Tony Pennock was extremely pleased with his depleted Under-18 side as they were beaten at Plymouth in their opening Youth Alliance Cup match.
A Swans side featuring no fewer than four Under-16 players in the travelling squad were beaten 2-0 by a Pilgrims side described by Pennock as "very well organised and physical opposition with a direct style of play" but overall was happy with his side's performance in South Devon.
"Overall I believe that it was the most pleasing 90 minutes we have played this season," he said.
"More so than the two previous wins in the league. That was for a number of reasons; the boys had to adapt to a new formation very well, mainly due to two injuries and four lads away with Wales Under-17's.
"The two goals that they scored didn't come from set pieces which were a big plus for us because we have been conceding from set pieces, but they were goals that we could have prevented.
"A lot of players played out of position and did an excellent job for the team and their team mates. They were asked to do things they're not used to but they understood the reasons why I asked them to do it, they all did exceptionally well for me and I was extremely pleased."
With David Cornell and Steven Berry missing through injury and four players away with Wales it was a perfect chance for the club's Head of Youth Development to give a handful of the Centre of Excellence players a run out.
Ashley Elsey, Ben Davies, Matthew Walkley and Sam Mosemires were all called into the side to give them a massive boost to their development.
"We had a goalkeeper (Elsey) who had only just turned 15 so he was playing two levels above what he normally does, and also a further three 15-year-olds on the bench," added Pennock.
"So to go to the best team in the league and give the performance we gave Glen Davies and I were very proud of them.
"I said that I wasn't going to take three youngsters away to Plymouth, getting up at half six in the morning but they all got on for the last 20, 25 minutes. That was always going to be the plan whether it 0-0, if we were 1-0 up or 1-0 down those lads were always going to get a game.
"They've been doing really well for the Under-16's and they'll have more opportunities this year."
This morning the young Swans played Torquay United at Fairwood in their second Puma Youth Alliance Cup group game hoping to put that opening defeat at Bolitho Park behind them, though Pennock admits that it's performances and not results that matter most.
"Results are immaterial as far as I'm concerned; it's all about performances and improving individuals. Against Plymouth a number of individuals put in performances that did them no harm at all."
