Yzzy Taylor | We have strong foundations to build on

Swansea City Women head coach Yzzy Taylor believes her side showed a lot of the qualities they want to exhibit as a team in claiming a 1-0 victory over Torquay United Women at the Joma High Performance Centre.

A second-half finish from new signing Lily Deacon proved the difference after a positive first outing of pre-season, while every member of the squad was given valuable minutes as preparations for the new campaign continued.

The Swans started brightly, with Taite Trivett going close on two occasions in the opening stages as Taylor's side controlled much of the first half.

They continued that momentum after the break and eventually found the breakthrough when Deacon was on hand to turn home from close range after a superb delivery from a Trialist.

Torquay created chances of their own, but missed opportunities, combined with some stops from Opal Rayner, ensured the Swans secured both the victory and a clean sheet.

Taylor was pleased with the way her side adapted throughout the game and believes the players demonstrated a strong understanding of the foundations and playing philosophy the team is looking to build on ahead of the new season.

"It was a really positive performance," she said. 

"I think we really started to see a good understanding of the structure we've been implementing over the past few weeks. 

"It was also really positive to have such a large squad available for our opening pre-season game because it was important to get valuable minutes into every player. There are definitely things we can continue to work on, but overall there were plenty of positives to take from the performance.

"We spoke about being resilient and solving problems throughout the game. You can prepare for one thing, but the opposition can always throw something different at you. I thought we dealt with that well, and we adapted well despite making consistent changes throughout the match.

"We want to have a clear style of play and do things in a certain way. Regardless of the formation, it's important that those core foundations remain the same, and I thought the girls showed a really good understanding of that. It gives us a platform to keep building."

Taylor was also pleased to see her players put her half-time messages into practice, with the winning goal coming from one of the movements discussed during the interval.

"We looked threatening throughout, particularly from the wide areas and in the way we progressed the ball into the final third," she added. 

"It was really pleasing to see some of the movements we spoke about at half-time come to fruition in the second half.

"We wanted our number 10s to make those runs and get into the box, and it was a great finish from Lily. It's not always easy with your first touch, but she took it really well and was rewarded for making the right movement.

"We'll now look ahead to Plymouth next week. We know they're at a different stage of their pre-season than we are, but it'll be another good test for us. We'll prepare well this week and hopefully continue building on this performance."