Bradford survive

Saturday 21st October.

There is a rumour circulating today prior to the match that Lou Macari has been given the Town Manager’s job until the end of the season and although Dale Tempest (Town’s Director of Corporate Affairs) denied this I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some truth in the rumour. I can’t see Barry Rubery paying for a new manager to come in when the financial situation is supposed to be as dire as it is, and despite the various names being linked with the post, my money is on Macari.

Matches are coming thick and fast since the dismissal of Steve Bruce, and we could well have done without a game against newly promoted Preston who have been going well this season, so well they are the only team to have beaten Fulham at Craven Cottage this season. For his first home match in (temporary?) charge, Macari reverted to a 4-4-2 formation with Dyson and Vincent making way for Sellars and Kozluk, with Dean Gorré replacing Chris Holland in Midfield. I cannot understand why Kevin Gray cannot get a game at the moment as he seemed to be the obvious replacement for the injured Jon Dyson but Lou Macari saw things differently and chose Craig Armstrong to partner Chris Lucketti.

Town had clearly been wound up for this game and competed well as they looked to score an early opener. Chris Lucketti had an opportunity on 5 minutes when Sean Gregan attempted to open the scoring with an own goal and as Preston keeper David Lucas palmed the ball away Lucketti blazed wide of the target. On 10 minutes Kevin Gallen got up well to meet Rob Kozluk’s cross from the right but couldn’t keep the ball down and it went harmlessly over the bar. It took Preston almost a quarter of an hour to create their first chances both from Paul McKenna (isn’t he a hypnotist?) the first of which was easily collected by Vaesen although the second was well saved by diving Belgian.

Considering their lofty position in the table Preston were nothing to write home about and the defences were on top although both Gorré and Gallen had half chances before the latter had to be replaced by Delroy Facey on 27 minutes after he pulled up with what may well be yet another hamstring injury. Following the attack by Kevin Gallen two of the Preston players started fighting amongst themselves, and although both somehow escaped punishment from the referee it served to illustrate their commitment level, something perhaps Town should follow.

Chances continued to be in short supply and following a long-range strike by Chris Beech, Preston raced to the other end of the pitch and Nico Vaesen did well to beat out Robinson’s header from Graham Alexander’s cross. Our propensity to concede around half time makes the fans and players nervous as the 45 minute mark approaches and again Vaesen did well to tip a header by Robbie Edwards over the bar following a corner from Graham Alexander. Thankfully the end of the half was negotiated safely for once.

The second half began minus Martin Smith replaced by Ben Thornley, this was presumably through injury, as I couldn’t see it being a tactical change. After a further 2 minutes of action substitute Delroy Facey was himself substituted following an extremely dodgy challenge (use of an elbow perhaps?) even though it went totally unpunished by the myopic referee The second half continued in a similar fashion to the first with Town working hard but most chances came to nothing or were fairly comfortably saved by the Preston keeper.

The injury jinx continued with around half an hour remaining when Chris Beech pulled up with some sort of strain but he was forced to play on as best he could as we had already utilised our full quota of substitutes. Town had a glorious chance to open their account on 65 minutes when Chris Lucketti flicked on a Simon Baldy corner causing all sorts of confusion in the Preston penalty area. The ball squirted out to Chris Beech who by this stage was carrying his injury but he contrived to hit the ball straight at the Preston custodian from only about 3 yards out when it seemed easier to score. It could have been his injury that restricted his mobility a little, or perhaps it simply reflects the way things are going at the McAlpine at the moment with Lady Luck having packed her bags and long since departed.

The remainder of the game was largely devoid of chances and real entertainment as both sides were profligate with the paltry openings they were able to create and the final whistle was met with a certain sense of relief that this dour encounter had finally ended and that we avoided another home defeat, although in fairness Preston were poor and probably wouldn’t have scored if we had played until midnight.

Overall, the performance was encouraging but once again another home game has passed without a maximum point haul, and another failure to hit the back of the net. They need to appoint the new manager quickly whilst there is still time to turn this situation around. The fans seemed to appreciate the effort put in today as they were applauded off at the end of the game, but the slide in attendances continues with a good following of over 3,000 from Preston meaning that less than 10,000 home fans made this their Saturday afternoon entertainment.

TOWN 0 Preston North End 0 Position in table – 23rd Town – Vaesen; Jenkins; Kozluk; Armstrong; Lucketti; Sellars; Gorré; Beech; Irons; Gallen (Facey 27 (Baldry 52)); Smith (Thornley 45). Subs not used – Margetson; Gray. Preston North End – Lucas; Alexander; Edwards; Murdock; McKenna (Anderson 57); Appleton; Rankin; Meijer; Robinson; Cartwright (Gunnlaugsson 77); Gregan. Subs not used – Moilanan; Kidd; Jackson. Referee – Neale Barry (Scunthorpe). Attendance 13,161

Next

Previous