PNE made it eight games unbeaten in 2009/10 with another confident success over a Swansea City side still waiting for its season to ignite.

Goals in each half from Neil Mellor and Stephen Elliott settled an open game in which the goalkeepers were on top, with fine football to the fore on one of the brightest afternoons of the season so far.

It made Deepdale a joyous place to be, and sent the majority of a crowd of nearly 13,000 home happy, with few worries to speak of on the way home, other than an injury to Paul Parry and an ugly off-field moment late on when a small number of visiting supporters seemed to make an attempt to attack their counterparts on the other side of the Bill Shankly Kop divide - an incident best glossed over and left to the authorities.

Of primary importance was the fact that North End made three changes from the side that took to the field at Ipswich, with captain Callum Davidson an enforced absentee and Velcihe Shumulikoski dropping to the bench along with Jon Parkin to make room for Eddie Nolan, Darren Carter and Chris Brown.

With Davidson missing, Alan Irvine decided to give the captain's armband to keeper Andy Lonergan, but he wasn't called upon to offer much leadership in the opening stages as PNE pressed the ball upfield in a positive start.

The first notable moment from such intensity came within four minutes of the opening as Chris Brown saw his shot charged down by Ashley Williams after Ross Wallace chipped an inviting ball into the box and the flag stayed down, seemingly to Swansea's surprise.

Lively starter Darren Carter fired a shot over the bar after electing to shoot from 25 yards as the space opened up in front of him, but in spite of their territorial dominance, PNE nearly got caught on the break when Richard Chaplow was dispossessed in midfield.

The breaking Nathan Dyer sent Mark Gower into a vast acre of space, and having drawn the keeper to the edge of his box, looked a good bet to score, but he reckoned without Lonergan's reflexes; the new skipper diverting the ball over the bar with a useful intervention from his legs.

That only proved to be a minor aberration as Neil Mellor headed Preston into the lead on 27 minutes. Taking advantage of a flick over the back line from strike partner Brown, Mells raced into a quiet part of the box to head over the advancing Dorus De Vries as the massed defence, bunched up to defend another grouped attack, could only turn around and watch the debris behind them.

His third goal in four Championship games - and a fourth in all competitions - was nearly the catalyst for a second team strike within a matter of minutes, but Sean St. Ledger couldn't keep his header down as he read Chaplow's left wing free kick well, meeting the ball in plenty of room at the far post.

Paul Parry then left his marker trailing as he forced a near post stop from De Vries from a cross-cum-shot having burst inside from the right flank, while Lonergan proved equally solid at the near post to hold Dyer's fizzing stop and then keep it in play as momentum appeared to be taking him over the line with the ball for a corner.

The lead that Preston took into the break came agonisingly close to being doubled within six minutes of hostilities re-starting; Eddie Nolan the man who almost secured his maiden PNE goal. Parry gently floated a hanging cross into the box with Brown and Nolan the targets, the latter placing the ball well with his forehead, but not quite well enough to beat De Vries, who showed great agility to flick the ball away from shin height.

Sensing he had to do something to try and force an equaliser, Paulo Sousa sent on former Deepdale loanee Craig Beattie just short of the hour and debutant Cedric van der Gun soon after, whilst Alan Irvine made a bid to kill off the game by replacing Ross Wallace with Chris Sedgwick. The sub made an almost immediate impact, crossing for Mellor within 30 seconds of his arrival, but the striker put his stooping header just wide of the post.

An enforced change followed as Paul Parry took a knock, so North End sent on Veliche Shumulikoski, but while they were still getting used to the change of personnel, they were nearly caught out. Beattie struck a low shot from the edge of the box which deflected on its way towards goal, and the home side were indebted to Lonergan as he saved well with his legs once more, having already committed his dive to the initial direction of Beattie's shot.

It seemed that whatever either side did, they just couldn't find the game's second goal. Sedgwick continued to prove a reliable creator from wide positions - Jones' header from his cross was expertly tipped away by the keeper - and Mellor headed wide from the same creator just moments before being replaced by Stephen Elliott.

The serial provider was even denied himself - his shot blocked by Ashley Williams after Brown's diagonal ball gave him an almost clear sight of goal, but with exactly two minutes to play, he did what he did best, creating North End's clincher.

Beating Williams in a race to the by-line, de Vries was forced to come to his near post and block any potential shot, leaving his goal completely exposed and giving Elliott the simple task of tucking Sedgwick's cut back into the unguarded target from six yards.

There was still time for a potential third, but de Vries blocked well from Elliott's drive and Shumulikoski's chip in stoppage time, leaving North End content with a 2-0 victory and a continued unbeaten run in all competitions so far.

PNE: Lonergan (capt), Jones, St. Ledger, Nolan, Parry (sub Shumulikoski 68), Chaplow, Carter, Wallace (sub Sedgwick 62), Brown, Mellor (sub Elliott 80). Subs not used: Henderson, Hart, N Collins, Parkin.

Booked: St. Ledger, Elliott.

Swansea City: De Vries, Painter (sub Pintado 80), Tate (capt), Britton, Williams, Gower, Richards, Dyer, Trundle (sub Beattie 57), Lopez (sub Van der Gun 62), Orlandi. Subs not used: Cornell, Bassone, Bodde, Allen.

Booked: Richards.

Referee: Mr Eddie Ilderton.

Attendance: 12,854.