[themaclad]

Attendance: 19,391 (5,728 Middlesbrough fans).

Referee: Thomas Kirk.

About 30 minutes before the kick off the referee and one of his assistants were out checking both goal frames, seemed a bit odd at the time but would have a pivotal role in what happened right at the end of the game.
The second Boro goal came deep into injury time after an all six yard area scramble, the linesman raised his flag to signal a goal and Hansen's effort got Boro a point they deserved.
It transpired that goal line technology had been switched off, from my view ear the halfway line it looked like it had crossed the line but other pictures suggested the ball did not fully cross the line, we shall never know.

Anyway back to the match, great entertainment especially the last twenty mintes as both sides went for the winner, Boro were top when they arrived, easy to see why good passing side although in the first half let down by the final ball.
Our first is a work of art Dobbin picking up the ball outside the box, beat a couple of players before hammering the ball past the keeper.
We looked a danger every time we attacked couldn't get a second.
Half time Boro brought on Strelec, big money buy from Slovakia, they also changed their formation and began to dominate, had a goal rightly disallowed.
Not deterred they pressed on, level when we failed to deal with a ball into the box and Target was on target from 10 yards.

Looked only one winner at this stage but we rallied and all credit to Storey, a lung busting run by the defender led to a corner, Whiteman's pin point corner, Storey header far corner, back in front until Hanse's scramble.

Paul Heckingbottom was left with mixed feelings after late drama in the 2-2 draw with league leaders Middlesbrough.

North End were twice in front at Deepdale, firstly through Lewis Dobbin’s outstanding strike midway through the first half, and then two minutes from time when Jordan Storey headed home what looked like a late winner.

The visitors snatched a point, though, in stoppage-time courtesy of Sontje Hansen.

Hecky said: “I think to give it perspective, if we'd have been 2-1 down and then scored the equaliser at the end we would have been jumping through hoops.

“So yeah, we do feel a bit down, but we shouldn't really. It was a really good game. When there’s that stoppage in play we got the lads over and spoke about just going for it. We've got a point but let's try and get three.

“We did that but Boro had the same mentality as well and yeah, it was a good game with two teams going at it.”

For the second match running, Storey was named as the EPIC Global Solutions Man of the Match after a display which saw him score and assist from centre half.

The defender has started every Championship match so far this season and has been one of the top performers in the early stages of the campaign.


Hecky said: “He's doing well. Everyone knows I really like Jordan and I said last season I think he's not got the most out of himself in terms of his career. I think he can do better and I never want him to settle.

“It's alright me saying that, but now he's got Odel [Offiah] breathing down his neck as well. We've got competition all over the place, he knows that he's got to perform and long may that continue.

“He made some really good recoveries, defended his box really well and I think he thought he was a right winger for 30 seconds in the second half.”

Unfortunately, his late header didn’t prove to be the winner as a scrappy goalmouth scramble was eventually bundled over the line in the second of seven additional minutes.

The manager shared post-match that the goal-line technology usually in play was not being used.

Hecky said: “It wasn't working apparently before the game or working within the parameters that we set so we didn't have it today. It was turned off.

“I think it was available second half but we continued to play the game without it. It’s mad how things like that happen and then the game’s decided on it.

“I'm hoping someone shows me a photograph or something of it being over the line to make me feel a bit better than I do now.”

Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards told BBC Radio Tees: "I really enjoyed the game. I thought it was a cracking game of football. I really enjoyed the performance.

"No one is going to make it easy for us and no one has a God-given right to turn up and win games of football.

"Preston are good and they have shown that here with the teams they have beaten. What we did today was show lots of character and we came from behind twice, which we have not had to do yet this season."