Preston North End's dreams of progressing to the last 32 in the FA Youth Cup were shattered after a 3-1 defeat away against Birmingham City on Wednesday night.

The Academy side proved to be the better team despite the Lilywhites creating a whole host of chances in the second half.

However, it was not until two minutes from the end that PNE managed to find the net through Michael Conchie, which was effectively nothing more than a consolation.

Birmingham snatched their first goal inside four minutes. After Mark Bloxam had blocked a shot by Jack Rutter, Jamie Sheldon picked up the rebound, narrowly placing his shot inside the far post.

In the opening exchanges, the Blues took every opportunity they had to fire towards goal and luckily for PNE, quite a few efforts fell off target.

At the other end, Phil Appiah had Preston's first shot on target on 11 minutes. It was to prove an eventful first half for the midfielder as he came off a little worse for wear after a challenge with a Birmingham player a short time later. The game was held up for a few minutes as he received treatment from the physio but the midfielder insisted on staying on the pitch.

Appiah had his name taken by the referee further into the half, after giving away the penalty that lead to Birmingham's second goal.

When Mike Aspin cleared the ball against his own woodwork, the hosts won the ball back and as Preston used all their powers to block the shot, Appiah's challenge resulted in the referee pointing to the spot.



Moses Garvey, the St. Kitts & Nevis U21 International, never hesitated and placed the ball neatly inside Chris Thompson's left post.

Birmingham made several further attempts to round PNE's defence but were struggling when they came up against a defender in the calibre of Dominic Collins. The young centre-back didn't give them a single inch, setting his standards very high throughout the game.

Danny Mayor created an opportunity for Ashley Higgins but the striker could not find a good finish after his well timed run.

On 37 minutes, coach Hoyland replaced Appiah as his earlier clash caught up with him. Feeling a little dazed, he was unable to carry on with Tom McMahon taking his place in midfield.

Tom Smyth won a free-kick at the edge of the box for Preston which nearly brought the Lilywhites back into the match. Nathan Fairhurst latched on to a Matty Mainwaring set piece, but the skipper - coming in from behind - couldn't control his finish.

Collins' solid defending denied Sheldon another goal for the hosts and Fairhurst had a go at a set piece, but the score remained 2-0 at the break.

Coach Jamie Hoyland must have said some inspiring words at half time as an improved Preston side entered the pitch following the interval. The overall attitude seemed different and when Birmingham did make it through, Thompson showed his authority.

First, he tipped a shot out to corner and then he denied Birmingham's Sheldon from scoring another. The striker came one-on-one with Thompson but the keeper confidently rushed out to claim the ball.

Preston put immense pressure on Birmingham during a ten minute spell - their best period of the game - forcing four corners. Tom Smyth, Aspin, Higgins and Fairhurst came real close as PNE did everything but find the net.

Instead, the Academy side scored against the run of play on 52 minutes. Aspin tried to match the pace of Dean Lea but failed to stop him from setting up Ashley Sammons who blasted the ball into the net.

Despite Birmingham scoring the important third goal, the Lilywhites didn't give up. Ten minutes later, Arran McCarthy - who had come on for Smyth - squandered from close range as Preston had to wait for their goal.



Thompson was determined he was not going to let anything further inside his posts and made several quality saves in the remainder of the game.

Preston created another chance following a neat build up involving Fairhurst, McMahon and Mainwaring but goalkeeper Dean Lyness saw off Ray Shearwood's shot.

It was substitute Michael Conchie who finally found the net but the goal came in the 88th minute and proved to be only a consolation. Conchie also had a clear cut chance in the closing minute but failed to double his tally.

Dominic Collins was by far Preston's man of the match, but Chris Thompson also impressed in front of Birmingham's manager Alex McLeish.

PNE: Chris Thompson, Mike Aspin, Dominic Collins, Mark Bloxam, Ray Shearwood, Danny Mayor, Phil Appiah (Tom McMahon 37), Nathan Fairhurst, Matty Mainwaring, Tom Smyth (Arran McCarthy 55), Ashley Higgins (Michael Conchie 69).

Bookings
PNE: Phil Appiah (26).
Birmingham: Shaun Timmins (87).

By Frida Larsson