Preston North End 0-1 Ipswich Town - Half-Time Saturday, 28th Jan 2017 16:00 Another brilliant Tom Lawrence goal has given Town a 1-0 half-time lead over Preston North End at Deepdale. New loan signing Toumani Diagouraga was handed his Town debut in the centre of midfield alongside Cole Skuse as Mick McCarthy made five changes to the team which lost 2-0 at Huddersfield last week. Bartosz Bialkowski returned in goal with Dean Gerken back on the bench, while Josh Emmanuel was at right-back in a four-man defence with Jordan Spence and Paul Digby dropping to the bench. Andre Dozzell was left out of the 18, while Grant Ward started on the right of midfield with Tom Lawrence on the left. Brett Pitman returned to the side alongside Freddie Sears up front. David McGoldrick and Teddy Bishop were both among the subs having recovered from hamstring and ankle injuries respectively. New signing Danny Rowe was at the game but wasn’t involved, while Steven Taylor’s international clearance is yet to come through and the former Newcastle man is unlikely to be available before Saturday’s home game with Reading. Town target Jordan Hugill started for the home side having overcome a knee injury, while winger Daryl Horgan, who Blues boss McCarthy watched playing for Dundalk prior to his move to Deepdale, was among the subs. In heavy rain on a very slippery pitch, Preston midfielder Daniel Johnson hit the game’s first shot over the bar from just outside the area in the second minute following a corner. The Lilywhites put the Blues under some early pressure with Town taking several attempts to clear the danger. Hugill, understood to have been the subject of a rebuffed £2 million bid from the Blues this week, threatened for the first time in the seventh minute when Aiden McGeady, who had made a lively start, found him with an excellent cross from the left but the former Port Vale man headed just over from six yards. Preston full-back Marnick Vermijl picked up the game’s first booking on 14 for a foul on Skuse as the midfielder, who was playing ahead of Diagouraga, broke forward. Following the freekick, Emmanuel played in Sears on the right and his cross eventually fell to Jonas Knudsen on the left but the Dane’s shot was blocked. The Blues were starting to get into the game and on 16 they went in front via another contender in Tom Lawrence’s personal Goal of the Season competition. The on-loan Leicester man cut inside from the left, taking the ball between two defenders as he did so, before smashing a powerful right-foot shot across Lilywhites keeper Chris Maxwell which bulged the inside of the net. The Welshman’s eighth goal of the season, which even one or two of the home fans applauded, was right up there among the best of what’s becoming one of the outstanding loan spells at Town. Lawrence created an opportunity for Sears on 21 with the Blues having been on top after the goal. The 23-year-old cleverly played the ball into the path of the former West Ham man, who ran on to the edge of the box before hitting a low shot which was too close to Maxwell, who claimed. Hugill shot wide on 25 then, with Berra and the Preston frontman both grounded following clash of heads, referee Steven Martin allowed play to continue and Paul Gallagher hit a low effort which Bialkowski claimed. In the 27th minute Hugill showed Shefki Kuqi-esque desire to close down as skipper Luke Chambers played the ball back to Bialkowski and blocked the keeper’s kick. McGeady shot over on 36 with the home side having a fair bit of the ball but with Bialkowski not having been tested further. Three minutes later, the Irish international sent another effort well over. On 40 Town went close to adding to their lead when Sears sent away towards goal. Vermijl looked to have snuffed out the danger but the one-time Colchester man tenaciously got himself back on the ball and tried to squeeze home between the full-back and keeper Maxwell, who just managed to divert the ball past his post. Preston almost got back on terms a minute later when Ben Pearson volleyed McGeady’s left-wing cross towards goal but hammered the ball against Hugill and it flew wide. Had it not struck Hugill, Pearson’s shot looked destined to hit the net. That was the final chance of what had been a fairly even half. Preston had started well but the Blues were playing themselves more into the game when Lawrence slammed home his latest stunner. From there the Lilywhites looked to take the game to Town but their only real chance was Pearson’s late shot which Hugill blocked, while the Blues looked a danger on the break and Sears was unfortunate not to double their lead having battled hard to eke out his opportunity. Preston: Maxwell, Vermijl, Clarke (c), Huntington, Spurr, Gallagher, Pearson, Johnson, McGeady, Robinson, Hugill. Subs: Lindegaard, Boyle, Browne, Horgan, May, Makienok, Beckford. Town: Bialkowski, Knudsen, Chambers (c), Berra, Skuse, Diagouraga, Ward, Lawrence, Emmanuel, Pitman, Sears. Subs: Gerken, Bishop, McGoldrick, Spence, Digby, Bru, Moore. Referee: Steven Martin (Staffordshire).
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