Report | Swansea City U21s 2 Cardiff City U21s 2

Swansea City Under 21s kept their unbeaten home run intact but were denied a south Wales derby victory by a late Cardiff City equaliser at Landore.

Goals from Mitchell Bates and Joe Thomas saw the Swans take the lead twice in the Professional Development League clash, but Cian Ashford scored the first Cardiff leveller before a late goal from Romayne Sawyers saw the Bluebirds snatch a draw late on.

It means Swansea are unbeaten in 17 league games on home turf, but the hosts would have been disappointed not to have taken all three points after being so close to a derby win.

There were several changes to the Swans line-up, with first-team players Harrison Ashby, Azeem Abdulai and Charles Sagoe Jr all picking up minutes, while goalkeeper Evan Watts returned after three months out with a knee injury.

The first chance fell to the Swans within the first five minutes when Maliq Cadogan ran onto a through ball and beat a defender, only to strike his shot at Matt Turner in the Cardiff goal.

The Swanscontinued their bright start with a chance falling to Cameron Congreve, but his low drilled shot was also held by Turner.

The Bluebirds first chance of the game arrived a few minutes later when some good link up play in the box resulted in Cody Twose getting away a strike that drifted wide of the post.

But it was the hosts who broke the deadlock just before the half-hour mark when an Ashby cross was headed in by Bates at the far post.

The Bluebirds had a fantastic chance to level five minutes before half-time when a Callum Robinson header from a corner was cleared off the line by Joel Cotterill.

But they did find the net prior to the interval when Ashford beat the offside trap and slotted the ball past Watts.

However, the Swans responded and took the lead for the second time early in the second half; Thomas’ powerful header rifled past Taylor from a Cotterill corner.

The Swans were dominating possession, and a chance fell to Sagoe Jr whose deflected shot span over the bar for a corner.

The Bluebirds were finding it difficult to contain the Swans midfield with Congreve playing Sammy Henia-Kamau through on goal, but Turner was alert and was off his line quickly to clear the ball.

The Bluebirds first chance of the half fell to Ashford, who received the ball on the edge of a box following a corner but his curling effort went wide of the post.

Congreve then played Ben Lloyd in down the wing for the Swans. The midfielder put in an excellent low ball, but it was well defended by Freddie Cook with white shirts waiting.

Minutes later the Bluebirds had a fantastic chance to equalise when Finlay Johnson met a cross at the back post but struck his effort against the side of the post.

However, the Bluebirds managed to equalise two minutes into added time through Sawyers who saw his low volley beat Watts.

Swansea City Under-21s: Evan Watts, Harrison Ashby (Charles Sagoe Jr 45), Seb Dabrowski, Joel Cotterill, Kian Jenkins, Joe Thomas (Charlie Veevers 79), Azeem Abdulai (Sammy Henia-Kamau 64), Ben Lloyd, Maliq Cadogan, Mitchell Bates, Cameron Congreve (Glory Nzingo).

Unused substitutes: Remy Mitchell.

Cardiff City Under-21s: Matt Turner, Jai Semenyo, Luey Giles, Joel Colwill, Dylan Lawlor (captain), Freddie Cook (Joe Edwards 82), Romaine Sawyers, Cody Twose (Morgan Wigley 66), Callum Robinson (Finlay Johnson 66), Troy Perrett, Cian Ashford.

Unused substitutes: Dakarai Mafico, Joe Thomas.