Preston send Burnley packing
Preston beat The Dingles 2-0 to further enhance their promotion prospects and dent Burnley`s chances of staying up. It was the 122nd derby between the two teams and one of importance to both teams.
Preston stayed with a 4-4-2 formation, with the only change being Ormerod in for Ricketts.
PNE line up: Lonergan, Alexander, Chilvers, St.Ledger, Hill, Songo`o, Sedgwick, Davidson, Pugh, Ormerod, Nugent.
Burnley line up: Coyne, Duff, Caldwell, Harley, McCann, Djemba Djemba, O`Conner, Jones, Elliot, Akinbiyi, Lafferty.
From the first five minutes, you would`ve thought it was Preston in relegation trouble and Burnley pushing for promotion because the yellows where causing all sorts of problems. Lafferty had a golden opportunity with a header at the back post. He did as well as he could be no one would`ve pictured Lonergan pulling out the save. Steve Jones also had another amazing chance only for Lonergan to defy the odds once again.
After ten minutes, Preston evened the game out, with Davidson and Sedgwick starting to string some passes together and keep possession. Nugent and Songo`o were troubling Harley down the right with their lightening pace.
With no clear cut opportunities, the next action to take note of was the first booking. This went to Burnley`s Chris McCann at centre half. He brought down Ormerod inside Preston`s half when Preston were looking to counter attack.
Shortly afterwards, Preston took the lead, silencing the Burnley fans, whilst most of Deepdale went ecstatic. Sedgwick played a beautiful ball to Ormerod who chested down for England prodigy Dave Nugent to power home from 10 yards. It was Nugent`s 16th goal of the season and it will do nothing to hamper his England chances.
Preston 1-0 Burnley: Nugent
Soon after the goal, St.Ledger got flattened by Elliot and the challenge deserved at least a booking if not a red card. He somehow got away with nothing. Lonergan was forced into a couple more good saves, preventing Jones and collecting some free kicks.
Preston then had a counter attack with 4 on 3 in Burnley`s defence. Davidson was powering into the defenders but with Pugh screaming for the ball to his left, he struck the ball only to see it go narrowly wide.
Before the half time whistle, Sedgwick forced Coyne into a good save whilst Coyne also had to push the ball over the bar after a flick from one of his defenders. Preston certainly had the initiative towards the end of the first half.
Half time: Preston 1-0 Burnley
One minute into the second half, Duff was booked for a late tackle on Pugh. And with two minutes gone, Burnley made a change with centre back Caldwell coming off for Graham Branch, meaning Burnley changed to a 4-3-3 formation.
Songo`o and Nugent continued to cause problems down the right and Harley got frustrated, leading to a yellow for hacking down Songo`o, who was improving as the game went on.
Soon after, Deepdale was briefly silenced as Branch hit a looping effort which beat Lonergan but was cleared off the bar. Pugh whipped in a corner, which Hill missed an open net, which would`ve seen him score his first ever Preston goal. However the ball Hill tried to latch onto was a difficult one
On 60 minutes, Preston captain Graham Alexander was the first Lilywhite into the book, a foul on Jones whilst Elliot was booked for a foul on Pugh. Burnley started to make signs of coming back into the game which prompted Paul Simpson into a tactical change, replacing the impressive Songo`o with Agyemang and changing to a 4-3-3 with Paddy on the right and Nugent on the left.
Agyemang was an instant impact! Nugent found space on the left and cut inside. He unselfishly squared to Agyemang who was unmarked and with his first two touches he fired past Coyne.
Preston 2-0 Burnley: Agyemang
Burnley made a change by replacing O`Conner with Spicer but the substitution didn`t work as Burnley failed to make any real openings. Djemba Djemba went closest with a free kick but it grazed the bar and went over. Before the free kick, Ormerod was replaced by Dichio and after the free kick, Sedgwick came off for Nowland, who has just returned from breaking his leg 15 months ago. A fitting way to come back, in a derby as a Preston lad.
Full time: Preston 2-0 Burnley
Player Ratings
Andy Lonergan
8
Graham Alexander
6
Liam Chilvers
8
Sean St.Ledger
7
Matthew Hill
8
Franck Songo’o
7
Chris Sedgwick
7
Callum Davidson
7
Danny Pugh
7
Brett Ormerod
7
David Nugent
7
Agyemang
7
Dichio
Not enough time for a rating
Not enough time for a rating
