It was the first game to be played at Deepdale, but it proved to be a reality check for the home side, as Hibernian showed they were much more of a challenge than the previous teams the Whites have played against in recent friendlies.
Preston seemed to lack concentration in the first 5 minutes, and they were clearly punished, as Hibernian only took 2 minutes to put themselves in the lead in front of an amazing Hibs following.
It was the in-form youngster Scott Brown who put them in the lead, as Alexander left McLaren with acres of space and beat Jackson for pace and finished with a clinical finish into the back of the net.
This seemed to wake the home side up, as they came back positively to create a few good chances in the first half. The majority of the chances involved Michael Keane, who is showing Craig Brown that it’ll be a poor decision if he leaves him out of the starting line-up on the opening day of the season.
It was straight after the Hibs goal when Cartwright received a pass from Fuller, and hit a first time cross into the centre of the box for Keane to have two shots blocked by ‘keeper Anderson.
It was Keane that created the next chance for the Whites when he fed a cross to Lucketti on the left, who had a powerful header tipped on the bar by the Hibs keeper.
Cresswell put the ball into the back of the net on 19 minutes after another deliverance by Keane, but Cresswell was an obvious few yards offside.
But the decisive moment of the game has to be on 22 minutes, as Hibs should have been 2 goals ahead. Edwards was the villain on this occasion, when he hacked down Wiss in the box, but astonishingly referee Pike waved play on.
PNE came out brightly in the second half; substitutes Skora and Lynch were replacements for Etuhu and Fuller during the break. Healy had a great chance on 55 minutes when Skora lobbed the ball to the Irish striker in the box, who made a sharp turn for his finish to be too weak to challenge the ‘keeper.
It was Healy who assisted the goal that made the Whites equalise on the 89th minute. Healy showed telepathic understanding with Lynch, as he put a perfect ball through to Lynch for him to finish from an acute angle.