Swansea 4 Mansfield 1

Last updated : 01 September 2003 By Footymad Previewer

Swansea leapt back to the top of the table after defeating nine-man Mansfield in an incident-packed match at the Vetch Field.

The visitors had striker Iyseden Christie dismissed for an off the ball incident in the seventh minute and then were reduced to nine men in the 74th minute when Lee Williamson was sent off by the referee for kicking out at Leon Britton.

"My players were let down badly by having officials who couldn't handle the pressure of League football," said Stags manager Keith Curle.

"For the first dismissal their player stuck his finger in Christie's mouth and for the second I thought Lee was fairly kicking out at the ball which was still in play.

"I'm very disappointed with the result as I firmly believe that with 11 men on the field we would have given them a game." The Swans took the lead in the 15th minute with a goal by Kieron Durkan who was making his first start of the season.

However, they failed to make their extra man count in that opening period and Mansfield levelled with a shot from Tony Vaughan after Swans keeper Roger Freestone had palmed away a Liam Lawrence corner.

Swansea boss Brian Flynn gave his side a half time pep talk and in the second period an Andy Robinson free kick (57) a Lee Trundle penalty (69) and a Kevin Nugent strike (71) put the Swans back in charge.

"It's still early days yet but this is a good position to be in," said Flynn.

"We allowed them too much space in the first half but corrected that and fully deserved the victory." Swansea skipper Nugent was delighted with the togetherness shown by his side.

"It was an honour to be given the captaincy of such a good squad and we have a great team spirit going here at the moment.

"It is very frustrating for any side to go a man down and in fairness they battled away well but you have to retain your composure and they didn't.

"It was a rough game but that is part and parcel of Third Division football."