An early first-half goal from Solent’s Josh Coetzee secured a 1-0 win in a closely battled contest against Swansea University.
Solent started the BUCs Western Conference Cup tie quickly with frequent visits to the opposition’s striking circle.
The home side’s offensive bombardment was rewarded when Coetzee struck home on his reverse side to open the scoring.
However, after a long journey from South Wales, Swansea soon found their stride by frequently advancing the ball down the flanks and forcing short corners.
The Solent goalkeeper, Matt Cobbold, pulled off a series of impressive saves against his former club to prevent the visitors from levelling the score.
With a one-goal advantage, the half-time message given by Solent pitch captain Fraser Craigen was clear with an emphasis on increased ball pace and distribution from the defence out to attack.
The hosts demonstrated their new strategy, with the wide players stretching the pitch creating space for the midfield and providing Coetzee with the freedom to make an impact from a deeper position.
“We switched up the formation before the game and it worked out quite well for us” described a visibly elated Craigen.
Swansea’s pressure continued deep into the second half despite the notable impact of the covering left-back, Joe Candy, who dealt with whatever was thrown at him by the visiting offensive.
With minutes remaining, Craigen stepped up with his third clearance off the line of the game to secure the clean sheet in a man-of-the-match performance for Solent and set up a second-round cup tie against the University of Exeter.
The captain seemed optimistic ahead of the next round adding “We are quite familiar with how Exeter set up. They are well drilled and play with a high press making it difficult to gain momentum in attack”.
“However, coming off this victory, I think we can take a lot of confidence into this fixture and look to get the result”.
The Solent side returns to league action next week, facing Exeter yet again meaning they would have played the South-West side four times in their five opening league games.
