Preston See Off Reading as They Get Their Edge Back

Preston North End came from behind to see off high-fliers Reading in a tense encounter at Deepdale on Saturday.

After losing five on the bounce, it was imperative that not only did Preston get something out of this match but they put on a good performance too - that they did.

There were a couple of notable changes to the Preston starting eleven; Jon Parkin was recalled at the expense of Chris Brown and partnered Stephen Elliott up front as Neil Mellor was dropped to the bench.

Preston started off the brightest, playing with an element confidence and certainly did not look like a team who were searching for the first win since the middle of September. Jon Parkin had a couple of chances in the opening exchanges; his best came after six minutes with his back to goal on the edge of the area. The former Stoke man twisted and turned before unleashing an audacious shot only for it to be beaten away by Marcus Hahnemann in the Reading goal.

Despite Preston's controlling much of the first half possession, Reading took the lead in the 26^th minute via a Stephen Hunt penalty. Sean St Ledger bundled over Noel Hunt in the box right in front of referee Mr Miller who immediately pointed to the spot. Stephen Hunt converted a calmly struck penalty in the bottom right corner, sending Andrew Lonergan the wrong way.

After the goal, Reading improved massively and played most if their possession in the Preston half and in particular down the right hand side, exploiting the space open to them with Noel Hunt and Liam Rosenior in particular showing their attacking prowess. Both players were a real handful throughout and capitalised on said space by putting in some dangerous crosses down the right hand side for Reading which was where most of their chances came from.

After the break, both teams came out knowing that the game could go either way. Reading came out with real intent and in particular Jimmy Kebe who had a shot from inside the area which Lonergan dealt with admirably. The chance came after some early persistence from Reading who looked continue the second half as the left the first.

However, just ten minutes after the restart Preston equalised. Chris Sedgwick sent in a hopeful ball towards the six yard box from the left hand side. It looked destined for Marcus Hahnemann but both he and Ingimarsson thought each other would deal with it only for it to bounce of the defender and head straight for the bottom corner, much to the delight of the Preston supporters.

Much like in the first half where Reading improved after they took the lead, Preston did the same following the equaliser by playing some inventive football. Jon Parkin nearly put Preston ahead immediately after as he unleashed a beast of a shot from 25 yards only for it to be tipped onto the cross bar by Hahnemann. Preston nearly scored from the resulting corner also with St Ledger heading across the face of goal from Ross Wallace's ball in.

Preston put Reading on the back foot for the majority of the second half and looked to get in behind with the pace and guile of Stephen Elliott who, in his managers words, turned clearances in to long balls.

With just over 8 minutes to go of normal time remaining, Elliott got his reward for an impressive performance by being in the right place at the right time. Preston won a corner after Marcus Hahnemann tipped over a Billy Jones speculative long range effort. The resulting corner was missed by everyone, including Hahnemann who flapped at the ball which landed to the feet of Stephen Elliott who had the simple task of side footing the ball into an empty net.

Reading piled on the pressure in the closing minutes and had numerous chances to salvage a point, none more so than in the last minute of time added on. With Lonergan beaten, it looked a certain goal from Jimmy Kebe but thanks to the anticipation from Youl Mawene, the Frenchman was there to head the ball over the bar, much to the delight of his teammates.

Both teams had their fair share of possession and indeed chances but in the end Preston deserved the win and can take credit that the only goal the conceded by the free scoring Reading was a penalty.

Alan Irvine gave his thoughts: "I felt at half time we were still in the game and it was important that for the next fifteen minutes it remained that way. It was important that we didn't fall further behind and fortunately, it worked out that way for us."

"Goals change games. We had the big disappointment of conceding the penalty and we had to make sure we hung on in the game at that point and make sure we came out in the right way in the second half"

"I certainly felt that we had lost a little bit of an edge in the previous games - nothing major, just a very small edge but in this division enough to make the difference between winning and losing because the margins are so fine in all the games. I felt we had that edge back and if we hadn't then Reading would certainly have beaten us today."