Report | Torquay United 3 Swansea City U23s 2

Swansea City Under-23s put up an impressive second-half fightback before narrowly losing 3-2 against National League side Torquay United.

On a run of four consecutive victories during pre-season, Gary Johnson’s Torquay raced into a 3-0 lead before half-time at Plainmoor.

The young Swans responded well after the break; pulling two goals back through Yan Dhanda and Liam Cullen, but were just unable to find an equaliser.

Torquay took the lead after 10 minutes thanks to a deflected strike from captain Asa Hall.

Armani Little doubled their advantage in the 26th minute with a magnificent free-kick that left Josh Gould with no chance.

Manny Duku made it 3-0 six minutes before the break; firing home after he was picked out on the left by Ruairi Keating.

To their credit, the Swans were much-improved after the interval and pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute as Dhanda tucked away from the penalty spot after Jack Evans was fouled by Hall.

The visitors reduced the deficit to a single goal just two minutes later; Cullen the man on hand to bundle home Oli Cooper’s cross.

The young Swans continued to press as they searched for the equaliser, but could not quite find that third goal.

“The boys played well all the way through the game and we were really pleased with them,” said under-23s' coach Gary Richards.

“Although we got beat, the performance was certainly a notch-up from our other games during pre-season.

“They were a strong side so to put in a competitive and decent performance against them was very pleasing from our point of view.

“We got punished by three individual mistakes in the first half but, pleasingly, we played some really good football throughout and created decent opportunities that we just couldn’t take.

“To be fair, we started the second half particularly well and got two goals back within 10 minutes. We then created a couple of good opportunities to equalise that we were unfortunate not to score from.

“Overall, it was a really good game with a good crowd, so it was a great environment to play in and one the players will learn a lot from.”

Swansea City U23s: Josh Gould; Tivonge Rushesha, Brandon Cooper (Jake Thomas 61), Joe Lewis (Cameron Evans 55), Jacob Jones; Jack Evans (Daniel Williams 61), Simon Paulet (Kees de Boer 46); Oli Cooper (Trialist 65), Yan Dhanda (Tom Price 61), Keiran Evans (Cameron Berry 65); Liam Cullen (Mason Jones-Thomas 65).