Preston North End vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

[lucy]

5 minutes to go, hold on Town.

[shamm]

5 minutes to go, hold on Town.

Edge of my seat.

[lucy]

I hate being 2-1 up at end of game . I know we are winning but the tension/stress drives me crazy.

[shamm]

4 min added on.

[lucy]

Gerkdn made an excellent save to stop Garner scoring.

[Quasar]

First win in 45 years

Well done boys

[lucy]

FT 2-1 to Ipswich . In double figures with 10 points and not even at the end of August - Brilliant!

[shamm]

What a win. First in 35 yrs!

[Dubai Blue]

Really happy with that. Missing some key players too. Looks like we have a quality squad now doesn't it

[AylesburyBlue]

Quality result. Buzzin with that!! Thank you Bournmouth.

[James Scharmann]

What a result, 4 wins on the bounce keeps us top

[lucy]

What a result, 4 wins on the bounce keeps us top

Brighton game still to finish yet.

[derick_ipsw]

What a result, 4 wins on the bounce keeps us top

Only 3 in the league though. Great win Town, and puts a end to the Preston hoodo.

[Ando]

Proper away performance! We took the chances we had, great start, big game next week.

[TractorBoys91]

Gerkdn made an excellent save to stop Garner scoring.

Was handball wasn't it? Garner was booked straight after.

[lucy]

I think it was for a foul not sure.

[Shed on tour]

Just got in and seen the result.
Can we just call a halt to the season now please. Sounds like we were under the cosh for most of the first half but improved in the 2nd.You are not always going to dominate games but the thing is with our current strike force we are always capable of scoring.
Off to Doncaster Tuesday night to see the reserves play and although this game is by no means a priority it would be nice to keep the feel good factor going.

[marko69]

What a sweet strike by Ryan Fraser. Well done, son. And nice win, ITFC.

[lucy]

Cracking goal from Fraser, just seen it on SSN and is contender for Goal of Day

[Ohiotractorboy]

What a fantastic result! Can't wait to see the highlights

[lucy]

It's annoying to think we should be on 12 points but if you had said after 4 games we'd be on 10 points i would of chewed your hand off for that.

[philgoddard]

Just back from the game all i can say is what a result. Up until we scored we were clueless but looked fairly solid at the back. Preston had a few chances but none that seriously troubled us. Without Murphy we looked clueless going forward until the goal, hoofing it to Mcgoldrick will not work is something we need to take note of.

Our goal quality finish and very out of the blue happy days! The equaliser was shocking however....away from home in the lead why would you commit everyone bar 2 players to attack a throw in? it cost us but hopefully that mistake will never be made again!

The second half was much more impressive however. The finish from Fraser was fantastic and unless we get promoted is a player we surely have no hope of ever seeing in a town shirt again after this season. Niles as well was brilliant, unlike Toure he realised that running the ball into the corner and wasting time was the way to preserve a lead not cross and hope for the best.

Another massive well done goes to Gerken. Made a fantastic save from prestons only shot of note in the second half (except the disallowed goal which seemed strange in the first place)

If a weaker than normal squad playing not that well can win 2-1 away to Preston anything is possible this season

[lucy]

Does anyone know if Fraser can be recalled?. Just thinking if Bournemouth see how well he is doing they could want him back?.

[James Scharmann]

Does anyone know if Fraser can be recalled?. Just thinking if Bournemouth see how well he is doing they could want him back?.

No he cannot season loans do not include this...

[Shed on tour]

Does anyone know if Fraser can be recalled?. Just thinking if Bournemouth see how well he is doing they could want him back?.

When the loan deal was confirmed think it was stated at the time that Bournemouth had no option to recall him during his season long loan.

Stuart Watson seemed to say the same thing on his twitter page at the time.

https://twitter.com/stuart_watson/statu ... 5842356225

[Charnwood]

Great result but not totally unexpected, I think this is the first win at Deepdale in the league since 29 January 1966, I make that 49 years!

A nice record to lose.

[lucy]

Thanks Shed for that answer. I didn't think he could be recalled but wasn't entirely sure.

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

I honestly couldn't have been any prouder when leaving Deepdale. Such a tricky game. 49 years without a league win at theirs. Teams togetherness particularly very impressive defence and Gerken were a key today.

This is a sign of a good team when you win despite not having played too well. For instance we had been playing far better against Brentford in terms of attacking and failed to win. Today draw might have been a fairer result but do I care?

First half I have to be honest we were awful and seemed lazy. We were outfought for the majority of it and on the back foot but Preston didn't create overwhelming amount of chances. First Garner missed from a close range and soon after Gerken parried Gallagher's shot from outside the box. Preston's right winger Humphrey was a particular nuisance to deal with.

All of sudden we scored. The goal came out of nothing and that was our solitary opportunity in the bad first half. Perfect delivery from Sears and really nice header from Pitman. This delivery was the only good thing from Freddie as he alongside Douglas was very quiet and poor in the first 45 minutes.

10 minutes before the interval very quick Preston's counter attack and Gerken had no chance when one on one against Johnson.

1-1 draw at half time that flattered us in all honesty. At that stage each Town fan was taking a point I believe.

Second half different particularly in terms of Preston attempts as we restricted them to few chances and they were no longer as impressive. They never had the same latitude as they had had in the first half + we were doing a bit better and Fraser was our main star. He's such threat when runs with the ball on the deck.
A few corners from us. Anything could have happened and we certainly weren't on the back foot any longer. We also bolstered our attacking attempts in the introduction of Maitland-Niles.

Fantastic curling shot from Fraser gave us a lead again and 5 minutes later Gerken may have won us the game with brilliant outstanding save. Another moment later 'Hand of God' from cheating Garner was well spotted by the ref.

Final moments of the game were bringing me back memories from Brentford or Nottingham last season where we conceded late equalisers. However we were very rigid and tough to break down in defence. Couple of scrambles in our box very well dealt with.

Massive relief when the ref blew the whistle for final time. Such a joy.

As I've said this is a sign of really good team when you win and not fully deserve it. Last years team wouldn't have won it, wouldn't have stood any chance because our midfield was far worse in terms of creativity than the current one.
This weekend last year we lost to Norwich 0-1 at home. People had been saying there wasn't much between us and them but comments like that were ridiculous for my liking. There was a chasm actually. Our midfield that day contained two defensive midfielders in Hyam and Skuse + two 'wingers' in Anderson and Tabb. We were outfought and outpowered that day in the middle and two mentioned 'wingers' never offered any threat.
Compare last and this years teams : Anderson and Tabb on the wings a year ago, Fraser and Maitland-Niles today + more attacking options in the middle. This is like night and day comparison. Let's also not forget what a flexibility we're having today in attack whereas last year we had only two decent strikers in Murphy and McGoldrick and pile of crap in Bajner, Nouble, Sammon and Marriott.

Special mention of Gerken. Some Town fans should lay off him and stop slating for every little mistake. He has had a significant contribution today. No mistake, very assured and there isn't much between him and Bialkowski. Two decent goalkeepers. Not the top ones just decent Championship level.

Our defence along with Gerken was a key today. One the best defensive performances of late as with us not having been as good in terms of attacking they stood firm and restricted Preston to very few chances especially in the second half. The only bit of criticism should be addressed to Knudsen as I can't remember him making a single cross as he restricted himself to sending long balls forward.

MOTM stll belongs to Fraser in my opinion. The kind of midfielder that can make things happen and that was the case today. No disrespect to Tabb or midfielders who have left us this summer (Anderson, S.Hunt, Ambrose) but he's one of the differences why this season could be even better for us.

[lucy]

Top of the table and we get a few seconds on the highlights show - joke.

[Charnwood]

Top of the table and we get a few seconds on the highlights show - joke.

Maybe something to do with the fact it was a poor game by all accounts.