Report | Swansea City U23s 0 Colchester United U23s 1
Michael Fernandes’ first-half goal proved to be the difference as Swansea City Under-23s fell to a narrow defeat against Colchester United in the Premier League Cup.
The defeat marked the young Swans' first Premier League Cup at Landore since February 2017, when they were beaten 4-0 by Bristol City.
Gary Richards and Cameron Toshack made just a couple of changes from the side that started in last week’s 1-1 draw with Fulham.
Lewis Webb replaced Josh Gould in goal, while Ali Al-Hamadi came in for Jack Evans in midfield.
On-loan winger Aldo Kalulu also featured as he continued to step up his recovery from injury with the opportunity to accumulate more minutes for the under-23s.
The first chance for the Swans came in the third minute when Will Rickard found Al-Hamadi on the left, but Colchester goalkeeper Callum Coulter was on hand to deny the winger.
Just a few minutes later, Cameron Evans drilled a fine shot at goal, but it was held onto by Coulter.
A Kalulu cross then found Liam Cullen in the area but a combination of deflections denied the striker his eighth goal of the season.
The Swans continued to create plenty of chances throughout the half, with Brandon Cooper glancing a header just wide of the target.
The visitors took the lead against the run of play following a devastating counter attack in the 24th minute, as Fernandes raced away and slotted past Webb after latching onto Diaz Wright's long ball over the top of the Swans defence.
The hosts had a brilliant opportunity to equalise in the 34th minute after some great play by Al-Hamadi down the left led to Cullen's superb first-time effort being pushed away by Coulter.
Kees de Boer's corner led to a flurry of efforts for the Swans in the final minutes of the first half. Cooper's volley was cleared off the line, before Evans headed straight at the Colchester keeper.
Coulter came to the rescue again after the interval - getting down well to stop Al-Hamadi's effort from a Blake cross.
At the other end, Diogo Freitas-Gouveia looked to double Colchester’s advantage, but his effort proved too powerful.
The game also saw debuts at this level for 16-year-old Morgan Clarke as well as Arnor Gudjohnsen, who returned from injury.
The Swans survived a scare 15 minutes from time as Ryan Bevan's attempted clearance cannoned back off the post, before Evans did well to clear the rebound off the line.
Blake drilled a low shot narrowly wide in the 82nd minute and, despite a late push, the hosts were unable to secure a share of the spoils.
Swansea City U23s: Lewis Webb, Ryan Bevan, Matthew Blake, Kees de Boer, Cameron Evans, Brandon Cooper (captain), Aldo Kalulu (Arnor Gudjohnsen 77’), Simon Paulet, Liam Cullen, Will Rickard (Morgan Clarke 59’), Ali Al-Hamadi (Scott Butler 79’).
Subs not used: Tyler Evans, Erick Kenko.