“It was if we had won the Premiership.”
Swansea-born Thomas was only three years old when the Swans came closest to that feat by briefly topping the old First Division 21 years ago. On Saturday, he joined the club’s roll of honour behind Ivor Allchurch, John Toshack et al after his hat-trick kept them out of the Nationwide Conference.”Being a local boy, I know how much it means to everyone at Swansea,” he said, “and it’s probably the best moment of my career.”With a passionate crowd of 11,000 behind them, Swansea took an eighth-minute lead when Thomas scored from the spot after Leon Brittan had been brought down in the area.Two mistakes allowed Stuart Elliot and Martin Reeves to ease Hull in front midway through the first-half before a much more debatable penalty was awarded for handball by the Hull captain, Justin Whittle, in the last minute of the first-half, which Thomas converted.Afterwards, Whittle and his manager, Peter Taylor, protested his innocence. “At half-time, I told the referee that the officials were very poor,” Taylor said. “Because of the hostile crowd, they couldn’t wait to give certain decisions.”When Thomas flicked on a Roberto Martinez free-kick for Lenny Johnrose to stab home just after half-time, Swansea were almost there. A sublime 25-yard chip by Thomas in the 57th minute put the seal on a remarkable escape act.With 20 games left, Swansea had just 18 points and were six adrift at the bottom of the table. Brian Flynn, the director of football, hauled the Swans clear but does not know if he will be kept on. “I’ve done the job I was asked to do and I’m out of contract,” Flynn said.

“My future needs to be sorted quickly so I can sort out all the players’ futures. I want to stay and I wouldn’t be making plans for the next three years if I didn’t think I was going to be here.”Last March Swansea sacked Colin Addison to save money Talks with Flynn will take place this week. To lose one respected and successful manager would be unfortunate, to lose two would be careless.Goals: Thomas pen (8) 1-0; Elliott (9) 1-1; Reeves (25) 1-2; Thomas pen (45) 2-2; Johnrose (48) 3-2; Thomas (57) 4-2.Swansea City (4-4-2): Cutler; Jenkins, O’Leary, Tate, Howard; Britton, Martinez, Johnrose, Coates; Nugent, Thomas. Substitutes not used: Freestone, Hylton, Jason Smith, Richards, Williams.Hull City (4-4-2): Fettis; Otsemobor (Burton, 66), Whittle, Joseph, Smith; Delaney, Melton, Keates, Reeves; Elliott, Burgess (Webb, 62).Substitutes not used: Musselwhite, Anderson, Regan.Referee: Scott Mathieson (Stockport)Booking: Hull Burgess.Attendance: 9,585..

For the second season running, Stoke City’s gain is Steve Coppell’s pain. A year ago the Potteries club won a play-off against a Brentford side managed by Coppell. At a noisy and nervous Britannia Stadium yesterday, Ade Akinbiyi’s second-half goal would have guaranteed Stoke’s survival in the First Division even if Coppell’s Brighton had beaten Grimsby. A week earlier, a Palace team under Steve Kember beat Stoke to drag the last relegation issue to the final day. Another of Coppell’s old Eagle acolytes, Alan Pardew, promised no let-up after Reading secured a play-off place, though in the end the most pertinent Selhurst Park connection belonged to Akinbiyi.The much-derided striker, on loan from Palace, met a fine cross from Lewis Neal with a sharp, glancing header which flashed past Marcus Hahnemann from inside Reading’s six-yard area.

Akinbiyi soon departed with a hamstring injury, probably never to return, yet Stoke played out the remaining 35 minutes with few alarms against opponents seemingly saving themselves for a play-off date with Wolves.Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, showed faith in Akinbiyi despite his having made only a marginally greater impact in south London than at Leicester “Ade’s had a tough time over the past few years,” he said. “But I took him as a kid from Norwich when I was at Gillingham and I’ve got terrific respect for him. The opportunity to bring him here, even though he’s only 50 per cent fit, was too good to turn down.”Akinbiyi is unlikely to be staying in the Six Towns, however “His wages are in excess of what we can afford,” said Pulis. But the 29-year-old will be fondly remembered for his part in Stoke’s escape, as will Mark Crossley, who kept eight clean sheets in the final 12 fixtures after being borrowed from Middlesbrough.Pulis deserves vast credit himself. Having arrived with the club in free-fall after Steve Cotterill’s defection to Sunderland, he initially presided over a run of just three points from 11 matches. This victory meant they finished with 33 points from 21 games – practically promotion form.Never relegated in more than 30 years in football, Pulis had suggested that Stoke would “take Reading by the throat”. In reality, his tactics were to draw Reading on to them and play on the counter-attack.