By Gareth Vincen
South Wales Evening Post

Andrea Orlandi warmed up for his return to Barcelona by notching a first-ever Swansea City goal to give Roberto Martinez's men a 1-0 victory over Palamos last night.

Orlandi opened his Swansea account 11 months after swapping the mighty Barca for the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea round off their Spanish pre-season workout when they take on Barcelona's second string in the Catalan capital this evening.

And they head for the Miniestadi - the smaller ground next to the Camp Nou - looking to make it three wins out of four on tour after coming out on top in a committed contest with Palamos.

Martinez shuffled his pack once more as the race for places against Charlton continued.

Garry Monk and Ashley Williams were paired together at the heart of defence, which could be the unit selected at The Valley a week on Saturday.

Further forward, Gorka Pintado was back in after sitting out Saturday's win at Peralada, while Ferrie Bodde and Mark Gower were rested here.

The fixture represented a step up following Peralada.

A Tercera Liga club, Palamos are a rung higher in the Spanish football pyramid and are semi-professional rather than amateur.

There were fireworks before kick-off - very loud ones which, to the surprise of everyone in the visiting camp, were let off by a 50-strong band of noisy home fans behind one of the goals.

After that the locals made a right old racket with megaphone and a drum as their team gave leggy Swansea plenty to think about in an even first period.

Palamos threatened first, Pinilla ghosting in from the right only for Marcos Painter to recover and clear the danger.

Sloppy handling from Dorus de Vries almost presented the hosts with another opening inside the first 10 minutes but this time Alan Tate was on hand to hack the ball to safety.

Swansea responded, Leon Britton sliding a pass through for Pintado to shoot straight at the goalkeeper.

It would be the powerhouse striker's one significant contribution before he was replaced by Guillem Bauza just after the half hour.

By then Palamos had come close twice, first when Jaume Duran cracked a 20-yard shot over the top and then when Vichu's pass from midfield caught Painter on his heels.

Pinilla raced in down the right and beat the advancing de Vries only for Ashley Williams's sliding clearance underneath the crossbar to keep the scores level.

But it was Swansea who finished the half the stronger, with Orlandi coming within an inch of his first pre-season goal.

His wayward header from Bauza's lovely centre was wasteful, but Orlandi was unfortunate four minutes from the interval.

Owain Tudur Jones, impressive once again at the heart of midfield, laid on the chance, robbing Texidor 25 yards from goal and then flicking the ball forward with the outside of his right boot.

Orlandi did everything right, taking a touch to set himself before firing in a low shot which ricocheted off the inside of the post and rolled across goal to safety.

Swansea trudged off at the break looking a little weary.

Had Orlandi's effort gone in, they may have been a bit perkier.

Martinez altered his policy of a complete change of personnel at the break, but there was a new-look back-four for the second period.

Within two minutes of the restart, Swansea finally had something to celebrate.

When Tudur Jones stuck out one of his long limbs to help the ball out left to Orlandi, the winger did the rest.

Resisting the temptation to volley first time, Orlandi brought the ball down before crashing a left-foot shot into the top corner of the net from 15 yards.

His girlfriend, watching on from the stands with the rest of Swansea's Spanish other halves, must have been impressed.

The goal lifted Swansea, and they were spraying the ball about with much more confidence as the contest wore on.

There were mass changes just after the hour, the most notable of which saw Febian Brandy, fit after ankle trouble, make his first appearance since agreeing a second loan from Manchester United.

Brandy was soon trying his stepovers, but it was fellow sub Tom Butler who came closest to adding a second goal when his low shot forced keeper Toni Montero into a save 20 minutes from the end.

Shaun MacDonald, who had put in another decent shift on the right flank, also forced Montero into action late on as Swansea took charge.