Things could have been so different early on as Nugent had a clear cut chance in the opening moments only to blast wide and then a chip which went over inside the first ten minutes.
Preston dominated possession int he first half an hour resulting in several corners but did little to challenge Taylor in the Blues goal. Suddenly on the break Mcsheffrey managed to run inside thatnks to North End's defence slipping up and replays show is shot at goal took a deflection albeit slight past Nash at the near post.
Birmingham then capitalised on a defensive error from North End as Mcsheffrey once again cut in from the left to place past Nash. It appeared everything was going against North End as Premiership referee Riley favoured the home side with all the usual minor decisions. However, the Premiership element was certainly there with the Birmingham front line posing a threat at all time although on several occassions falling to ground too easily which Riley failed to punish.
Preston pulled a goal back through Ormerod before the break which set up a cracking second half. nugent and Mckenna had long range shots saved plus a scrappy goal libe clearance kept the home side in front. The Birmingham defence looked vulnerable especially Jaidi who compared to the frontmen looked out of place in a top of the table side.
Preston in going for the equaliser were left short at the back and finally one of Birmingham's penalty claims was given with Mcsheffrey converting for the hat trick.
All in all a pretty depressing day which was made even worst by Birmingham fans in the corner using racist taunts at the visiting fans.
Preston will take heart that the performance was improved from Luton and that they now have two home games to recoup the damage done over the last month. They will laos note that Birmingham who are top are by no means invincible and anyone can beat anyone in this league.
Once again though the shooting was ineffective with the midfield producing little. Simpson may well have some dealings to do come January to halt this poor run of form.
The one plus side for North End - at the final whistle the bll was booted intho the away end - mysteriously never to be thrown back onto the pitch to Mr Mcsheffrey as the visiting fans trailed back to the North West.