Preston North End v Burnley
Coca-Cola Championship
Saturday 22nd March, 1pm kick-off

Fina lScore: Preston 2 Burnley 1

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90+ 3 mins - It's there! Referee Uriah Rennie blows the final whistle and North End have another crucial three points. It's now five games unbeaten for the Lilywhites. A great performance by the lads.

90 + 3 mins - Clarke Carlisle is dismissed in the last few seconds for a late tackle on Sean St Ledger. Rennie had no hesitations in showing him a straight red card.

90 + 2 mins - What a defensive header by Sean St Ledger! Robbie Blake stood up a cross but Ledge stuck his head out to knock it to safety.

90 mins - Three minutes of stoppage time are indicated by the fourth official.

88 mins - A late scare for Preston as Youl Mawene nearly guides the ball into his own net, however his flick header misses the post by a yard or two.

85 mins - Brian reads out the official attendance which 16,149 and informs the spectators that Paul McKenna is today's choice of man-of-the-match.

84 mins - Neil Mellor fires into the side netting from an acute angle. It was his only real option as no other attackers had raced into the penalty area.

81 mins - Grezza plays a good ball into Andy Cole, the former Manchester United man takes it down, fires in a shot but it is blocked by Darren Carter.

80 mins - Sedgwick skips over a Jon Harley tackle and looks to play the ball into the feet of Neil Mellor but it's cut out by Caldwell. Kenna lets his team mate know that he was the better option with a few words of advice.

75 mins - Brave goalkeeping by Lonners who dives at the feet of Ade Akinbiyi to claim the ball. He's took a knock but is fine with the big forward seemingly coming off the worst of the two.

73 mins - Burnley's third and final change is Joey Gudjonsson who is on for James O'Connor. Simon Whaley is down injured after being trod on by a couple of Burnley men. It was quite a comical incident but I'm sure the North End wide-man won't see it that way.

68 mins - The linesman manages to annoy almost every Preston supporter inside Deepdale when he flags for offside a good five or six seconds late. Both teams make a change with Owen Coyle deciding to introduce Andy Cole into the game for Kyle Lafferty whilst Alan Irvine replaces Tamas Priskin with Neil Mellor, who is fresh from two goals in the reserves last Monday.

64 mins - Ironic cheers from  the North End support as Robbie Blake's set piece is placed perfectly into the Kop. Perfect that is if he was aiming there!

60 mins - Sedgwick shows a great piece of skill to weave in off his wing and dodge two Burnley tackles. The ball is there for striking, which he duly does but it's on his weaker left foot and it's high and wide.

57 mins - Clarke Carlisle makes a fine sliding tackle on Chris Brown inside his own penalty area. If he had mistimed it in the slightest then North End surely would have had claims for a spot-kick.

56 mins - Goal for Preston! Chris Brown restores the lead for PNE with his first goal at Deepdale. Burnley failed to clear Paul McKenna's inswinging corner, Billy Jones was amongst the melee of bodies scrapping for the ball before it rebounded out to Brown who slotted home from six yards out.

49 mins - Caldwell makes a crucial interception from Darren Carter's pass and sets the Clarets away on a counter attack. The ball finds its way out to Lafferty who knocks it back for McCann but the midfielder drags his shot wide.

47 mins - Kyle Lafferty drifts in off his left flank and across the pitch to earn the first corner of the second half. Nothing comes of it apart from a lot of pushing around with Uriah Rennie promptly awarding a free-kick to the Lilywhites.

46 mins - Paul McKenna and Tamas Priskin get the second period underway. Burnley have made one change at the break with Steven Caldwell coming on to replace David Unsworth.

45 + 2 mins - Whaley clips a cross in down the left but no North End attacker had made a run to the near post and Jensen dives on the ball, It's the last real goalmouth action of the half and Uriah Rennie blows for half time moments later.

45 mins - Two minutes of injury time signalled by the fourth official.

43 mins - Brian Jensen makes a meal of Darren Carter's left footed volley from 20 yards out, flying to his right to comfortably claim the midfielder's sliced strike. Certainly one for the cameras!

39 mins - Youl Mawene is booked after tugging back Ade Akinbiyi.

37 mins - Goal for Burnley! James O'Connor's relatively tame strike from the edge of the area drifts through a number of North End bodies before landing in the corner of the net past Andy Lonergan. One can only presume it took a wicked deflection to wrong foot the Preston keeper.

32 mins - Up the other end and Burnley almost level in a swift counter attack. Lonergan, cautious of the on rushing Ade Akinbiyi, punches clear but it lands straight at the feet of Wade Elliott. The right-winger tries a first time lob 30 yards out, from up here in the press box it looks as though it is destined to land in the unguarded goal, however it just floats wide of the post. Nervous moments.

31 mins - Priskin can't bag his second of the afternoon when he opts to sidefoot having been given a clear run on goal. In fairness, it's another good save by Jensen who stood tall before pushing the PNE number 25's attempt round his left-hand post.

29 mins - Simon Whaley shows great pace to keep Sedgwick's long ball in play before whipping in a deep cross on which unfortunately evades all the North End attackers.

25 mins - Lonergan acrobatically saves Robbie Blake's testing effort from distance, tipping it over the bar. He follows it up by confidently claiming Wade Elliott's resulting corner kick.

24 mins - No second chance for Alexander, he is the first player in Rennie's book after again being adjudged to have fouled Simon Whaley. Grezza's not happy but his protests fall on deaf ears.

23 mins - Andy Lonergan saves with legs to deny the nippy Wade Elliott.

16 mins - Blake should have levelled but instead of hitting the target, he hammers his shot high into the Town End. A genuine chance wasted after Akinbiyi had done well to win a header. A frantic start to the afternoon in the opening 15 minutes!

14 mins - Alexander brings his old team mate Simon Whaley down but referee Uriah Rennie opts to keep his yellow card in his pocket and just gives Grezza a ticking off.

12 mins - Priskin and Brown both fal to make the most of great chances to make it 2-0. The Hungarian was away, one-on-one after latching onto a great through ball by Sedgwick but Jensen produced a great save. As the ball bounced out, Chris Brown blazed wide with the keeper out of position.

11 mins - Simon Whaley, unmarked on the edge of the box drills in a shot which is blocked by a host of Burnley defenders.

8 mins - Chris Brown almost doubles North End's lead, towering to head Chris Sedgwick's deep cross. He forced a good save from Jensen who turned it around for a corner.

5 mins - Goal for Preston! - Tamas Priskin opens his North End account with a precise finish from the edge of the area, curling his effort past the outstretched left hand of Brian Jensen. The Hungarian striker composed himself after capitalising on Clarke Carlisle's poor clearance, giving Preston an early advantage.

2 mins - Ade Akinbiyi barges St Ledger to the ground inside North End's six yard box. That' surely going to spice matters up a little! Ledge is forced to leave the pitch for a few moments, he looks rather groggy but returns after a minute or two.

1pm - Events are underway...

12.57pm - Paul McKenna and Graham Alexander line up in the centre circle for the coin toss. Kenna admitted this week that it would be a 'bit weird' but the pair, who were former room mates are sharing a little joke before they go through the usual handshakes and photographs.
 
12.50pm - As expected, Grezza gets a fantastic reception from the North End supporters. As he jogged back towards the Alan Kelly Town End, the whole stand stood up and applauded the former PNE skipper. The teams haven't been read out by Adam yet but he is sure to get another cheer when his name is read out over the tannoy.

12.45pm - Since the last home game a week and a half ago, the builders working on the Invincibles Pavilion have really kicked-on. Nearly all the cement slabs for the seats are in place and it also looks like the interior is starting to take shape too. I can't wait for next season when the work is done and the transformation of Deepdale is complete.

12.32pm - It's been bizarre weather in this part of Lancashire this morning. About half an hour ago there was a torrential hail and sleet shower but now it's completely changed and pitch is bathed in sunshine.

12.25pm - Jack Kay, a legend within the North End office, is out and about handing out a few teamsheets. Jack recently celebrated his 65th birthday so I thought I'd give him a belated mention on here -many happy returns Jack!

12.20pm - Marketing Manager Andy Pomfret informed me earlier that it looks like there could be 16,000 or so spectators packed inside Deepdale today. Burnley have sold out their allocation of 3,100 tickets with the North End locals turning out in their droves too.

12.15pm - The teams are in and as expected, Alan Irvine has named the same starting XI from the draw at Blackpool. There is one change on the bench with Neal Trotman missing out for Richard Chaplow who is given the opportunity to possibly feature against his old club. Former North End full-back Graham Alexander skippers the Clarets.

Preston: Lonergan, Davidson, St Ledger, Mawene, Jones, Sedgwick, McKenna (c), Carter, Whaley, Brown, Priskin (Subs: Chaplow, Hill, Lewis Neal, Chris Neal, Mellor)

Burnley: Jensen, Alexander (c), Harley, Carlisle, O'Connor, Akinbiyi, Elliott, McCan, Lafferty, Blake, Unsworth (Subs: Kiraly, Caldwell, Gudjonsson, Mahon, Cole)

12.15pm - Hello and welcome to  Deepdale for this second Lancashire derby in quick succession. After the stalemate at Bloomfield Road last Saturday, North End return to their home patch as they look to continue their fine four match unbeaten streak. It's Robert Urbani at the helm of the laptop providing all the news from on-and-off the pitch as and when it happens.