Preston North End memory match: When Swansea City forgot to bring their kit to Deepdale

The Swans somehow left their kit behind in Wales and were forced to borrow PNE’s yellow away strip to the occasion.

North End weren’t so generous on the pitch to their visitors, beating them 2-0 to inch them nearer to safety in the old Third Division.

Both goals came from the full-backs, Gary Swann and Neil Williams on target in front of a 6,695 crowd.

Swann and Williams were both converted midfielders, with left-back Swann having an eye for goal.

This was his eighth goal of the 1989/90 campaign, with Williams netting three.

Quite how Swansea managed to turn up without their kit was a puzzle.

Only when they arrived at Deepdale did they notice the kit skip wasn’t on the coach.

PNE had gone into the game on the back of a 1-0 win at Wigan and having lost just one of their previous five.

They were the better side in a goalless first half which lacked real tempo.

Brian Mooney did his best to lift that, the Irishman’s display earning him the man of the match award.

Mooney almost broke the deadlock after going on a typical mazy run which took him past three defenders, his shot going just wide.

Ian Bogie’s chip hit the top of the bar and went over, while Warren Joyce sent a free-kick wide.

Joyce went close with a shot after Steve Harper had headed Sammy McIlroy’s cross into his path.

Swansea’s one chance of note in the first half was a shot from Chris Coleman went well wide.

After the goalless first half, North End took less than two minutes of the second to break the deadlock.

Joyce whipped over a corner from the right which Swann met right on the money to power a header into the net.

Signed as a midfielder in the 1986/87 promotion season, the former Hull City player served PNE so well until 1992.

John Thomas, chasing his 50th Preston goal, went close with a glancing header.

Bogie had the ball in the net but the effort was ruled out by an offside flag against the Geordie midfielder.

The Lilywhites doubled their lead in the 61st minute, some ‘Mooney magic’ at the heart of it.

Mooney got possession in midfield and skipped through three challenges.

He then played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Williams who didn’t have to break stride before chipping over the advancing keeper.

Swansea began to show a bit more fight, a shot from Alan Curtis coming back off the post.

Preston keeper Alan Kelly saved well from substitute Keith Walker, then veteran Robbie James drove a shot wide of the target.

This was a second clean sheet in a row for Kelly, the first time PNE had done that during the season.

It was a big boost for Kelly who had forced his way into the side early in the season and kept his place from then on, save for two games when he was injured.

Although the win moved them further away from the relegation zone, their bid for safety went down to the final game the following week.

They lost at Shrewsbury, a game watched by more than 3,000 travelling fans – many in fancy dress.

Results elsewhere meant they stayed up, caretaker boss Les Chapman rewarded with the job full-time.