Yzzy Taylor | We can take learnings from today

Swansea City Women head coach Yzzy Taylor admitted her side were left disappointed after suffering their first defeat of the Genero Adran Premier campaign, but believes there are plenty of lessons to take from their 4-3 loss to The New Saints at Park Hall.

The Swans found themselves two goals down during the opening 45 minutes, with Fiona Barry and Abbie Iddenden putting the hosts in control before Chloe Chivers gave Swansea a lifeline with a superb long-range strike shortly before half-time.

Aimee Deacon then equalised seven minutes into the second half, before another superb Chivers free-kick gave the Swans the lead for the first time two minutes later.

The hosts responded almost instantly, with Iddenden converting for her second of the game, before late drama saw Barry convert a cross from Caitlin Chapman to secure all three points for TNS and condemn the Swans to their first defeat of the campaign.

Taylor felt Swansea had fallen below their usual standards during the first half, but was pleased with the immediate response after the break.

“I think we conceded two goals cheaply in terms of what our standards are in that first half.

“Chloe [Chivers] scored a great goal to get us on the scoresheet just before half-time, but it was tough to go in 2-1 down at the break.

“I spoke to the players about our standards and making sure we know what we want to get from games, and they hit the ground running in that second half.”

“We showed that bit of fight that we’ve had over the past few weeks. It’s always tough to concede in added time, but it’s a lesson we have to learn from and take forward as we keep moving forward." She said.

“TNS are a strong team and we know where their strengths lie. For half of that game we kept them at bay and it was one of those where we had to show we could step up a gear, which we did in the second half.

“We were really positive and can take learnings from it to make sure we’re ready for next week.”

Taylor was also keen to stress that the defeat should be viewed in the context of the response Swansea produced, with the side having shown they could compete with one of the league’s strongest teams.

“We have another challenge next week, so we’ll focus on that, but we need to make sure we look at this game and the character we showed to get back into it.

“Barry is always a tough place to go, so we need to make sure we’re ready for it. We’ll look at today and then look towards next week.”

Chivers was once again central to Swansea’s performance at Park Hall, continuing her impressive record at the venue with two excellent goals.

Taylor praised the midfielder’s overall contribution, while also highlighting the quality available to her within the squad.

“Chivers has been great up here over the past couple of seasons and has really enjoyed herself when she has played here. She offers us a great platform to play.

“I thought she was great today, on and off the ball, and did really well with two great goals.

“Her assist was great as well as Deacs [Aimee Deacon] doing fantastic individually to put it away, so I think it shows we’re really lucky with the type of people that we have at this club that I can pick from.”

There was also a positive to take from the afternoon with the return of Maddy Murray, who came off the bench to make her first appearance of the season following a lengthy spell out through injury.

Taylor was delighted to see the midfielder back involved and believes she settled into the game well.

“It’s great to have Maddy [Murray] back.

“She was superb for us last year. She has been out for a long time with an injury that has frustrated her. She has worked really hard to get herself back into the squad and back into the team and I think she settled into the game really well when she came on.”