Preston maintained their unbeaten record with a 2-0 victory over Swansea at Deepdale.
Mellor and Elliott on target in 2-0 win
Preston maintained their unbeaten record with a 2-0 victory over Swansea at Deepdale.
Neil Mellor opened the scoring for the hosts with a fine header on 27 minutes and the result never looked in doubt from that point.
Swansea carried virtually no goal threat and Preston were able to cruise through the rest of the match, with Stephen Elliott adding a late second.
Swansea did manage to fashion an opening in the 18th minute which should have led to the opening goal.
A typically intricate passing move saw Andrea Orlandi break from just inside the North End half and find Nathan Dyer with a neat pass.
He kept the ball moving with a swift pass out to midfielder Mark Gower, lurking unmarked just inside the penalty area.
Gower lined up a low left-footed shot but an excellent stop from Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan saw the ball deflected over for a corner.
Confidence
Nine minutes later, Preston led when Swansea failed to clear a free-kick and Chris Brown hooked the ball back in for Mellor to send a stooping header into the net from six yards.
The goal breathed confidence into Preston and former Cardiff winger Paul Parry showed brilliant skill to beat his man down the right flank and hit a vicious cross-shot which required a fine parried save from the outstanding Dorus De Vries.
North End went close doubling their advantage after the break when Mellor and Brown threatened with headers.
Yet Swansea looked slightly more dangerous following the arrival of substitutes Craig Beattie and former Ajax midfielder Cedric Van der Gun.
Beattie - Trundle's replacement - hit a low shot from distance which drew a smart stop from Lonergan in the 70th minute.
De Vries made a stunning save to keep his side in the game in the 77th minute when he palmed away Billy Jones' powerful header from a cross by substitute Chris Sedgwick.
However, he was powerless to prevent Preston claiming their second goal with a minute remaining when Sedgwick brilliantly cut the ball back from the right for Elliott to rifle the ball high into the net from six yards.
