Preston 2-1 Swansea City: Duane Holmes scores late winner for North End

Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Preston North End and Swansea City at Deepdale as goals from Andrew Hughes and Duane Holmes sealed a comeback victory for the home side.

Saturday 26 August 2023 18:24, UK

Summer signing Duane Holmes scored the winner as Preston came from behind to beat Swansea 2-1.

North End, who have now won their last three Championship games having drawn their opener, are enjoying their best start to a campaign for 15 years.

The Swans, meanwhile, are still looking for their first win of the season under new boss Michael Duff.

The visitors started brightly at Deepdale and threatened first when Liam Cullen - in for big-money departure Joel Piroe - lashed in a shot which took a deflection before flying just over the crossbar.

At the other end, Brad Potts dragged a smart pass into the path of Ryan Ledson but he clipped an effort narrowly over the top.

Both sides probed for an opening, with the Swans again going close when Cullen curled inches off target after being neatly teed up by Josh Key.

Preston came back with a great chance of their own as Holmes pulled a terrific pass back for the onrushing Mads Frokjaer, only for the Danish midfielder to scoop a disappointing shot off target from 10 yards.

Andrew Hughes fired wide from distance for Preston, while an unmarked Frokjaer's effort from the edge of the Swans' box was woefully high.

The Swans punished wasteful North End with a terrific strike after 33 minutes. Charlie Patino crossed in superbly for the onrushing Harrison Ashby and he buried an angled volley from eight yards.

Preston striker Will Keane almost produced an instant reply, but his snapshot was superbly kept out by keeper Carl Rushworth.

The Swans carved out the first chance of the second period as skipper Matt Grimes found space on the edge of the North End box, eventually firing a foot wide and into the side-netting.

With the visitors taking control as the hour mark approached, they almost bagged a second goal. Key curled in an effort which flicked off defender Jordan Storey before drifting just over the crossbar.

Preston finally gained some rhythm and Frokjaer turned neatly before a crisp 20-yard drive only just cleared the crossbar.

North End then evened it up in the 67th minute when Hughes rose highest to flick home a measured cross from skipper Alan Browne.

Twelve minutes later the tie was turned on its head when Holmes sidefooted home clinically as he charged in to meet Frokjaer's low cross for what turned out to be the decisive goal.

The managers

Preston's Ryan Lowe:

"The whole group has been fantastic so far this season. We were a little bit disappointed at half-time at being behind, but after that the attitude and application of all the lads was first-class.

"The lads are taking instructions on board and as a manager I can't ask for more than that. We showed resilience too, which is also pleasing for me. The lads have got confidence. We don't take a lot of notice of what other teams are doing, we just concentrate on going about our own business. We're finding a way to win matches, and that's all it's about really."

Swansea's Michael Duff:

"I thought we were totally dominant in the first half, so in the end I'm really frustrated. We knew we'd have to tweak one or two things at half-time, so we did that and then we didn't look enough of a threat early in the second half.

"There needs to be a mentality shift, that's a disappointing thing - we should know that teams in this division are not just going to roll over. We definitely need to be putting teams to the sword when we're 1-0 up. Some of the passes and the movement in that second half just wasn't good enough. We gave away two quite soft goals in the end, but we shouldn't really have been in that situation in the first place."