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Adebayo Akinfenwa had been the man last week as he grabbed a 40th minute goal in front of a crowd of 7285 to give the Swans a slender 1-0 lead to Essex. Ex-Blackburn youngster Neil Danns gave Colchester hope tonight as he scored straight after half-time to bring matters level in the tie as a paltry crowd of 3,236 looked on. That feel good factor was soon extinguished around Layer Road though when Swansea scored twice in quick succession just six minutes later. Leon Britton scoring in the 52nd minute and, recent £125,000 signing from Brighton, Leon Knight hitting home after 56 minutes to all but end Essex hopes in the competition.
Swansea have scored plenty of goals in the Football League Trophy this season, hitting the back of the opposition net 15 times in six games. In the opening round 1025 spectators witnessed the Swans beat Torquay 3-1 at Plainmoor, the goals coming from Akinfenwa, Adrian Forbes and Andy Robinson in the last 25 minutes as City came back from one goal down. The next stage saw Swansea smash sorry Rushden and Diamonds 4-0 at the Liberty Stadium with 5321 fans making up the crowd on the night. Against the Diamonds, Football League Trophy hotshot Robinson bagged a brace with the other goals coming late on from Garry Monk and Paul Connor.
From then in however, things became harder for the Swans as they were taken to extra-time in the Southern Area quarter-final and penalties in the semi-final by Peterborough and Walsall respectively. The last eight tie against the Posh in Wales, in front of 5474 spectators, saw all the action come in extra-time as the visitors went 1-0 ahead in the 93rd minute through striker Danny Crow. City came roaring back though as they scored three times in the next fifteen minutes, an Akinfenwa brace either side of a Robinson goal grabbing the glory for Swansea.
The semi-final stage saw a crowd of 6670 fans witness a cracking match at the Liberty Stadium. Knight gave the home side an early eighth minute lead only for Alex Nicholls to equalise for the Saddlers on 69 minutes. Robinson had City thinking they had won with an 83rd minute goal only for the visitors to equalise again just two minutes later, Walsall loan signing from Chippenham, James Constable, taking the game to extra-time. No more goals came in the 30 minutes added on and it was the Swans who kept their cool the better in the penalty shoot-out as they ran out 6-5 winners, Alan Tate the hero as he fired home the winning spot-kick for the Welsh side.
United have faced Swansea 21 times over the year and have the better record of the two teams, winning nine of the matches, drawing six and losing the other six, scoring 28 goals and conceding 18 in the process. Eleven of the games were at the old Vetch Field, the home side winning three, losing three and drawing the other five, bagging nine goals and letting in just eight. At Brunton Park the Blues have an excellent history against City, winning six matches and only losing one, the Cumbrians have hammered in 20 goals in those games and conceded only nine.
Playing Swansea is undoubtedly the better pay-day of the two for Carlisle with City likely to take between 30,000 to 40,000 fans to Cardiff for what is only a 41 mile drive along the M4. It could prove to be an entertaining weekend in the pubs for the travelling Blue Army however, which is expected to number around the 15,000 mark, with Glamorgan police on full alert due to past troubles between Swansea and Cardiff "fans." It promises to be a wonderful weekend away for everyone involved though and something which all Carlisle United followers are looking forward to already.