Oh well...every cloud has a silver lining. This defeat as good as condemns Posh to another year in the basement division of English Football (where they belong) but does mean a draw against Brentford will no longer be enough to give us the title.

The U's played very similar to how they did at Plymouth, having a fair amount of possession but once again allowed defensive errors to creep in. The second goal, (the penalty) was an absolute farce, as was the match official in general.

The Swansea fans were extremely loud, and were worth a goal I suppose. They were more 'up for it' than United, but we were not treating it as some nothing game (which it was NOT) but never really got the breaks in front of goal.

At the beginning of the second half we looked more than capable of getting level, and indeed winning but their keeper made a blinding save from Russell to deny us. The first goal seemed to be down to poor defending from Eustace, then I thought average goalkeeping from Marshall.

Chenery and Campbell never got forward enough, and Eustace had one of his worst games for some time at the back as he failed to deal with many of the long punts up field. Kyd looked sharp and hungry again, and I was surprised when he was taken off by Roy.

Good support from United, over 100 there, and we even managed another 30 minute 'Roy McFarlands Amber Army' as well as annoying the home fans with 'We're going up with the Cardiff". Very amusing.

It was also nice that all the away fans received a free programme from Swansea, I assume for the inconvenience the two aborted trips have cost them. A nice *little* gesture from the club I suppose.

I always thought we would lose this game (its called realism not pessimism by the way) and now think we have it all to do on the last day of the season. I was chatting with Tom last night and he thought it might actually benefit us to need the win as opposed to the draw, I am not sure I believed him but when you look at what happened tonight (United needing a draw and Swansea needing the victory) you can see what can happen.

We can still do it people...and if somebody said to me at the beginning of the season that victory in our last game of the season at home would secure the Championship I would have been more than happy to take it. It has been an amazing season, and as bitter the pill will be to swallow if we do lose (or draw) to Brentford the ultimate target has been achieved. We will be playing Division Two football next season!

The Swans fans were indeed magnificent and that is certainly the best atmosphere at an away ground I have experienced this season, interestingly we stopped in a service Station at Port Talbot on the way home and got chatting to some Swansea fans, naturally they were delighted with the result and the prospect of making the play-offs.

Most interesting though was their opinion of the U's and Brentford which took me by surprise somewhat, out of the group we were talking to 3 had been to Griffin Park the previous Tuesday to see their team slump 4-1, I asked them about the game and they said that John Hollins had gambled on beating United with a full strength side by resting 4 players at Brentford and pulling 3 players off once the game at Griffin Park was out of their reach.

At that time these fans were irritated by the move but given last nights result agreed that they had more chance of winning at the Vetch against the U's in a "must win" match than away to Brentford with two games to go, all this seemed pretty reasonable and logical to me so I asked these guys about the difference between the U's and Brentford and they agreed to a man that despite the results the U's were definitely the better of the two sides based on what they had seen this week.

At first I thought the pleasure of victory had perhaps led them to feel the need to be magnanimous but they were adamant in their assertations that United "played better football" than Brentford.

Apparently the U's taking the game to Swansea at the start of the 2nd half had them sweating somewhat and with Freestone twice getting them off the hook with fine saves they feared an equaliser and then a Cambridge winner as we were having so much posession and were getting behind the Swansea defence with apparent ease, even when they got a 2nd through a penalty United still continued to press and the Swansea fans still thought we would get back into the game and rain on their parade.

The difference between us and Brentford apparently is that we play the ball through midfield and keep it for long periods, stringing 8 or 10 passes together whereas the Bees tend to play long ball style.

The Swansea lads were immensely unimpressed with Brentford despite the scoreline and put the defeat down to poor defending on their part and nothing more, it's always interesting to get the views of opposing fans as to your teams performance as standing on the terraces and suffering the tensions of the game often forces me to be critical of the U's when moves don't bear fruit and I fail to appreciate the quality of some of our football at times.

When they asked us what we thought of the Swans we felt that diplomacy was the best approach at the time and said they were "not bad" :)

Truthfully they were nothing special, a hard working side but lacking in skill and ideas often resorting to hoofing the ball down the middle. As to their goals, from where we were standing the first was a peculiar affair and the shot (which is amusingly reported in some of todays papers as being "rifled home") seemed to be mishit into the ground by Watkins and then somehow seemed to either bounce over or through Marshall's hand in slow motion on it's way into the net. It certainly appeared to be a bit of a gaffe on Shaun's part and it looked more of a back pass than a shot that Marshall could have collected standing up as opposed to kind of laying on his side and flapping at.

It was another fairly unconvincing and hesitant performance from Shaun although he did make amends to a degree with a good 2nd half save, as for the penalty it was difficult to see from where we were standing exactly what it was given for but nothing untoward seemed to happen and there were no appeals from the Swansea players, although to be fair there didn't seem to be too many protests from the United camp either.

The decision however just about summed up the ref last night who had a poor game from both sides point of view, he missed several bad challenges whilst mysteriously awarding free kicks to both sides when nothing seemed to have occurred, Benjamin picked up a booking for some reason, assumedly for having his arms raised when jumping as he was continually penalised when jumping for headers and was twice spoken to by the ref before being booked, although again there seemed to be nothing wrong with what Trev was doing. To balance things out in the dodgy decision department he could easily have sent (I think) Chenery off near the end when he hauled a Swansea player down who was just about to cut into the box but was sent tumbling when in full flight by a mistimed tackle, all that resulted was a free kick and a word from the ref.

Some interesting and amusing notes from the free program regarding visiting attendances which are recorded in the break down of the overall home attendances.

The myth of the mighty away following that P*sh claim to have at all away games was dealt a blow as the recorded following from north of the county was an enormous 98 for a game played on a Saturday afternoon in November, Hartlepool mustered 33 visiting fans whilst Scarborough weighed in with 32, most amusing of all was the traveling support for the FAW Premier trophy in the match against Caernarfon Town, the away terrace was packed to bursting point with.....2 people.

As for what Saturday might bring, it was difficult to read into the game as to the mood of the players, we certainly started very slowly and looked decidedly uninterested going forward for the first 30 mins, 2nd half was much better urgency wise although all the players bar Kyd seemed to be playing well within themselves and we still didn't commit many players when going forward, even the normally bustling Butler had a quiet game by his standards as did Wanless although Wannys never say die bravery was still in evidence despite his apparent reluctance to step up a gear.

At the end of the game the players came across and applauded the fans and they didn't seem overly gutted at the defeat, their reaction and my perception of the sides overall performance left with the distinct impression that many of them had more than half an eye on saturdays title decider and I think they'll really be up for that game.

In many ways we were in a no win situation last night as a victory would have left us still needing a point against Brentford but a gut busting full blooded attempt at getting something at the Vetch could well have left the players too tired to give it their best shot two days later in the title decider.

There was one change to United's line-up tonight, with Michael Kyd rewarded for his lively performance at Plymouth with a rare start. The biggest changes were on the bench as Roy McFarland used his full squad by naming QPR loanee Paul Bruce, Sam McMahon and Tom Youngs. The game kicked off in sunshine on a bare Vetch Field pitch.

Backed by their noisy home support, Swansea started well and took the game to United who struggled to contain them. Our first chance came from a third minute corner when Paul Wanless headed over, but the Swans took the lead after 15 minutes from a Bound free kick. Some sloppy defending allowed Alsop to head the ball down and Watkin hooked it past Shaun Marshall despite the young 'keeper getting a hand to the ball.

United had to weather the storm after the goal and struggled to get their passing game going as the game turned into a midfield battle. They were well supported by an estimated 100 travelling fans who managed to make themselves heard with a long round of "Roy McFarland's Amber Army", matching the home support for enthusiasm if not volume. There are unconfirmed reports that they were given a free programme as a small consolation for two previous wasted journeys to this fixture.

United battled but failed to create anything, looking toothless and failing to spark, although Swansea were little better as it took them until the 41st minute to create their next opening. A free kick towards the edge of the area caused problems for United as Marshall came for the ball but Eustace cleared as far as Cusack whose shot was deflected high into the air. Alsop followed up but headed over the bar. United forced a couple of late corners just before half-time, leaving Roy McFarland with the task of trying to gee them up during the break. (Half-time 1-0)

As they often do, United looked much better after the break and played with a lot more purpose. On 47 minutes Michael Kyd sent Alex Russell bursting into the area, the midfielder hit the ball first time but Freestone produced a full-length one-handed save to deny him. Then two minutes later Jamie Campbell released Kyd down the left who advanced before picking out Trevor Benjamin, the striker's shot was cleared to Russell on the edge of the box who curled a shot just wide. Another two minutes later Russell's short corner routine with Kyd made space for Russell to whip in a cross that was headed over by Eustace.

United had exerted all the early pressure and it was very much against the run of play when Swansea extended their lead. A 58th minute free kick by Thomas was directed towards the far post where Ben Chenery was penalised for a nudge in the back of Watkin, and although Marshall guessed the right way Watkin scored from the penalty spot.

The penalty basically killed the game off and although McFarland changed things around it was to no effect. QPR winger Paul Bruce replaced Kyd in the 67th minute, and three minutes later Wanless again headed over from a corner. Swansea threatened again in the 76th minute when Coates' cross was met by a towering header from Alsop, but Marshall brilliantly tipped the ball over.

The game then petered out with Benjamin and Russell withdrawn early, presumably with Saturday's game in mind, allowing Youngs and McMahon a brief taste of first team action.

The result leaves Brentford a point clear at the top but United know exactly what they need to do to win the title. A win in front of a packed Abbey Stadium would clinch the title, while the Bees have to come and prevent that from happening.

Reporter Mark Johnson's man of the match was Michael Kyd: "He worked hard and showed flashes of what he can do, and looked almost back to his best at times."