Preston North End v Sheffield United
Coca-Cola Championship
Saturday 29th March, 3pm kick-off

Final Score: Preston 3 Sheffield United 1 (Davidson 28 pen, Mellor 64, 90; Beattie 87 pen)

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90 + 7 mins: It's all over - great result! A dogged, hard-working performance with no shortage of attacking quality hands three deserved points to the Lilywhites. If 54 points is the safety target, we only need one more, so the fans inside Deepdale believe we're as good as safe. They're loving it, and even have a few kisses blown in their general direction by Kevin Blackwell as he departs down the tunnel. A satisfactory ending to the winter months. Let's just hope it starts to feel like summer some time soon, preferably as soon as next Saturday when we're down at QPR. See you then!

90 + 6 mins: Goal for PNE! End of the whistling. Mellor breaks free from midfield and leaves three men in his wake before firing past a stranded Paddy Kenny. Massive goal. 3-1

90 + 6 mins: The whistling is deafening.

90 + 5 mins: Brown and Jones do their best to keep the ball near the corner flag.

90 + 4 mins: Yellow card - Now Mellor himself is the guilty party for a trip on Kilgallon.

90 + 3 mins: Red card! Morgan is off, his second bookable offence a tug on Mellor who aimed to break past the last line of defence. A moment of justice after a rubbish call moments earlier had handed the Blades a thrown-in fron their own player's nudge into touch.

90 mins: The board goes up - six minutes is the display! Can't work out where that came from, even with the substitutions, penalty and Whaley's knock taken into account. Better grow some nails to chew upon.

90 mins: Hulse turns Quinn's cross over the bar from close range. A very good opportunity missed.

88 mins: Neil Mellor gets the nod as this afternoon's man of the match after a tireless running display - and a fine goal to boot.

87 mins: Goal for Sheffield United! James Beattie sticks the ball into exactly the same spot as Callum Davidson in the first period, with similar venom. A nervy finish awaits. 2-1

86 mins: Penalty to Sheffield United. It looks a very soft call, with either Jones or Mawene responsible for some kind of grapple on Morgan.

83 mins: Substitution for PNE - Whaley is helped off by Radcliffe and Club doctor Jonathan Tobin, so let's hope he's ok. Richard Chaplow is his replacement. Substitution for Sheffield United - at the same time, a final change for the away side, with Keith Gillespie on for Tonge. 

82 mins: Ouch. Whaley goes in for a solid challenge with Kilgallon, only to take a blow to the midriff. There's some concern as the stretcher is rushed on after a call from physio Matt Radcliffe.

81 mins: It was all Sheffield United for about five minutes or so,  but Mellor's break brings that to an end, racing forward and playing in Whaley, who draws another good save from Kenny with a 20-yard shot.

78 mins: The workmen in the Invincibles Pavilion (who persistently abuse their privileges by watching the games for free, tsk) have unearthed an inflatable beach football and are booting it around what will become the new corporate boxes. I suppose they may as well enjoy it while it lasts, but one of them nearly comes to an unfortunate end as his attempt at a cheeky backheel almost causes him to overbalance and clatter down the rows of terracing.

77 mins: Sharp crosses it low, Beattie meets it well, but he can only succeed in striking the supporting post at the back of the goal frame. Beatts can't hide his disappointment, leaping onto the crossbar and hanging onto it like a chav in a park. It's people like him that bend crossbars and ruin amateur football for the rest of us.

76 mins: Another rare glimpse of the sunshine. North End's day is brightening up all the time.

72 mins: Yellow card - Morgan goes into the book, presumably for the earlier challenge on Mellor. It's the first chance the ref has had since it first happened.

71 mins: Should have been 2-1. Hulse dragged the ball back along the six yard line, but Sharp somehow failed to connect, with a similarly inviting return cross from Cotterill missed by just about everyone.

70 mins: Captain Morgan takes out Mellor with a crunching challenge, but the man with the whistle waves play on and Carter tests Kenny with a shot from 20 yards that he takes at the second attempt.

67 mins: Substitution for Sheffield United - it's 3-4-3 for the men in red and white now, with former Evertonian Gary Naysmith replaced by former Evertonian James Beattie.

66 mins: Mawene and Hulse engage in a heated discussion, but the referee must have come up with an excellent one-liner, as their chat comes to an abrupt end as he adds his two-penneth.

64 mins: Goal for PNE! A bit of breathing space after a hectic patch as Mellor breaks clear inside the box from Sedgwick's inside pass, and strikes the ball cleanly inside the near post. Though it does gets a little muddy en route. Probably. 2-0 

63 mins: It's all getting a bit feisty down on the pitch as the crowd noise cranks up in response to a few of referee Clive Oliver's recent decisions (all of them in our favour). Some great build up play from PNE leads to a corner.

60 mins: Nearly a dream start for the sub as he breaks clear and nets from Speed's headed assist, but the flag went up for offside in the aftermath of the final ball.

59 mins: Substitution for Sheffield United - Carney off, Quinn on.

58 mins: A hugely tempting cross is whipped in from the right by Whaley, with the wingers having swapped flanks a few minutes ago, but Brown just couldn't quite stretch his 6'1" frame far enough to connect.

57 mins: Gary Speed smashes a long range free kick low towards the bottom left corner of Lonergan's goal as he looks at it, but Lonners himself sees it very well and gets down to make the block,

55 mins: Mellor tries to curl one in from outside the left hand edge of the penalty area, on his right foot. A little speculative, but not a bad effort as it transpires.

52 mins: A crowd of 14,647 is inside Deepdale today.

50 mins: John Halls tries a pot-shot that drifts harmlessly wide after a solid punch from Lonergan cleared the initial danger from Carney's left wing cross.

47 mins: McKenna squares it to Whaley, whose thumping shot is blocked by Gary Speed's back. He jumps around in a fair bit of pain for a few seconds afterwards.

46 mins: Halls trips Whaley, right on the edge of the box. Free kick.

1603: Substitution for PNE - Whaley makes a belated appearance alongside the away team, but it's the end of the road for the injured Davidson. Coming on at left back is a like-for-like replacement, Matt Hill.

1602: The rest of the North Enders resume their place on the pitch - minus Davidson and Whaley.

1600: One in, one out, as Lonners returns for his customary pre-second half drill with keeping coach Dave Timmins.

1559: Callum heads back down the tunnel - will we see him return?

1558: Callum Davidson is having a bit of a fitness test during the interval to see whether he'll be fit to continue after the re-start.

1551: Chris Lucketti is here to conduct the half-time draw - I thought he'd just moved from the Blades to Southampton on loan? Seems the move may be on hold for the time being.

45 + 2 mins: The half ends to resounding cheers from the home faithful, with Kevin Blackwell demanding a word with the referee. He doesn't get one.

45 mins: A rare sign of some sunshine, though a bit of concern for PNE with Davidson receiving treatment for a blow to his calf. Whatever he's done will feel twice as sore in this weather.

44 mins: Hooray - the pigeon flies off, taking up a similar position in the Town End. Good luck to our friends behind the goal.

42 mins: My colleague Rob now has his hood up. Wise call.

41 mins: Mellor's cross is headed over his own bar by Chris Morgan. The pigeon hasn't brought us any luck yet.

39 mins: Presumably if any of us are unfortunate enough to be targetted by our guest, the resulting dose of luck will mean we'll end up scoring another goal, so maybe we should welcome his (or her) presence.

38 mins: Our confidence is further dented by a colleague who describes it as "a very fat pigeon". If it's not a wasp, it's a pigeon.

37 mins: A pigeon has taken residence on the pipes above our head, and its rear end is continually twitching. Cause for concern all round.

33 mins: Sheffield Wednesday fan Chris Sedgwick tries to twist and turn his way past every single member of his loathed opposition defence, but eventually one of them plucks up the courage to just give the ball a good old whack, and clear the danger.

32 mins: Man of the moment Cal dispossesses Cotterill with a tackle that also secures the resulting thrown-on for PNE. Top stuff.

30 mins: The PNE faithful want another penalty as Brown goes sprawling in a crowded box, but he makes no appeal as he regains his feet, so presumably it was a traditional case of 'six of one, half a dozen of t'other'.

28 mins: Goal for PNE! No messing about from Callum Davidson. It's now an all-time record of two from two for the Scottish left back, who wollops the ball into the top left corner of the Kop End goal. Kenny seemed to go the right way, but he didn't stand a chance. 1-0

27 mins: Aha! No more wittering on about the weather - we have a penalty. Mellor - sent clear by Whaley - is tugged down inside the box by Kilgallon who receives a yellow card. He was the last man, but presumably the ref didn't think Mells was in a shooting position.

25 mins: Only the brave or sadly immobile remain at the front of any of Deepdale's three sides as the rain seems to approach from all directions. I wouldn't be surprised to see the stewards ushering drenched fans theatre-style towards the remaining empty seats at the back of the stand.

23 mins: One of our teamsheets has just blown away, gently caressing the face of our commentator Matt Hardman before jetting off for a new life somewhere near Walton-le-Dale. Even more reason for the hairstyle/boot colour matrix.

19 mins: United's black numbers on red and white stripes were hard enough to read at kick-off, but now the jerseys are starting to get pretty muddy it's near on impossible to tell who's who in a number of cases. We're adopting a hairstyle/boot colour matrix in order to identify the majority of the visitors, so expect future PA announcements to refer to people like "Orange Boots David Cotterill" or "Shaggy Haired One You Might Just Recognise John Halls".

17 mins: North End are just coming into this one nicely, with good build up down the left predominantly involving Whaley and Mellor looking promising.

14 mins: Another contribution from Cotterill - a fine jinking run down the right followed by a neat shot with his left foot, but it drifts away on the breeze.

13 mins: The Blades threaten to cut PNE apart, but Carney's deep cross fails to cause the trouble we might have expected when Cotterill decides to bring it down with his hand.

12 mins: Good noise from the 2,500 or so fans from the Steel City - presumably all that shouting is a good way of keeping warm.

9 mins: Chris Brown curls one towards goal from the edge of the penalty area, but Kenny is equal to the test.

8 mins: I'm still finding it hard to believe that tomorrow is the supposed start of summer. It was warmer when we went to Derby in January than it is today.

6 mins: Mells wins a corner from Kilgallon after the centre half is forced to deny him with a last ditch tackle. The resulting corner is worked to Carter on the edge of the box, and he wasn't far away with one that came very close to grazing the top of the bar.

4 mins: I told you it was blowing a gale, and it nearly had Lonergan beaten in freak circumstances. Whaley shaped to clear from the edge of his own box, only to slice the ball high into the air, with the swirling wind carrying it over the dispairing keeper's head and just narrowly wide of the top corner.

3 mins: Both sides have traded corners so far, with Brown heading over the top from the one granted to PNE. Mells and Kenna have produced a couple of neat touches, and it's blowing a gale. Hope that gives you a nice feel for the opening!

1500: Kick-off, and we're underway.

1459: Another big turnout in the hospitality seats this afternoon - good cash in the back pocket for PNE.

1457: "Deepdale get on your feet!" is the cry, with 22 players and three officials (plus a mascot or two) leading the melee of people that squirt out of the stadium's tunnel at this time every alternate Saturday.

1453: Don't ask me why, but the visiting fans from South Yorkshire have filled the two most central blocks of the Kop, as well as the extreme block to the far side (beneath the ground control box), but they've left one in the middle almost completely empty. It's slowly starting to fill, maybe with a few dozen or so who've decided to make the trip at the last minute and have bought their tickets at the ticket office. 

1451: Brilliant. Adam Catterall is reading the Sheffield United team ridiculously slowly. Or at least that's how he starts. He sacks the idea off halfway through, sprints through the remainder of the teams, and earns a rousing rendition of "Who are ya?!" from the visiting fans. True to form, he tells them.

1448: A roar of approval for the PNE players as they end their warm-up, or should that be cool-down? It's biting here at Deepdale once again. Roll on summer! I can't believe the clocks go forward tonight. Presumably we'll have to start wearing short-sleeved shirts and short trousers from the start of next week. I do anyway, it's the other guys in the office who I feel sorry for, as they don't have the same manic Geordie-like tendancies of my own.

1445: Cameraman Ian, who has now completed filming of his top secret movie (it wasn't based on me after all), makes his way to the back of the Sir Tom Finney Stand, where he points and laughs after spotting Whites World's Matt Morris producing his best Eskimo impression in a bid to stay warm.

1442: The Catt is doing very well not to rise to the bait being dangled in front of him by his microphone colleague Brian, who claims the only reason Andrea is leaving is down to the volume of complaints she's had to deal with this week following the Rock FM breakfast show presenter's efforts last week.

1441: From one PNE stalwart to another. Community manager Andrea Troake is leaving after eight years of sterling service, and is presented with a bocquet of flowers down at pitchside. There's a lot of hugging, kissing, and general sheltering under umbrellas going on.

1440: I've just been informed that it's Chris Sedgwick's 150th league appearance for PNE this afternoon - well done Sedge, one of our unsung heroes of late.

1438: Just looking at the two respective ends of the pitch, where the area where the PNE goalkeepers warm up is considerably muddier than the end currently occupied by Paddy Kenny, which has a flawless covering of grass. I knew Kenny had been shedding weight lately, but I didn't realise he was light enough to float on air.

1432: First appearance of the afternoon from Adam Catterall on the PA, fresh from his public run-in with Burnley fans and local newspaper journalists. I think he's had more coverage than the team this past week, and he dead bats his first microphone cameo of the afternoon despite being encouraged to say something provocative in a cheeky cue from Bri in his announcers' box. He simply applauds a number of local sides (including the PNE girls side) for attaining an award I couldn't quite fathom - something to do with attaining minimum standards and completing CRB checks. Adam, as ever, is accompanied on the pitch by a small child, so I guess the PC brigade will be asking him to undergo a PA announcer's CRB check next.

1430: Just underway on Whites World, with Matt and Rob running through the two teams. Don't forget to tune in now!

1427: A quick change of location, taking up my usual spec at the back of the STFS, to use its abbreviated name, I'm now within earshot of the PA announcements, where Brian Hudson has just warned the owner of a car with its lights on to return to their vehicle "or it may die".

1419: I've just had received a message describing this minute-by-minute coverage as 'legendary'. Clearly some people are very keen on reading about sandwiches and bored camera crews.

1413: Oh of course, I forgot you'd be wanting to know today's teams. Luckily I've just nipped back over to the office where the very first team sheet has just come off the press. It indicates just one change to Preston's starting XI, though no changes to the personnel of the matchday 16. It's a straight swap between Neil Mellor and Tamas Priskin, with the former coming into the starting spaces in place of the latter, who was away on international duty with Hungary in midweek.

The Sheffield United side looks very impressive on paper, with the likes of Paddy Kenny, Rob Hulse, Gary Speed and Billy Sharp likely to pose a threat, while the dangerous James Beattie, Jon Stead and Keith Gillespie lurk on the bench to begin with. However, there's no substitute keeper for the visitors - a policy I like a lot.

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

Sheffield United: Kenny, Naysmith, Morgan, Hulse, Cotterill, Carney, Speed, Kilgallon, Tonge, Halls, Sharp. Subs: Beattie, Stead, Gillespie, Quinn, Ehiogu.

1412: The chicken drumsticks were excellent, thanks for asking.

1332: Rumours of food having arrived start to surface. Must investigate, so expect a 45-minute gap in our supposed minute-by-minute dealings as I seek chicken drumsticks and cheese sandwiches with a serving of side salad.

1328: I'm still based in the main office before preparing my transfer over to the press seats in the Sir Tom Finney Stand (via the press room, where there is food aplenty, or at least until the tubbier members of Her Majesty's Press make their way to the buffet). We've just had a flying visit from Sam and Ian, our Premier League quality film crew for a Championship quality fixture. Apparently they're about to make a top secret movie about a very important PNE fan. Sounds intriguing - and I had no idea they were going to turn the cameras on me today.

1317: Not much happening yet, though I've just come out of a productive meeting to make plans for the CAST Player of the Year Awards. It's raining (quite a bit), but my theory on that is that it'll make the ball zip around really nicely.

1315: Good afternoon all. It's Adrian Ward on minute-by-minute duty this afternoon, so any spilling misteaks will be all my folt. Hopefully there won't be any.