Swansea recorded their first win in six Championship outings as they claimed a 2-0 triumph at Preston.
Bodde and Gomez strikes end poor run of form
Swansea City recorded their first win in six Championship outings as they claimed a 2-0 triumph at Preston North End.
Ferrie Bodde broke the deadlock in the first period before Jordi Gomez sealed the three points from the penalty spot with 10 minutes remaining.
The home team should have taken the lead early on when Sean St Ledger rose above the static Swans defence but his downward header was superbly clawed out by Swans goalkeeper Doris De Vries, and the incoming Neil Mellor could only find the post with his flailing follow-up.
The long journey from south Wales seemed to have taken its toll on Swansea as the Lilywhites continued to press and it took a courageous block from Marcos Painter to deny former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor just as he was about to pull the trigger from six yards.
But thoroughly against the run of play, the beleaguered visitors went ahead in spectacular fashion.
Ferocious
Meeting a loose ball in the 20th minute, Bodde found himself once again with few attacking options ahead of him.
Seeing goalkeeper Andy Lonergan marginally off his line, Bodde unleashed a ferocious drive which whistled past the hapless Lonergan and into the top corner.
The goal, Bodde's fourth of the season, proved a turning point in the game.
The visitors were invigorated and efforts before the break from Gomez and another speculative effort from Bodde forced Lonergan into action and left the disgruntled home crowd mumbling with discontent.
The heavyweight pairing of Mellor and Chris Brown were afforded little space by Swansea central defenders Garry Monk and Ashley Williams.
A fortunate ricochet three minutes after the interval presented Mellor with a rare shooting opportunity but his drive from the edge of the area went wide.
Buoyed by the stirring home crowd, Preston began to adopt a more physical approach in the second half and worked tirelessly to close down the opposition - especially the influential Bodde.
Openings
Alan Irvine's men refused to let their heads go down and soon fashioned openings for Chris Brown and substitute Ross Wallace, although the latter's cushioned volley failed to trouble De Vries in the Swans goal.
But just a minute later all the good work was undone as Bodde received the ball in midfield and delivered an incisive pass into the feet of Bauza who was impeded by McEveley.
The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and Gomez stepped up to score from the spot to the delight of the travelling support.
