SWANSEA boss Russell Martin said Dominic Solanke’s first-half opener against Cherries was “marginally offside”.

The Welsh outfit had the better of the opening exchanges at Vitality Stadium, before England international Solanke fired home Philip Billing’s cross.

The Swans boss also said his side could have been awarded a penalty with the scores goalless at Vitality Stadium, after Ethan Laird went to ground in the box under the challenge of Leif Davis.

In the end, doubles from Solanke and Jaidon Anthony ensured the hosts sealed a 4-0 victory.

Assessing the game as a whole, Martin said: “I thought we started the game brilliantly, one of the best 25-minute periods since I have been here.

“We are disappointed we did not score when we were on top, we had some good situations we did not make the most of.

“Ethan is fouled in the box but the official did not think it was enough contact to give a penalty, and they score against the run of play – a goal which was marginally offside – which energised them a bit.

“The game got a bit messy then towards the end of the first half, which I think suited them more than us, but they did not create much and neither did we.

“So, at half-time it was about trying to weather the storm and having that energy in the first 15 minutes, and we didn’t do that.

“They score with a moment of sloppiness from us, and the difference was they were really ruthless and clinical.

“We cannot concede so early after half-time when we had spoken about it. We tried to remain the side we want to be, but it is another moment of sloppiness for the third goal, and it’s the same for the fourth goal.

“By that point the game was open and we were chasing it a bit but we needed to make better decisions.

“But I am hurt for it to be 4-0 because I didn’t think the guys deserved that.”

Asked about the possible penalty incident, Cherries boss Scott Parker told the Daily Echo: “Maybe. It seemed like there were a few penalties.

“I don’t know whether Dom and then Ryan got pulled back in the box. I don’t know on any of them really. They all look a little bit like maybes.”