This was a fair result as Preston had plenty of fight in them and this wasn’t one of our better performances. Another away point and a clean sheet isn’t bad especially as rivals Leeds lost.
BEFORE
With Rigg and Ballard back in contention I'm feeling quite optimistic about tonight's game. The QPR match was the only time we've failed to score this season but I think there'll be a goal or two in today's game. Preston have already beaten us once in the League Cup but they've struggled in the league and are currently fourth from the bottom. Of course they’re going to be battling to get higher in the table so we can expect a similar game to Saturday’s, where Q.P.R. were quite a handful. Browne and Moore will both be starting apparently and I thought the latter looked fine on Saturday, though I hope he’s been practising his goal-kicks since then. I'll be watching the match in the company of other members of the London Branch and my prediction is a 2-1 win for us.
I didn’t get the team-news till I got to the bar around 7.45 and there were three changes from Saturday with Connolly and Watson both starting in addition to Rigg. So, Mundle and Roberts were on the bench in the company of Ballard.
THE MATCH
The bar was busy and quite a few of the faithful were present as we kicked off. Preston did all the early pressing and I thought they’d scored in the second minute but it was cleared. Next thing Moore punted a long kick straight into touch so his practising hadn’t paid off yet. We conceded a free-kick just outside our box but the resultant effort cannoned of our wall. For the first ten minutes we hadn’t clicked upfront at all really but then a long ball found Isidor running into the left angle of their box and his low shot wasn’t far wide of their left post. Watson was splattered on the right touch-line and from the resultant free-kick an O’Nien shot hit Lindsay full in the balls and we then won our first corner. We were on top for a short while but Preston looked dangerous on the break and a powerful Frokjaer header wasn’t far wide.
We were giving the ball away too easily but the game remained evenly balanced. Preston won another corner in the twenty-ninth which resulted in a shot going well wide and O’Nien being down injured. From the way he was walking it looked like he’d also taken one in the nether regions but he was able to carry on. We almost took the lead in the thirty-fifth when Connolly met a great low ball from the right but his shot from close range went just wide of the right post. Anyway, Millwall were beating Leeds 1-0 and that was good for us. Whiteman was yellow-carded for a very high boot in the region of, I think, Rigg’s face. Isidor hadn’t seen much of the ball yet and we also hadn’t penetrated much down our left flank. In added-time Moore pulled off a great save to tip over a Riis shot that was curling into the corner. It remained goalless at the break and Preston had created more chances than us. I still felt that we were going to win and with both Mundle and Roberts dying to get on and show us what we’d been missing I was confident we could up our game and get a goal or two. Leeds were still trailing…
There were no changes as we kicked off again. Preston restarted as they’d started in the first-half and we were under considerable pressure for a while but like Q.P.R. their finishing left a lot to be desired. I desired their finishing to remain the same, I have to say. We again hadn’t done much upfront but in the fifty-seventh Isidor went on a mazy dribble towards their box and as he went down I thought the ref, Lewis Smith, had pointed to the spot but it was only a free-kick. We duffed it but it all warmed the cockles a bit. Lindsay was yellow-carded for a foul and then Mundle and Roberts came on for Connolly and Watson just after the hour-mark. I’d been impressed by Watson but I couldn’t say the same for Connolly. Those substitutions perked us up and we were now doing most of the pressing.
Twenty minutes to go but there were only five minutes left in the Leeds match and they were still losing. We continued to do most of the attacking and were playing our most fluent football of the game while Preston had a tired look about them. Leeds had lost but could we nick a winner? I still felt a goal was coming. We brought on Mayenda for Isidor with ten minutes on the clock but Preston started to revive and put some pressure on. I was getting a bit nervy as we entered the final five minutes but we were again defending stoutly. Five minutes of added-time were announced and that was less than I’d feared. Both teams continued to go for it and a low Roberts shot from a Mundle cross was put out for a corner, though we wasted it. It ended 0-0.
