Bradford against Swansea was the cup final of dreams. Two clubs who were not expected to make the final of the Capital One Cup but fought against the odds to meet at Wembley.
Swansea, having climbed the ladder of the football league to establish themselves as a quality Premier League outfit, turned up at Wembley as firm favourites against League 2 Bradford. Bradford however had knocked out Premier League sides Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa to reach the final and so could not be counted out.
As it transpired though, Swansea had the class to win it. They put in a fully professional performance to put Bradford to the sword and run out 5-0 winners to claim their first major trophy in this their centenary year. Two goals from Nathan Dyer and Jonathan De Guzman plus the now obligatory goal from Michu meant Swansea under Michael Laudrup won comfortably. Despite the ease of victory, Bradford City come away with nothing but plaudits for their cup efforts this season and their fans reflected this by giving the team an outstanding ovation throughout.
One major downer on the whole piece came midway through the second half where Matt Duke was sent off for bringing down Jonathan De Guzman in the penalty area. With Swansea leading 3-0 at the time, there was no desire from anybody in the stadium to see the Bradford keeper dismissed. Despite this, referee Kevin Friend saw fit to reach for the red. This, I imagine is what the rule book tells referees to do. However surely there can be room for common sense to come in to the decision making as well. Nobody would have had any objections had Friend produced a yellow and let the game carry on. Instead, he provided one moment of real shame on an otherwise brilliant day for football.
So congratulations Swansea. This is a triumph thoroughly deserved and they will be fantastic representatives of Britain in Europe next season. As for Bradford, they have been the story of this years League Cup and despite taking a beating today, deserve nothing but respect for what they have achieved.
