Paulo had called for his side to step up their game following the disappointment of the last home game against Coventry and that is just what Swansea did as they put in a performance worthy of their league position and ended the afternoon knowing that the two goal margin could have been much bigger.
Cotterill scored one, created one and hit the post as he proved that he is more than worthy of a starting spot but in truth his was just one of a host of top quality performances throughout the side who gave Preston very little and certainly to an extent that I don’t recall Dorus having a save to make. Well, certainly not one of note anyway.
The midfield in particular controlled everything with Pratley, Britton and Allen chasing every ball and winning a large percentage of them giving Cotterill, Dyer, Tate and Bessone the opportunity to get forward on the wing as much as possible.
And at the back the rocks that are Ashley Williams and Garry Monk could do no wrong giving the Preston forwards – led by Porky Parkin – nothing on a frustrating afternoon for them in South Wales.
You would argue that Sousa played his strongest available team today although no doubt there would be some debate over Pintado or Kuqi but the line up was
Dorus
Tate Monk Williams Bessone
Dyer Britton Pratley Allen Cotterill
Pintado
Angel Rangel’s reward for his midweek outburst was being removed from the matchday squad and a spell on the naughty step and to be fair at the moment it is difficult to see at the moment why he should displace any of the back four listed above.
Swansea started as they tend to with the bulk of possession and looked patient as they tried to find a way through the Preston defence. There were early signs of Preston’s style of play with several niggling fouls in place and a referee who seemingly was not interested in producing an early yellow card to try and clamp out some of them.
Indeed, as well as a lack of early cards it appears that he had also outlawed penalties as it seemed incredible that one was not awarded for a foul on Dyer whilst Pratley had a seemingly decent shout turned down shortly after the Swans had opened the scoring.
It seemed only a matter of time before the Swans would take the lead and so it proved after Malwene felled Pratley right on the edge of the box. Cotterill had had an earlier sighter when he hit a free kick just wide but this one was nearer and in a better position surely. And so it proved as a perfect shot found the opposite corner giving the keeper no chance and bringing 14500 Swans fans to their feet to celebrate the goal that we so desperately wanted.
We were up and running and Preston spent most of the rest of the first half chasing shadows as the Swans showed their superiority but were unable to add to the solitary goal they already had.
That changed less than five minutes into the second half. If Darren Ferguson had hoped that his team talk and sending the side out early was to have an effect it was the opposite effect to what he wanted. Cotterill earned a free kick wide on the left and took it himself, floating in another perfect free kick that Ashley Williams headed past the keeper to double the Swans advantage. This was just 2 minutes after Dyer had broken free and pulled his shot wide and at this point it looked as if the Swans may have had enough to bury Preston.
There was though to be no more but it was not for the want of trying. It was becoming an assault on the Preston box as the Swans pushed forward at every opportunity with more and more space being afforded to Dyer, Cotterill and Pratley in particular and Preston were becoming more frustrated.
Pintado was replaced by Kuqi and the danger level seemed to go up again and Cotterill was desperately unlucky to see his shot from outside the box come back off the post whilst Allen twice came close to adding a third goal to the Swans tally.
There were late subs as Orlandi replaced Allen and Butler replacing Cotterill but there was no more scoring as the Swans moved back to level with Cardiff in 5th place.
Seven games unbeaten, another clean sheet and a top performance to boot. A very satisfactory afternoon at the office.
