West End 2-1 Swansea University: End bounce back from nine-goal hammering to stun Students
West End upset promotion hopefuls Swansea University with a stoppage-time winner.
Christopher Butt’s side had originally trailed the match but bounced back thanks to goals from Charlie Davies and Daniel Boat.
Midfielder Charlie Davies planted his shot into the top corner deep into stoppage time to seal the points for the Townhill outfit, sending the home supporters into raptures.
The Division Two clash at Pri Deri Park was the first central Swansea derby to take place in the national domestic system in 46 years, and West End ensured that they wrote their name into the history books thanks to Davies’ last-gasp effort.
The tables could easily have been turned, however. West End were forced to withstand heavy pressure from the students for lengthy periods, and it was the visitors who took the lead after dominating the first half.
Marley Bishop-Wisdom, who was a constant threat all evening, evaded the offside trap to drive a close-range shot into the bottom corner.
Having gone into the break one goal behind, matters were made substantially worse for West End on 58 minutes when the returning Brieg Matthews was shown a straight red card for a late challenge by referee Teifion Cook.
Despite carving out numerous opportunities, Swansea University failed to make the pressure count and when Daniel Boat rose above the visitors’ defence to head home an equaliser, it set up a frantic last twenty minutes.
With only seconds remaining on the clock, Charlie Davies latched onto a ricocheted clearance to race unmarked into the opposition box from his own half and plant the winner into the top corner.
The victory was made especially sweet for joint managers Christopher Butt and Rob Shannon, having seen their team lose 12-3 on Saturday away to STM Sports.
West End joint-manager Christopher Butt:
“That was excellent,” co-manager Butt said. “The players showed a lot of graft and determination. It was a really difficult match and to win it was something special.”
Butt commented: “We made things difficult for ourselves having to play 30 minutes with ten men, but there are some great characters in this team and they didn’t give up. We were still looking to get something out of the game.”
Butt added: “We were disappointed with the result on Saturday. We were 3-1 up but STM were by far the better side and I won’t be surprised to see them win the league this season.
“Our aim now has to be top ten. This result shows that we’re here to compete. We struggled last season but we’ve brought in a few new faces including [co-manager] Rob Shannon, who has been a massive help, and I think we’re capable of pushing on this time around.”
