WILLIAMS REVELS IN DERBY JOY AS PLANS BEAR FRUIT
LUKE Williams has hailed Saturday’s South Wales derby win as the most “complete performance so far” of his Swansea City reign.
Swansea secured a deserved victory over their arch rivals courtesy of goals from Liam Cullen and Jamal Lowe, handing them derby bragging rights once again following defeat to the Bluebirds in September.
Having already tasted the euphoria of a South Wales derby win during his stint as Russell Martin’s assistant, Williams now has a derby victory of his own to savour, and the outpouring of emotions when Lowe’s stoppage-time strike hit the net demonstrated what it meant to the home side and their supporters.
“We won in a really positive way,” a triumphant Williams said afterwards.
“It’s not like coming down to a decision or something like this. I think we won thoroughly.
“I can’t argue with the way we went about it today.
“I think the combination of intensity and aggression combined with calmness and clarity is something we’re all striving for.
“I think we’ve seen one or the other in recent performances. Or we’ve seen periods where we’ve done both well.
“Today felt like the most complete performance so far.
“We seemed to dominate for an hour. It’s unrealistic for us to expect not to have any pressure but I think we were very dominant for the majority of the game, and the really big chances in the game we created all of them.”
The result means Cullen’s secondhalf penalty miss will likely now be forgotten, with Williams left delighted by the striker’s overall performance which was punctuated by a superb finish for Swansea’s opening goal.
“He ran relentlessly and contested every ball,” Williams added when quizzed on Cullen’s showing.
“The fact he guides the ball and makes it look comfortable (for his goal), that’s not easy to do, there’s a lot to do.
“It’s a proper striker’s goal. He’s brave enough to take the penalty. Then he’s in the right place again. Ronnie makes an inswinging cross and he heads the ball.
“He’s unlucky not to score this one, but for me the most important thing for strikers is to be brave enough to be in the right position to miss. Face those consequences, and he’s brave enough to do that.”
Williams was also pleased with the Wales international’s reaction to missing from the spot, and indeed the reception from the fans, who sang the striker’s name just moments later.
“It says everything about him,” he added. “The fact we go up the other end and have to face a set-piece, and they sing his name. That tells you they know what they’re looking at as well.
“It’s not like a guy’s missed and you feel like he’s not committed. He’s not focused. He’s not there. No-one thought that.
“No-one thought that at all. I’m so happy they did that because that was the one extra bit he needed to get himself back into the game. He did that brilliantly.”
Cullen handed his side a deserved lead with his sixth goal of the season just before half-time following a fine team move.
Cardiff seldom offered much sign of getting back into it, but any Swansea nerves were settled deep into stoppage time Lowe came off the bench to slot home and spark wild celebrations among the home faithful.
In contrast, Cardiff, who brought Swansea’s dominance of this fixture to a grinding halt with a deserved 2-0 win at the Cardiff City Stadium in September, were far more insipid this time around.
Aaron Ramsey, the star of the show in the previous meeting, started from the bench. But even his second-half introduction couldn’t prevent Swansea easing their way to a second straight home win.
Perhaps the only dampener on Swansea’s performance was an injury to Kyle Naughton, who limped out with a suspected hamstring problem midway through the second half.
“I don’t know the extent of it yet, but it doesn’t look good and this guy’s incredible,” added Williams.
“So I’m really upset. I hope it’s on the less severe side. But we’ll see.”
Ben Cabango is also another injury concern, having pulled up in training before the clash. His participation for Wales in the next international break now looks to be in serious doubt as a result.
“He pulled up in training with his calf – it went ping,” Williams added.
“We don’t know exactly the extent of it but we know it’s bad enough that he can’t apply any force through it.”
Nevertheless, this was a hugely successful day for Swansea, and for Williams, who now has a platform on which to build ahead of the clash with Sheffield Wednesday after the international break.
Asked if he would be out celebrating, Williams revealed: “I had some food last night, and I haven’t eaten since.
“I’m so far five coffees and six teas, one Pepsi Max and a full fat Coke in. So I’ll probably need some food at some point.
“Then if I’ve got enough left in the tank I’ll maybe have a few shandies.”