Rovers’ second-half capitulation at Deepdale saw Preston North End pile on the misery in the 107th Lancashire league derby between the sides, that epitomised the cliché of ‘a game of two halves’, as the Blues saw their first-half, two-goal advantage dissolve inside 15 minutes of the second period, as the high-flying now-second placed Lilywhites emerged as 3-2 victors as they extended their unrivalled home form to 10 unbeaten in the league stretching back to the end of last season, whilst Rovers were left to mull over their pitiful form, which left them winless in their last six games.
The Rovers side that made the short 10.6-mile journey to Deepdale saw three changes to the team that stumbled to a defeat away at Birmingham City in midweek. Amari’i Bell, Joe Rothwell and Corry Evans all entered the action at the expense of Lewis Travis, Bradley Johnson and Stewart Downing, as captain Elliott Bennett reverted to a central midfield position to allow Bell – who was making his 50th Rovers start – to take up his usual spot on the left-hand side of defence.
As the atmosphere built in West Lancashire ahead of kick-off with 4,592 Rovers fans packed into the Bill Shankly Kop stand singing at the top of their voices, it was Bradley Dack – in Rovers’ snazzy dark blue third kit – who got the ball rolling.
It took only 27 seconds for those in the away end to turn euphoric, as North End ‘keeper Declan Rudd was officially credited with the goal that came as a result of Sam Gallagher’s brilliant header at goal. From Dack’s kick-off, Rovers managed to retain possession and work the ball out to Bell who did magnificently well to storm down the left-hand side, unchallenged, before chipping in a cross that Gallagher marginally misjudged as the ball skimmed off his head and fell to Adam Armstrong on the right-wing. Gallagher’s narrow miss didn’t phase him, however, as he managed to perfectly connect with Armstrong’s subsequent cross, as the ball hit the post, before trickling into the back of the net via Rudd’s back, as the away side went 1-0 to the good.
On the ninth minute, Preston were offered an opportunity to try and retaliate, as they were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the corner of Rovers’ box, after Bennett had tripped Sean Maguire. Former Rover Paul Gallagher – who scored from a similar position at the other end of Deepdale against Wigan Athletic earlier on in the campaign – tried to see if lightening could strike twice for him, but fortunately for Rovers, Christian Walton was alert enough to deny the former Rover with a parry that gave PNE a corner, which saw the home side continue to apply the pressure. The corner was floated in but was soon cleared out for a throw-in that lead to another cross coming into the Rovers box. That cross by Daniel Johnson landed perfectly for Rovers’ summer target, Patrick Bauer to try and grab his second Preston goal, however Walton was equal to the nod.
From Walton’s save, Rovers countered Preston and managed to surprisingly double their lead as the host’s formidable home run in the league, which stretches back to April 2019 – despite having only lost to Manchester City in this season’s Carabao Cup at Deepdale since the run began – looked seriously at threat by a revitalised Rovers side. Walton’s long punt down field was cleared as far as Tosin Adarabioyo who started a lovely passing move that ended in Dack sliding through Sam Gallagher, who was fortunate to see the ball bounce in his favour off a Preston man. Despite failing to net in his last 27 league games, the out of form forward took this effort brilliantly, as he steadied himself at an angle, before curling his shot past the on-rushing Rudd to double Rovers’ advantage at 2-0.
The 16th minute nearly had Rovers and their fans ecstatic about a third goal after some great pressure by Adam Armstrong nearly crafted the wide striker an opportunity to net. Some nonchalant passing round the Preston backline saw Armstrong use his pace to intercept a pass aimed at Joe Rafferty. Whilst Armstrong’s anticipation was smart, he was unable to get the ball into his stride as his touch to take it away from Rafferty was too heavy, allowing for Rudd to simply come out and claim the ball.
The game continued with Preston doing all they could to try and break down Rovers’ defence, but to no avail.
The next opportunity of note fell to Amari’i Bell, who was having a solid game on his return to the side. After a spell of Rovers possession, Dack found Armstrong who stood up a cross towards the back-post which allowed Bell to steamroll into the box and try his luck with a half-volley. Unluckily for the full-back, he caught his effort quite hastily, as it ballooned over the bar and went behind for a PNE goal-kick.
On the 29th minute, Alex Neil decided that what PNE were doing, wasn’t working, as he decided for a change in style and personnel. Coinciding with the change in style came the introduction of 6’2” centre-forward, Jayden Stockley, who replaced PNE skipper, Paul Gallagher, as the home side decided to go direct in the hope of getting back into the game.
Some sloppy possession by Rovers on the half-hour mark, allowed Preston to craft a half-chance. Alan Browne’s cross from the left-hand side, saw Tom Barkhuizen skilfully touch the ball past Derrick Williams in the area, before his deft dink was headed away by Ryan Nyambe. The ball, however, fell back to the forward whose nod back across goal was well intercepted by Walton, who relieved the pressure with a catch.
Minutes later, Nyambe – who impressed when going forwards throughout the whole game – did well to play the ball down the line into Bennett, who managed to get to the byline and cross the ball in towards Joe Rothwell, but the home defenders read the cross brilliantly, before clearing.
On the 35th minute, Rovers earnt a corner after Armstrong’s powerful run and cutback was cleared behind by the Preston defence. The subsequent set-piece was played in by Rothwell, but headed clear, only as far as Corry Evans who lined up a strike that deflected wide for a corner out on the opposite side, which was subsequently well dealt with by Preston.
Three minutes after Rovers’ flurry forward, Preston had one of their own as they had earnt a free-kick on halfway which Browne bombarded into the box. Andrew Hughes was the North End player that go on the end of the cross as both his nod and then shot, were blocked by Manchester City loanee, Adarabioyo who showed his class, composure and passing ability throughout the whole game.
The first-half soon drew to a close but not before referee Steven Martin added an extra two minutes onto the end of the first period, which mainly came due to Preston’s Hughes receiving treatment in the 41st minute, after he taken a kick earlier on in the half.
With the tense atmosphere around Deepdale, as well as the high expectations considering their state in the league, alongside the added pressure of it being a derby game in which they were losing, Preston boss Alex Neil’s words during the 15-minute break had to be inspiring, if North End were going to salvage something from this game and keep their unbeaten run alive. Despite the Scot altering things during the first-half, with a change after half-an-hour, Neil would have been encouraging his players to keep putting Rovers’ notably frail backline under pressure with balls into Stockley, who would be able to pin down either of Rovers’ centre-halves, in order to make room for the likes of Maguire, Browne and Barkhuizen to operate in.
In the opposite changing room, there would have been cause for delight amongst the Rovers players after their outstanding first-half display had put them two goals to the good, against a side who have been renowned, this season, for dominating the play. Tony Mowbray’s men had come to Deepdale, against all odds, and played Preston off the park after their fast start. Mowbray – who was rumoured to be suffering from a bout of illness – would have been concentrating, during the break, on focussing his players on their duties, reminding them that the game was 90 minutes long and that any Preston goal that may arise due to a lack of concentration, or individual error, could significantly turn the tie in North End’s favour. Despite Mowbray’s words of warning, he would have also made room during his spiel to praise the players for their improved ‘passion, intensity and drive’, which were three of the things Mowbray had called them out on in midweek at Birmingham.
The second-half was restarted by Preston through Browne, as the home crowd would have been praying that their side would put in a performance, similar to that of Rovers in the first-half, in order to not only claim the bragging rights and keep their streak alive, but to cement themselves as a real candidate for promotion, in the division.
Preston soon lost the ball, on the 46th minute, which allowed Rovers to hit them on the break, as they attacked the stand that housed the Rovers fans. Evans intercepted a Ben Pearson pass before feeding Dack on halfway, who backheeled the ball into the path of Bennett, who stormed into the Preston half, with only Gallagher for support. The midfielder found the goalscorer, who drove into the box via the left inside channel, before being tackled by Bauer, who conceded a corner in the process. The corner, taken by Rothwell, was cleared out to Evans who floated a ball back in towards Dack, who crossed the ball in from the right-hand side at the second-attempt, in towards Williams, whose eventual back-post header skewed wide from just on the line of the six-yard box.
The momentum began to shift after 50 minutes as Preston began to finally find their feet in this cagey affair. A calculated long-ball by Darnell Fisher, was flicked on by Stockley, into the path of Browne, whose first-time half-volley was well parried by Walton who was forced to concede a corner, that Rovers dealt with.
The optimism from the away was soon shot, on the 53rd minute, after a catastrophic error by Christian Walton, allowed for Preston to grab a goal back and allow their crowd to re-ignite the stale home atmosphere. Johnson found Fisher who delivered a deep floated cross which looked like a simple catch for the 6’5” Rovers ‘keeper. Walton, however, failed to correctly judge the flight of the ball, opting to leave it, which left his goal wide open. The shortest player on the field, Preston’s Sean Maguire, did extremely well to get in behind Rovers’ defenders and keep the ball alive with a nod that found Tom Barkhuizen, who only had to guide the ball into the net with his head to reduce the arrears at 2-1 in order to give Preston a route back into the game.
With the crowd on their side, Preston’s tails were up as they continued to bombard Rovers in the hope that they could draw level. Barkhuizen and Stockley did well to combine, with the former playing a one-two with the latter, who tried his luck from range, with a low volley that Walton comfortably held onto.
The Preston pressure soon gave them the opportunity to draw level, as on the 65th minute, the hosts were awarded their sixth penalty of the campaign – the highest in the league – after some dreadful defensive errors by Rovers culminated in Elliott Bennett hauling down Alan Browne in the box. A goal-kick by Rudd was flicked on by Stockley after seemingly pushing Adarabioyo in the back. The flick was then poorly dealt with by Williams, who himself, flicked the ball towards Rovers’ goal, which left Browne on the run with Bennett alongside him. The Irish midfielder took full advantage of Bennett’s presence by forcing a foul from the Rovers captain, which gave the referee no choice but to point offer Preston the chance to draw level. After the defenders were cleared and Daniel Johnson finally decided to take his run up after what seemed like an eternity – and was easily 30 seconds of real time – the Jamaican coolly dispatched his penalty to the bottom left-hand corner of the goal to draw Preston level, keep their league penalty record for the season at 100% and grab his eighth of the campaign, as the scores were drawn level at 2-2.
Soon after the goal, Rovers pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but ended up conceding a free-kick near the Preston box, after Rudd and Gallagher collided contesting a 50/50 ball, which left the Rovers forward with a booking.
On the 71st minute, Rovers had a penalty shout of their own as Tosin Adarabioyo was slammed down to the floor by Patrick Bauer, after Joe Rothwell had floated in a free-kick that the centre-back was forced to head wide under the challenge. Although the Rovers players and the stand-load of fans behind the goal were incandescent, the official waved play on.
10 minutes later, Rothwell and Armstrong combined well, with the former teeing up the latter for an effort from just outside the penalty area. Although Armstrong hoped to replicate the goal, he had scored at Reading a few weeks back, his first-time effort lacked the accuracy, despite him having time for a touch to steady himself and figure out the angle, as it zoomed behind for a goal-kick.
The nail was finally put into the coffin, on the 82nd minute as far as Rovers were concerned, as Preston capped off a great second-half with an even better finish by Tom Barkhuizen, against the general run of play of the few minutes prior. Another long goal-kick by Rudd was again brought down by Stockley, into the path of Browne, who found a free Barkhuizen creeping into the penalty area from the left-hand side. The former Blackpool man shaped his body, before running in and swiftly hitting the ball first-time, past Walton, into the far side-netting to send the home crowd into madness, as the comeback was complete at 3-2.
With any momentum Rovers had had prior to the third goal gone, Tony Mowbray decided to throw on Danny Graham, on the 84th minute, in a last-gasp attempt to try and salvage something from the game, as the forward replaced the underwhelming Joe Rothwell.
Bradley Dack’s frustrations soon became evident on the 87th minute as he gave away a central free-kick after clattering Pearson from behind, whilst also picking up a booking for his troubles. The free-kick nearly led to a fourth for Preston, as Darnell Fisher’s sweetly struck knuckleball tested Walton who did well to tip it over for a corner that Rovers cleared.
As four minutes of added time were called for by the official, Steve Martin, Preston made their second – and final – change of the afternoon in an attempt to eat up some time and edge them closer to a victory, as Sean Maguire departed, with Brad Potts coming on to replace him.
With the four minutes being uneventful, it didn’t take long for the curtain to come down on the eventful 107th Lancashire league derby, which had seen an emotional rollercoaster play out at Deepdale, as Preston emerged 3-2 victors. The tie ultimately ended up being an affair that Rovers failed to come out of with a positive result, leaving them, and their fans bitterly disappointed to not have regained the bragging rights, especially after leading at the break.
As the Blues now notch six games without having tasted victory – with the last coming in the 2-1 defeat of Reading in late September – it leaves many head scratching and wondering what is to be done regarding this dismal run of form. Whilst it is known that Rovers’ Achilles’ heel in recent years have been their defence, it would be safe to admit that the second-half performance was unacceptable, as the players returned from their 15-minute break, almost void of ideas and of fitness. Although the game proved to be a suitable reaction, following the disastrous performance at Birmingham City in the week, it unfortunately wasn’t enough to keep Rovers’ spirits high and kill off the poor run of form that is now starting to shadow that of last season, which started with the 5-2 defeat away at Brentford, in last February. From the perspective of someone who was stood in the away end yesterday, gawking at the almost laughable – but sadly almost predictable – events that had just unfolded, one thing that caught the eye of many a supporter was the lack of freshness and change within the side as the game wore on, which completely contrasted that of Preston. Although it looked evident, before – and soon after – Preston had got themselves back in it at 2-1, that a Rovers change was necessary – whether to simply add fresher legs or to slow the game down and kill Preston’s momentum – this idea was not reciprocated by the bench, which frustrated many even more, when it took until going 3-2 down to provoke the introduction of Danny Graham, who should have – in all honesty – been thrown on at 2-1. Although there were positives from the first-half performance which shouldn’t be ignored, the lack of continuity into the second period killed any hope of Rovers salvaging something from the affair, which is now proving to be a ritual, rather than a one-off for the Blues. With wanting to stay clear of the ‘Tony Mowbray Hokey Cokey’, it’s fair to admit that, whatever side of the fence you stand, the game management in this affair has every right to be questioned.
After the derby day battering extended the winless run to six, both in the league, and against Preston, the league table doesn’t offer any solace for the fans, especially after the likes of Hull City and Millwall – both of whom started the day below Rovers – had picked up victories against Derby County and Stoke City, respectively. The Sunday night table sees Rovers languishing down in 17th with 15 points and a -4-goal difference from the 14 games played, which, coupled with a concerning seven losses – 11 less than the whole of last season – doesn’t make for comfortable reading.
Looking beyond the negativity of yesterday, Rovers now continue their ‘tour of the top six’ with two games in as many weeks ahead of the second international break of the season, which sees the Championship action pause on Sunday 10th November, before resuming on Friday 22nd November. The Blues’ next fixture sees them return to Ewood Park to host a revitalised Sheffield Wednesday side, who come to Lancashire on Saturday 2nd November at 3pm, looking to extend their good run of form against the Blues, with Wednesday having won four of the last five against Rovers. Once Garry Monk’s side depart Ewood, Rovers then take on the mammoth challenge of Leeds United at Elland Road a week later, on Saturday 9th November at 3pm, with the hopes that they can go to Yorkshire and produce a performance that could shake the league up against a side who are most people’s favourites for the title. Once the international break comes and goes, Rovers host newly-promoted Barnsley back at Ewood Park, on Saturday 23rd November, looking to avoid falling susceptible to the ‘new manager bounce’, as the currently managerless side would have hoped to have secured a permanent appointment by the time the break is over.
