LOWE ON A HIGH
Two-goal Swansea striker Jamal is the prince of Wales
‘HARD work pays’ is Jamal Lowe’s motto and the striker hit the jackpot against Swansea’s biggest rivals.
Lowe is a lung- buster, a forward who runs the channels, chases down defenders and drags opponents out of position far more regularly than he finds the net.
Or, at least that has been the pattern since he moved from Wigan to Swansea in the summer – a selfless shift that had brought him just two goals in 18 matches.
But the 26-yearold former PE teacher doubled that figure in the highest-profile game he has played in and insisted: “I knew a day like today was always around the corner.
“It’s all about keeping that work-rate up. The second you take your foot off the gas, then the chances will stop coming.
“That’s one thing about my game, I know that if I deliver the energy and the work-rate then things will fall for me, eventually. That’s been my thing from day one – work hard and the chances will come.”
Lowe’s industry typified the fact that Swansea did a job on Cardiff from start to finish and there’s no doubt the Jacks are currently kings of
the Wel sh
IN ASSOCIATION WITH pack. It’s now five games and seven years since Cardiff last won this fixture.
But of more value to the Swans than bragging rights were the three points against the previously in- form Bluebirds.
Boss Steve Cooper ( below, left) has seen his team win four and draw two of their last seven games and look the team most likely to stay the pace with Norwich and Bournemouth.
Lowe is aiming to go straight up, rather than the having to go through the play-offs.
He said: “Automatic promotion is definitely the thing we should be aiming for. “We have
pretty much played everyone now and seen what’s out there. We’ve seen the quality and we are definitely one of the top teams.”
Cardiff imagined they were, too, but this defeat exposed their shortcomings. They showed a lack of creativity up front and hesitancy at the back that enabled Lowe to score his first early on.
His second was a beauty and he almost made it a hat-trick late on after Cardiff had Joe Ralls sent off for a second yellow card.
Downbeat Cardiff manager Neil Harris admitted: “It’s now all about our response. All the good work we’ve put in over the last few weeks can’t be thrown out of the window.”
Smithies 5, Bacuna 5, Morrison 5, Nelson 6, Bennett 5, Ralls 5, Vaulks 6 (Whyte 90), Wilson 5, Harris 5 (Pack 75, 6), Ojo 7, Moore 6 (Glatzel 55, 6) Woodman 6, Naughton 7, Bennett 7, Guehi 7, Roberts 7, Smith 7, Fulton 7, Grimes 8, Bidwell 7, Lowe 9 (Routledge 86), Ayew 7