Preston progressed to the semi finals of the Lancashire FA Youth Cup after dramatically beating Bury 3-1 on penalties at Irongate.

Chris Thompson saved two penalties in the shootout with Michael Aspin, Nathan Fairhurst and Tom McMahon converting their spot kicks.

The game finished 2-2 in normal time with PNE falling behind on two separate occasions due to some suspect defending. But the Lilywhites managed to equalise twice, starting with Ash Higgins' first half chip and then Mark Bloxam's late header.

Shootout hero Thompson was pleased that North End came out on top after their spirited performance in normal time.

"It feels great that we won the penalty shootout," he admitted. "It was hard after going 2-1 down but we dug in and played well."

The game was delayed by 45 minutes due to Bury's team bus being delayed by a serious accident on the M61, but this had little affect on North End who were quickly out of the blocks. With only a minute on the clock, Matty Mainwaring tested Bury goalkeeper Michael Smith, who comfortably got down and saved at his near post. The front pairing of Higgins and Aaron McCarthy looked sharp early on with Higgins dancing his way through the Bury defence, only to be denied by the feet of Smith.

However, North End conceded a debatable penalty after Dominic Collins lost his man and brought him down around the edge of the area, resulting in the referee pointing to the spot. Bury's Ryan Hall scored the resulting penalty and the home side found themselves 1-0 down in the opening 10 minutes.

PNE continued to show some class in the final third with full back Michael Aspin constantly finding space on the right hand side. Higgins was linking up well with Nathan Fairhurst and this combination almost unlocked Bury's defence. Fairhurst played a through ball to Higgins whose powerful shot was denied by the post.

North End continued to press and got their reward in the 28^th minute. Danny Mayor played a through ball to Higgins who found space on the right hand side and spotted Smith off his line before executing a well-crafted chip to level the scores.

This parity was to be short lived though, and three minutes later, PNE found themselves falling behind for the second time in the game. Bury goalscorer Hall played a poor ball into the penalty area but Collins slipped, allowing Chris Mason to put Bury 2-1 up.

In the second half, Adam Barton came on for the injured Dominic Collins and seemed to stabilise the back four. Preston started the half positively and tried to force an equaliser but Bury looked dangerous on the counter attack. In the 54^th minute, Bury had a free kick in a central position, but Thompson pulled off a great double save to keep North End in the tie.

As the home side continued to press, the pressure started to tell with no clear cut chances being created. Manager Jamie Hoyland brought on Tom Smyth and Tom McMahon as his side looked to get back on level terms.

However the equaliser was to come from defender Mark Bloxam in the 82^nd minute. Aspin delivered a well flighted free kick into the crowded penalty area and Bloxam towered above his marker to head in the equalising goal. This determined that the game was going to penalties.

Provider of Bloxam's equaliser, Michael Aspin, took PNE's first penalty and sent Smith the wrong way to put his side 1-0 up in the shootout. Bury pulled it back to 1-1 after Ryan Hall beat Thompson from the spot for the second time in the afternoon. Captain Fairhurst stepped up to take PNE's second penalty and coolly slotted the ball in the bottom right hand corner, sending Smith the wrong way.

After this, Bury failed to score their next two penalties with Thompson saving one from Luke Holmes and then Mason blasted his penalty over the crossbar. Higgins stepped up next for North End and nestled the ball in the bottom right corner. Bury failed to score their next penalty after a great save from Thompson that subsequently put Preston through to the semi final of the cup.

After the game, Jamie Hoyland confessed that he had prepared his players for penalties.

"I am very pleased that the lads held their nerves in the shootout." he revealed.

"Ahead of the game, we had practised penalties in case we got to this stage. In training, the lads have been walking from the halfway line to the penalty spot just to prepare them fully."

Hoyland was also full of praise for his players after falling behind to Bury twice. He said:

"I am pleased with the character displayed by the team today. We had a good first half but unfortunately we got punished by conceding two goals. The first goal shouldn't have been a penalty and the second, Dominic [Collins] tripped and injured himself, so we were unlucky.

"The second half wasn't great on our part but we kept working hard and deserved to get the equaliser to ensure the tie went to penalties. I'm just really glad for the lads and look forward to the semi final."

PNE: Chris Thompson, Michael Aspin, Ray Shearwood, Phil Appiah (Tom McMahon), Mark Bloxam, Dominic Collins (Ciaron Barton), Danny Mayor, Nathan Fairhurst, Matty Mainwaring (Tom Smyth), Ashley Higgins, Aaron McCarthy. Unused Subs: Adam Barton, Chris Rogers.

By Treve Whitford