A last gasp Nathan Ellington goal was enough to keep Preston North End in touch with their relegation rivals after a 2 – 1 win over Coventry City at Deepdale.
Iain Hume’s first half goal was cancelled out by a well taken goal from substitute David Bell. But North End substitute Ellington settled the match deep into stoppage time.
Preston were hoping for their first back to back win since September and manager Phil Brown opted for the same side which impressively dispatched Scunthorpe 3 – 0 at Glanford Park on Tuesday.
It was Coventry caretaker boss Andy Thorn’s second game in charge after the sacking of Aidy Boothroyd. He made one change from the 2 – 2 away draw to Burnley with Chris Hussey replacing O’Halloran at left back.
The opening exchanges were quiet with both teams struggling to gain a foothold in the game. It took 11 minutes for the first real chance and it fell to an unlikely source.
Good footwork from Treacy set Gardner free down the left, but after cutting inside he could only fire straight at Westwood from a narrow angle.
Coventry failed to test Turner in the North End goal and hit only one shot on target in the whole first half. Eastwood cut in from the left and fired dangerously across the area, but Turner easily gathered.
North End were passing the ball around well in midfield and nearly took the lead on 21 minutes.
A looping ball was headed on by Eddie Johnson for Hume to volley inches wide of Westwood’s right post.
The home-side continued to dominate and their pressure told on 24 minutes.
Treacy unleashed an effort from the edge of the area and the ball fell kindly to Hume who slotted past Westwood from 8 yards for his 8th of the season.
Treacy almost doubled his sides lead on the stroke of half time, but his deep cross bounced off the crossbar.
After their first half performance, it wasn’t difficult to understand why the away side had only scored 40 league goals all season and were without a win in their last six games.
Caretaker boss Thorn reacted by sending his Coventry players out early in the second half and they had a fair share of the early possession without testing Turner.
It was obvious Brown had told his full-backs to attack whenever possible and Gardner obliged but could only fire over from the left.
Thorn replaced the ineffective Carl Baker with David Bell on the hour mark and it turned out to be an inspired change.
The Sky blues started to push forward and Keogh headed onto the crossbar from a McSheffrey corner.
At the other end, North End’s Carter was inches wide from doubling North End’s lead after great pressing of the Coventry midfield.
Then on 71 minutes, with their first real chance of the game, Coventry were back on level terms.
Substitute Bell volleyed precisely into the bottom corner after the towering Jutkiewicz had delicately flicked on.
It was then North End manager Brown’s turn to work his tactical magic as he brought on Ellington for Treacy.
Deep into the 4th minute of stoppage time, a corner from Hume was flicked in at the near post by Ellington for his first North End goal to send the supporters into raptures and keep Preston North End’s survival hopes alive.
Phil Brown was pleased with his substitutions and believes the last minute goal will do his team alot of favours:
“Bringing on Baz Nic (Barry Nicholson) and Nathan Ellington made a big difference
“The belief will be improved, the confidence will be improved and it will hopefully kick on from here”
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