The Southend weekender was finally here, everyone was well up for this one. We all met at North End, in the early hours of Saturday morning, 3am to be precise.

The team made a stop off at Wembley stadium, to have a look at England’s new ground and to take some pictures. We finally arrived at our destination, where we due to play West Ham.

After being briefed by manager Steve Cowell, the lads were all set for the big match that awaited them. Everyone got changed ready for the match to get underway. The first half was a very tense affair. Due to the lengthy drive down south it took Preston 15-20 minutes to get a foothold in the match.

Both sides created some good chances, both keepers doing well to keep a clean sheet in the half hour. Preston started to get more possession as they looked to break the deadlock. West Ham, proved to be one of the best opponents this campaign. West Ham should have taken the lead, only for stand in keeper Jimmy to pull off an amazing save.

The Hammers striker got a sight on goal, released his shot only for Jimmy to somehow get a big hand on it to palm the ball away. Preston also had some glorious chances towards the end of the first half when Andy was quality of missing a free header at the back post.

Preston started the second half in good fashion, getting more of the ball in the correct places. West Ham still was giving Preston a tough game which was going to take a top goal to open the scoring. North End’s possession started to pay as they put the hosts on the back foot.

The breakthrough was finally broken, midway through the second half. Chris Chambers picked up the ball with his back to goal, flicked the ball up then turned and fired the ball home. What a goal, reminiscence of Mido’s goal for Tottenham. Preston was now in the ascendancy, upping the tempo of the match.

Jimmy was at it again in the Preston goal. Jimmy again made another great save, diving to his left to get a finger tip on the ball to steer it round the post. West Ham gave Preston a slight scare here, which pumped them back up.

Preston grabbed a two goal cushion, with a real team goal. Preston won the ball back in midfield as Matty broke free. The ball was played down the flank then back across goal. Jason advanced at the perfect moment, to smash the ball home at the back post, cue celebrations from the players.

Preston found them selves in a good position, but West Ham still caused a threat. That threat was put into action when the Hammers pulled a goal back. The West Ham striker somehow found himself in on goal with no defenders in sight. Jimmy made a good initial save but couldn’t do anything with the rebound, as it hit the back of the net.

North End upped the tempo once again, the next goal being crucial to the final outcome of this match. North End broke free again down the left flank. Matty did well to carry the ball down the flank. Matty waited for Preston bodies to get into the box, then crossed the ball into the danger area.

Preston would have had an easy tap in, only for a West Ham defender to poke the ball into his own goal. This goal effectively killed the game off. Both sides battled through the final ten minutes of the game, no change to the score line as Preston won the match 3-1.

This was a brilliant performance from the whole team, starting players and subs. This was taking into account we had been up for many hours before kick-off. North End could now look forward to tomorrows match against Aston Villa.

Managers report

40 years of hurt went into this match. Relying on the first team to eradicate the memories of 1964 and 2005 had proved futile. So it was left to the Fans Team to finally remove the stigma of those two sickening defeats.

With the game kicking of at 11am on the 11 day of the 11th month the exact time the guns fell silent on the Western Front both side stood together in silence for 1 minute to honour the soldiers who died and fought in that Great War.

West Ham playing in their traditional colours of claret and blue kicked off and you could see right away that they wanted this game just as badly as the Preston team wanted it. West Ham had strong physical players who were mobile and had a good first touch. Numerous times during the first quarter the Preston team were stretched only to be bailed out by Preston man of the match Little Ash.

All the training and roll playing came together as Little Ash came across from his left back position on at least 4 occasions and got vital tackles in at crucial moments. His awareness and mobility meant Preston went in at half time with their goal still in tacked. Everybody had pulled their weight in that first half but we were just getting caught in possession a few to many times.

The two touch football which we have spent a lot of time doing in training was mentioned to the lads as the way forward. West Ham now had the wind and the slope advantage but Preston got hold of the game right from the off and it was them who broke the deadlock. Chris Chambers finally got the breakthrough for us. His cross shot somehow sneaking under the body of the diving West Ham Keeper.

Preston were now in the ascendance and after a superb driven cross by Andy Dodwell Preston went 2-0 in front, his driven cross being driven home with aplomb by his younger brother Jason. Cue wild celebration by the Preston North End lads.

West Ham rolled their sleeves up and for the first time really pegged Preston back and it was no surprise when they grab a goal back.

Preston were now getting nervous and it was showing in their play as they more than once snatched at the ball were before they were controlling their passing. But Preston strength down the flanks finally won the game for them as Matty driven cross was put into his own net by a West Ham player who had little chance to avoid the cross. A few nervy moments near the end for the Preston team but they hung on, to, in their eyes finally put the record straight.