As young Alec Davies made his first team debut it looked like a dream moment as he saved the penalty with his first touch in pro football; but no...the referee insisted on it being taken again (for what reason?), and this time Reid made no mistake. At the end of the game Cusack berated the ref for this decision, but really Nick...did we deserve anything from this? Let's hope this refereeing decision does not form some kind of lame excuse.

The remainder of the game then disintegrated further into a melee of third division standard play from both sides. We huffed and puffed down the flanks mainly through Romo, Fabiano (who ran his heart out) and Phillips (who to be fair did not do badly), but our delivery into the box was woeful and we never really looked like getting on the end of enything. In truth, we did not create a realistic scoring chance in the entire second half. We conceded a streaky late third goal to give the scoreline the usual flattering air, and nearly conceded a fourth deep into injury time. But by then, everything had long since flown out the window.

We reflected on the journey back that this is rather like visiting a terminally ill patient in hospital...we are just waiting for the inevitable and there is no hope of getting better. With relegation a formality, we can only hope that the rest of the season delivers us some glimmers for next - new club owners, some renewed contracts for the better players, some new blood, extended loan periods - anything really! As far as this season goes, we can forget it. But it is comforting in some ways that our position has become this bad...after all, it's not the despair that kills you...it's the hope! On to the Britannia..