Another injury time goal changed the course of a Preston game but this time it was the opposite as a Mark Roberts goal in the 94th minute gave Stevenage a share of the points in a game in which Preston deserved to come away with all three points. A 10th goal of the season for Iain Hume seemed to have given the away team the points until Roberts late intervention.
On Graham Westleys first return to his former club since leaving for Preston in January, Preston gave probably their most assured performance since he took charge of he club and dominated the game for long periods of the game with Stevenage rarely threatened apart from long range shots which often ended up high and wide in the stands, more often than not the ball had to be replaced because the old one ended up out of the ground, I counted 9 times that his happened and more often than not it was a Stevenage player who had kicked it out. It was also a first start for David Gray since the defeat to Yeovil in January and he had a very good game and linked up very well on the flank with Paul Coutts who also had his best game of 2012. For the first time he actually looked like he cared about wearing the shirt and despite being on the wing he played very well and caused their right back all sorts of problems throughout the game. It's about time we saw a good performance from Coutts and he showed yesterday that he is capable of good performances and hopefully he carries on this form between now and the end of the season
You could tell that Stevenage used to be managed by Westley. They were a physical side who tried their best to stop Preston from playing football by any means necessary, the high amount of fouls shows this. For most of their game their tactic was simply to hoof it up to former PNE star Patrick Agyemang who isn't the sort of player who would thrive under those sort of tactics. Typical Westley tactics like having everyone back for a set piece were also evident from the home team, however even Westley didn't use this which shows a willingness to be proactive and it almost paid off. Preston actually played attractive football at times with the wingers having a big part in the game with both Coutts and Mayor often skinning the wing back and laying the ball back from the touchline, the best example of this was when Coutts centred it but Max Ehmer couldn't stretch far enough and fired over from 6 yards. Chris Holroyd also nearly benefited from good wide play and nearly got in behind Chris Day but for smart goalkeeping.
The big thing that needs working on really for the rest of the season and over summer is lead retention, particularly in stoppage time, a few weeks ago Bury salvaged a point at Deepdale thanks to a 91st minute goal and a 94th minute goal got a point for Stevenage which has cost North End 4 points in the last few weeks which would have put Preston on 53 points and mid table mediocrity, however, we are on 49 points and still not safe, however with Wycombe's 4-0 defeat to Chesterfield means they are 7 points behind us and with Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday to come for them it is virtually impossible for them to catch us so at least a second relegation which has happened for teams before will not happen for us which means we can rebuild over the summer.
On Saturday Preston hold the penultimate home game of the season as Huddersfield make the short journey across the Pennines in a game where they seek to consolidate their play off position and try and put as much pressure as they can on the two Sheffield teams battling for automatic promotion although it seems like Huddersfield are destined for another play off push having been beaten in the final last season by Peterborough. With top scorer Jordan Rhodes playing with over 30 goals already (who scored a hat trick against Preston in October) he will provide a stern test for the young Preston defence as we carry on looking for the result that will take us over the 50 point mark. After strong performances against MK Dons and Stevenage not drawing as much as the performances merit, Preston will not be pushovers for the Yorkshire outfit and hopefully Preston can go 3 games unbeaten and finally banish any relegation fears.
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