Birmingham 1-3 PNE

Match images here

North End were back on the road once again, this time an away trip to Wolves via Birmingham. The lads all met on the Deepdale car park ready for the 7:00am set off.

Everyone was onboard and ready to go. The journey took just over two and half hours to get to Birmingham, with a little help from Ash's SAT NAV.

On arrival the lads had a quick talk with manager Steve before heading off to the changing rooms. The North End players got dressed ready for the big match.

The starting eleven was pick:-

Chris in goal with Atky, Alex, Steve and Dan playing in defence. Lewis, Mike, Pete and Potter played across the midfield with Allan and Andy up front.

North End were looking for a good start, which they certainly got. Straight from kick-off Dan received the ball from Steve who played a neat ball with his left foot down the left flank.

Andy skipped past the B'ham defenders with ease then ran on to fire home after just 16 seconds. This was a great start for Preston, the fastest ever IFA goal?

Preston looked the organized outfit that they had been working on in training. North End took the game to B'ham early on looking to build on Andy's early opener.

Birmingham gradually clawed their was back into the first half, creating some good chances with failed to beat Chris in goal. It was end to end football, as Preston looked to double their advantage.

Preston could of doubled their lead midway through the first half. Allan had two chances straight after each other, Allan with five goals to his name couldn't find with net.

The best chance for Allan came when the ball bounced inside the box, but he failed to get a clean contact on the ball. Lewis also had a couple of chances at goal, both efforts were cleared off the line after some smart play from the right winger.

The North End defence were holding tight, most attacks from B'ham were dealt with in good fashion. Dan made a good clearance off the line to keep Preston in the match. North End finally doubled their lead towards the end of the first half.

Andy was played through on goal, he out paced the B'ham defender who hacked him down inside the 18 yard box. Pete stepped up to take the resulting penalty.

Pete made no mistake from the spot, placing a good penalty into the bottom left corner. Watch Pete's sixth goal for the team here.

The first half came to end end, the score line staying at 2-0. Preston started the second half well, the starting eleven keeping their place on the pitch. The match pressed on with some good chances going to both teams.

B'ham gained consecutive corners but failed to find the net with their second half pressure. North End rode B'ham's possession to claw themselves back into the match. Ash, Stewart, Dan all came on with 20 minutes to play.

Ash made an immediate impact causing the B'ham defenders problems with his neat ball control. It was Ash who almost carved out North End's third goal setting up Potter on the left flank.

Eventual man of the match, Potter got his shot away but it didn't beat the B'ham sub keeper. Preston did eventually scored a their third goal, Andy picking up his brace for the afternoon.

The ball was played up field towards Andy who was in an advanced position. The ball skimmed off a B'ham player for Andy to latch onto dinking the ball over the keeper to make the score 3-0 to the whites.

Jimmy and Des came on soon after. Birmingham City managed to score a consolation goal. Jimmy in goal miss timed his run for the ball to find the Preston net.

Des had a glorious chance to give Preston their three goal cushion back. The sub striker found himself inside the box, Des hit the ball on the half volley with forced the B'ham keeper to make a fine save.

Mike then went on to have a few shots on goal. Mike returning from injury failed to hit the back of the net from a few attempts. It was a wonderful performance from the Preston players, who currently sit at the top of league.