With the Swansea.Com Stadium back up to full capacity after more of the Covid restrictions were lifted, a 16,000 strong crowd got into the mood by cheering Welsh Paralympians Paul Karabardark, David Smith and Harri Jenkins  before kick off.

The home side seemed to respond to the positive vibes on the sidelines as they made a bright start, although Hull did register the first corner of the game within the opening five minutes.

It didn’t take long though for the Swans to take the ball off their opposition- and keep it off them for prolonged spells. 

There was plenty of neat and tidy stuff, but there was also an injection of directness and urgency supplied by Ethan Laird wide on the right and new boy Olivier Ntcham driving through the middle.

Ntcham in particular was catching the eye – a purposeful run here, a drop of the shoulder there, and the Frenchman looks to have a bag of tricks at his disposal to go with his boxer’s build! He showed he’s not afraid to shoot either, letting fly early on but disappointed to see his effort blocked.

By the quarter hour mark the Swans were not only dominating the ball they were building a real head of steam and Hull found themselves under increasing pressure inside their final third.

A double block was needed to deny Bidwell first and then Ntcham from the rebound while Ethan Laird towered over his marker only to head wide of the target.

The Swans were getting closer and Ingram was finally called into action in the Hull goal, the keeper forced to save a Piroe effort from outside the box.

Ingram again denied the home side, touching Matt Grimes’ well placed free kick onto the post and the resulting set piece provided a chance for Piroe but the in form striker couldn’t keep his effort down.

Hull were creaking and the chances kept coming, albeit mostly from distance, as first Paterson and then Kyle Naughton – revelling in a role in the centre of the back three – took aim, but Paterson lacked accuracy and Naughton found Ingram up to the task once more with a smart save in the top right corner.

The pressure was building and surely it was only a matter of time before the Swans broke through…only…they stopped turning the screw! Their opponents had retreated, compacting around their last third and the Swans fell into the trap of passing without too much purpose.

Slowly but surely the momentum leaked away and it became too easy for the Swans to make the easy passes for the sake of making a pass, and it was even easier for Hull to sit tight and defend the slow and unimaginative stuff being played in front of them.

The early knockings of the second half saw Hull briefly break the pattern that had been established towards the end of the first, Mallik WIlks getting on the end of George Moncur’s astute set up but Ben Hamer continued to be totally untroubled in the home goal.

Ntcham and Flynn Downes, playing in the central spot in front of the defence usually occupied by Grimes, were catching the eye but it was referee Stroud who was centre stage when denying two penalty shouts by the home side.

It’s hard to believe the first one wasn’t given, both Stroud and his assistant with a clear view of Laird being wiped out as he latched onto a ball dropping inside the box.

The second one looked far more innocuous as Paterson went down softly as the defender slightly stepped across him as he stood his ground; what made it contentious is the fact that having instructed Paterson to get up the referee then proceeded to not only penalise Jake Bidwell for an identical challenge minutes later, but also brandish a yellow card at Paterson when he made that very point a little too aggressively.

Ntcham sought to up the ante again and played a lovely through ball but Piroe had neither the pace nor the support to profit from it. 

By the 70th minute Ntcham’s race was run and the new forward left the field to enthusiastic applause after a promising debut. Bizarrely it was Ryan Manning that came on to replace him, taking up a station behind Piroe until Martin made his next sub seven minutes later.

Michael Obafemi was ran on for his debut, Piroe dropped back into Ntcham’s position and Manning thankfully went back to replace the departed Jake Bidwell.

The raft of changes did little to alter the flow of the game and the second period continued to roll by with what was by now an almost testimonial feel to it. 

Strangely though it was Hull that responded the more positively when the fourth official’s board went up with an additional five minutes indicated and Greg Docherty’s right footed effort needed blocking as the official ninety minutes elapsed.

Then came that vital last minute save by Hamer who showed excellent concentration levels to react when finally called upon, flinging himself to his left to parry out substitute Ryan Longman’s speculative effort on the break.

There was still just about enough time for one last set piece for the Swans to win it, but like too many before it the delivery was simply not good enough to trouble a tight Tigers defence that had ridden its luck at times but earned its clean sheet.