29-07-2017, 09:05
Fleetwood Town 1 Preston North End 5 Att 2081
On a soggy old night at the Estadio De Cod, North End hammered league one local rivals Fleetwood 5-1, although for a period in the first half this scoreline looked miles away aS the home side dominated for a period and were unlucky not to add to Bolger's header from a corner.
Early scare for the home side when the lively Maguire turned and hit the post from18 yards, he also nearly charged down keeper Cairns clearence. North End were on top in the early stages but one complaint the build up was oh so slow.
The home side got a couple corners from the second they scored as Bolger easily headed home avoiding statuesque defenders. Hiwula could have had two more in the next couple of minutes as panic set in with theNorth End defenders, narrowly wide after chipping Hudson then denied by the keeper after some cack defending.
After a Grant free kick was tipped over by Hudson, the home sides participation in the game was basically to chase the ball and then pick it out of the net.
Cairns was lucky not to be sent off when flattening Maguire way outside of his area, nothing given by Mr Salisbury, getting towards the break North End won a series of corners, most were abysmal but the last one before the break Robinson finally put over a decent cross and Huntington levelled the score.
The second half was all one way, Browne being unlucky with a 50 yard volley which hit the top of the bar from Cairns poor clearence.
Wasn't long until we took the lead Robinson's through ball found Barkuizen in the clear rounded the keeper slotted home, from then on in it was just a matter of how many we would get.
Maguire was brought down, Johnson scored from the spot, Horgan then cut in from the right and passed it into the net from 18 yards to make it four, before a late own goal made the scoreline more emphatic.
Doyle contrived to miss another late on, still yet to score this season.
For North End Maguire looks very useful, Johnson seems to be enjoying his new role in the team and new man Fisher put in a useful shift although did seem to get a muscle strain late on.
Only criticism played at too slow a pace in the first half and the passing out from the keper will get us in trouble at some time during the season.
So that's the friendlies done and dusted a week to go until the main event.
The boss speaks
Manager Alex Neil was delighted to end pre-season on a high with a 5-1 victory over Fleetwood Town.
Manager Alex Neil was delighted with his side's performance in their final pre-season game ahead of the new campaign.
North End put five past Fleetwood Town at Highbury, and the gaffer was pleased with the work rate of his players and how they have adapted to the new style of play.
On the win, the PNE boss told iFollow PNE: "It's probably the perfect way to finish a pre-season campaign, I think the big thing for us now is making sure that how hard we worked tonight and how well we moved the ball we try and take that into competitive action next week.
"We played really well, I felt we should have been in front and it's always disappointing when you go a goal down against the run of play but we need to try and make sure we improve on defensive set plays because it has been a weakness for the last couple of weeks so that is something we will certainly work on.
"In terms of the game itself, the way we played, the chances we created and certainly how we performed in the second half I was delighted."
The manager was particularly pleased with the second half performance and was happy to see his half-time comments come to fruition in the second half.
Neil continued: "I felt that we weren't as aggressive with our passing in the first half as we could have been, we spoke to a couple of individual players in terms of taking less touches and moving the ball a bit quicker and the lads did exactly as I asked at half-time and I thought to a man they performed extremely well.
Attention now turns to the opening game of the season when North End host Sheffield Wednesday at Deepdale, and the manager is enjoying having a selection headache ahead of that first game.
"That is the luxury of having a good squad, over the course of the season we are going to have to use everyone. Everybody is going to have to be ready and the guys who are called upon will need to make sure they do the job.
"We are all excited about it [the opening game of the season], the lads will have an in-house game tomorrow which the lads who didn't play tonight will play in, then they will rest Sunday and then Monday we will be back in getting ready for next week."
On a soggy old night at the Estadio De Cod, North End hammered league one local rivals Fleetwood 5-1, although for a period in the first half this scoreline looked miles away aS the home side dominated for a period and were unlucky not to add to Bolger's header from a corner.
Early scare for the home side when the lively Maguire turned and hit the post from18 yards, he also nearly charged down keeper Cairns clearence. North End were on top in the early stages but one complaint the build up was oh so slow.
The home side got a couple corners from the second they scored as Bolger easily headed home avoiding statuesque defenders. Hiwula could have had two more in the next couple of minutes as panic set in with theNorth End defenders, narrowly wide after chipping Hudson then denied by the keeper after some cack defending.
After a Grant free kick was tipped over by Hudson, the home sides participation in the game was basically to chase the ball and then pick it out of the net.
Cairns was lucky not to be sent off when flattening Maguire way outside of his area, nothing given by Mr Salisbury, getting towards the break North End won a series of corners, most were abysmal but the last one before the break Robinson finally put over a decent cross and Huntington levelled the score.
The second half was all one way, Browne being unlucky with a 50 yard volley which hit the top of the bar from Cairns poor clearence.
Wasn't long until we took the lead Robinson's through ball found Barkuizen in the clear rounded the keeper slotted home, from then on in it was just a matter of how many we would get.
Maguire was brought down, Johnson scored from the spot, Horgan then cut in from the right and passed it into the net from 18 yards to make it four, before a late own goal made the scoreline more emphatic.
Doyle contrived to miss another late on, still yet to score this season.
For North End Maguire looks very useful, Johnson seems to be enjoying his new role in the team and new man Fisher put in a useful shift although did seem to get a muscle strain late on.
Only criticism played at too slow a pace in the first half and the passing out from the keper will get us in trouble at some time during the season.
So that's the friendlies done and dusted a week to go until the main event.
The boss speaks
Manager Alex Neil was delighted to end pre-season on a high with a 5-1 victory over Fleetwood Town.
Manager Alex Neil was delighted with his side's performance in their final pre-season game ahead of the new campaign.
North End put five past Fleetwood Town at Highbury, and the gaffer was pleased with the work rate of his players and how they have adapted to the new style of play.
On the win, the PNE boss told iFollow PNE: "It's probably the perfect way to finish a pre-season campaign, I think the big thing for us now is making sure that how hard we worked tonight and how well we moved the ball we try and take that into competitive action next week.
"We played really well, I felt we should have been in front and it's always disappointing when you go a goal down against the run of play but we need to try and make sure we improve on defensive set plays because it has been a weakness for the last couple of weeks so that is something we will certainly work on.
"In terms of the game itself, the way we played, the chances we created and certainly how we performed in the second half I was delighted."
The manager was particularly pleased with the second half performance and was happy to see his half-time comments come to fruition in the second half.
Neil continued: "I felt that we weren't as aggressive with our passing in the first half as we could have been, we spoke to a couple of individual players in terms of taking less touches and moving the ball a bit quicker and the lads did exactly as I asked at half-time and I thought to a man they performed extremely well.
Attention now turns to the opening game of the season when North End host Sheffield Wednesday at Deepdale, and the manager is enjoying having a selection headache ahead of that first game.
"That is the luxury of having a good squad, over the course of the season we are going to have to use everyone. Everybody is going to have to be ready and the guys who are called upon will need to make sure they do the job.
"We are all excited about it [the opening game of the season], the lads will have an in-house game tomorrow which the lads who didn't play tonight will play in, then they will rest Sunday and then Monday we will be back in getting ready for next week."
Why should a man go to work, if he has the health and strength to stay in bed?