Preston North End 1-2 Bristol City: FLW reports as Lilywhites’ Deepdale struggles continue | OneFootball

Preston North End‘s long run without a home victory in the Championship continued as first half goals from Mark Sykes and Sam Bell secured a 2-1 victory for Bristol City on their travels.

North End boss Ryan Lowe opted to go ‘gung-ho’ with three strikers on the pitch, and one of those in the form of Tom Cannon almost put the Lilywhites ahead after just a few minutes when he met Alan Browne’s clipped cross at the back post with his head.

The Everton loanee could not guide the ball beyond Max O’Leary however, and that would soon come to cost the Lilywhites.

Just a minute later, Robbie Brady’s attempts to guide the ball back to goalkeeper Freddie Woodman were weak, and it saw Mark Sykes ghost in to round the PNE goalkeeper and tap into an empty net to continue their home woes.

Much of the first-half was a non-event, with lots of PNE crosses being turned away by the Robins defence, but there was one moment around the half-hour mark where Ched Evans got a diving header on target from close range after meeting Browne’s knock-back.

However, O’Leary was on hand again with a smart stop to deny North End’s top scorer – it would not be the last chance of the half though as City would go on to double their advantage.

Nahki Wells broke down the right-hand side of the pitch with just seconds remaining of the half, and his low cross was stuck in at the back post by Sam Bell, with the City academy graduate netting his four goal of the campaign – a goal following which the home supporters inside Deepdale booed their players off.

North End were huffing and puffing in the opening quarter of the second half in a bid to reduce the deficit, with Cannon coming close in the early stages with an effort that tested O’Leary.

But City’s stopper had a nightmare on the hour mark when he spilled Ryan Ledson’s effort into the path of Evans, who pounced to notch his seventh goal of the campaign.

With the clock ticking, North End tried desperately to grab a point from the clash, but their efforts proved to be in vain as Nigel Pearson’s side held on for all three points.