Lowe anchors Swansea City to morale-boosting win at home

LONDON (CMC):

JAMAICAN STRIKER Jamal Lowe scored his first goal since rejoining Swansea City, and assisted on another in a 3-0 win against fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday in the English Championship yesterday.

The 29-year-old steered Swansea into a first-half lead from the penalty spot after Pol Valentin fouled Josh Ginnelly, and the hosts increased their lead with two second-half strikes from Jerry Yates and Charlie Patino.

It has been a difficult campaign so far for both sides, with their respective bosses fighting to establish themselves, having been appointed in the summer.

The result ended the longest winless league start for Swansea in 32 years and will take some of the focus away from the job of head coach Michael Duff.

Swansea took control of the first half after Ginnelly danced into the penalty area and went to ground after Valentino appeared to pull him back, and Lowe guided the penalty kick high into the corner of the net in the 28th minute.

Third goal

That lead held through half-time before Jamie Paterson touched on a square pass from Lowe to enable the unmarked Yates to guide in his third goal of the season from 15 yards in the 64th minute.

Swansea heaped further anguish on the visitors when Lowe steered the ideal pass into the path of Patino on a counter-attacking move and the teenager, on-loan from Premier League club Arsenal, finished in style, lifting the ball over Vasquez with enough power to carry it over the line.

In League One, Jonson Clarke-Harris, another Jamaica international, scored a first-half item for Peterborough United, but Victor Adeboyejo responded, and 10-man Bolton Wanderers battled to a 1-1 draw at home.

Gethin Jones was dismissed for Wanderers a little before half-time, and Posh, as they are known, went on to hit the woodwork three times in the second half.

Clarke-Harris, the League 1 Golden Boot winner last season with 26 goals, headed home a superb cross from Harrison Burrows in a flurry of action at the end of the first half to give the Darren Ferguson-coached side a 42nd-minute lead.

But Adeboyejo bagged his fifth goal of the season three minutes later after Nicholas Bilokapic only parried a cross from Josh Dacres-Cogley into the striker’s path.

Elsewhere, Bermudian international Justin Donawa helped Altrincham hammer Ebbsfleet 6-1 for their first win in six National League matches.

Donawa went through and fired past Ebbsfleet goalkeeper Mark Cousins on the half-hour to give Altrincham their third goal after Alex Newby scored four minutes into his debut and Lewis Baines doubled their lead inside the first 15 minutes.

Nathan Odokonyero pulled one back, but Chris Conn-Clarke slotted home to make it 4-1 at half-time, but second-half goals from Conn-Clarke and Baines in seven minutes of added time rubbed salt into the wounds of Ebbsfleet.