By Stuart Baillie

Graham Westley will be looking for a big performance from his PNE side when they take on Brentford at Deepdale on Saturday.

The Lilywhites have won just once in their last seven league outings and fell to a 2-1 defeat at Yeovil Town last Saturday. Even more worryingly, North End have registered just one win in their last 11 home matches in all competitions.

Westley was in the stands for the 3-2 win against Wycombe three weeks ago but he has managed just a solitary point in three games since officially taking charge.

It has been a busy January transfer window with seven new arrivals at Deepdale and with centre-back Craig Morgan suspended following his red card at Huish Park, new signing Chris Robertson could be thrust straight into action after joining from Torquay United.

Striker Graham Cummins has joined from Cork City and could play some part, with Rhys Murphy another option in attack. The latter has signed on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season and could feature against Brentford, for whom he had a loan spell in 2009-2010.

Westley has set about revamping his PNE squad as he aims to build for the future and his no-nonsense approach has seen Ian Ashbee, 35, and Clarke Carlisle, 32, depart this week. The former has left the club after his contract was settled up, while Carlisle, who scored at the weekend, has had his season-long loan spell terminated.

Paul Coutts has also been stripped of the North End captaincy; Westley unhappy with the midfielder’s attitude since he took the reins at Deepdale last month. The 23-year-old is suspended for two matches having picked up his 10^th yellow card of the season at Yeovil.

Andy Procter & Adam Barton are both doubtful for the visit of the Bees, who will be on a high after their 5-2 win against Wycombe last weekend.

Gary Alexander netted a hat-trick at Griffin Park and he has been in fine goal-scoring form lately with five in his last two matches.

It was the Hounslow club’s first win in eight matches and keeps them within five points of the play-off places.

Uwe Rösler could hand a debut to former QPR striker Antonio German who has penned an 18-month deal but Karleigh Osborne is still struggling with a foot injury and Kevin O’Connor will definitely miss out.

It is a difficult match to call with PNE winning only one of their last 11 home matches in all competitions while the visitors have only tasted victory once in their last nine on their travels.

North End currently lie four points and six places adrift of Brentford but nothing less than three points will do for Westley’s men who still harbour hopes of an unlikely play-off push.

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=8eb647d553″ _mce_href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=8eb647d553″ >Preston North End v Brentford</a>

Women’s Football 1sts 2

Leeds Met Carnegie 2nds 3

A brace from Mamz was not enough to lead Women’s Football 1sts to victory as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Leeds Met Carnegie 2nds.

Two goals in five second half minutes turned around the deficit of a single goal at the break, but UCLan let the lead slip and a late goal saw the visitors move level on points in the BUCS Northern division 1A table.

The home side dominated possession in the opening half, but found little reward and had to be continually wary of Leeds Mets’ lightning counter attacks.

The closest UCLan came to breaking the deadlock was their first chance on five minutes.  Rebecca Grocott’s lofted effort almost capitalised on a defence in disarray, but was cleared as it arched towards an unguarded goal.

The UCLan striker was a threat throughout and drove narrowly wide moments later as her side looked to press home their opening advantage.

However, their opponents’ quick strikers threatened to expose a high defensive line and, following a couple of early warnings, took the lead with a quarter of the match gone.

A defensive mix-up allowed the Leeds striker to scamper down the left wing and curl the ball over goalkeeper Laura Miller and into the far corner from the edge of the area.

The goal gave Leeds more of a foothold in the game, but Julie Spence’s spinning volley on 32 minutes could easily have levelled proceedings after Mamz’s cross found her free in the six yard box.

After a disjointed opening period, UCLan wasted no time in equalising inside two minutes of the second half.  Spence was quickest to react after a defensive error and freed Mamz to poke the ball under the onrushing goalkeeper.

The turnaround was complete seven minutes later.  The right winger Mamz once again found herself in space and one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but opted for a lob.  The goalkeeper got a hand to it, but was unable to prevent the ball from going in off the post.

Following a sloppy start to the second half, the goal sparked Leeds in to life on the hour mark and it took two tremendous saves from Miller to keep the hard-fought lead intact.  The goalkeeper showed lightning reflexes to tip a shot around the post with a strong one-handed save before being equally alert to save with her feet from the resulting corner.

Miller could do little about the Leeds Met equaliser which arrived on 66 minutes.  Some slick passing in central midfield released the left winger who burst into the area before placing the ball into the far corner.

A share of the spoils would probably have been a fair result, but Leeds Met snatched victory five minutes from time.  A snap shot from the edge of the area left Miller motionless as it went in off the inside of the post to ensure the three points would be heading to Leeds.

By Liam Geraghty

Deflation was visible on the faces of the Men’s Football 1sts after a 5-1 defeat to table-topping Sheffield Hallam 1sts at UCLan Sports Arena on Wednesday.

The majority of the Hallam goals were scored in the first-half on a typically chilly afternoon as UCLan found themselves 4-0 down by the interval, despite competing well in the early stages of the game.

It was the visitors who created the first clear-cut chance with barely five minutes on the clock after their headed effort was cleared off the line by UCLan’s Daniel Morgan.

The hosts then came close on the ten-minute mark when Joe Shelmerdine struck a beautifully curling free kick, thumping the Hallam post before rolling out for a goal-kick.

The first of the goals came after Sheffield’s Callum Ward was brought down in the area – leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Striker Matt Wooley then converted to give the visitors the lead with 19 minutes of the game played.

UCLan came out battling from the restart with Sheffield having goalkeeper Liam Flynn to thank for keeping the score as it was after a superb half-volley by Jake Forshaw was tipped over the bar from 25 yards out. The resulting corner was once again saved by the Hallam keeper after a strong header from defender Will Monks.

Minutes later the hosts were ruing their missed chances after Hallam midfielder Zach Bayarch nodded in from close range after a well delivered corner kick to double his side’s lead.

UCLan heads then seemed to drop as the frustration crept in, however little could have been done to prevent the visitors third of the match. A floated corner found its way to Dan Fradley, who half-volleyed the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net from the edge of the area, leaving keeper Matthew Bell with no chance.

Attacks from the home side on the opposition goal were restricted to long shots in the remaining minutes of the first half as the visitors began to get a real hold on the game.

On the stroke of half-time the fourth Hallam goal arrived after a great first touch and strike by Wooley could only see Bell get fingertips to the ball as it bounced in off the post into the back of the net.

UCLan came out after the break in a far more attacking fashion; closing down players quicker and using the wings much more productively to create chances.

On 50 minutes a strong penalty claim was turned down by the referee after stand out performer for the hosts, Joe Lolley, made a darting run into the area and looked to have been dragged down by a Hallam defender.

The game saw a lot of the ball in the middle of the park for a large remainder of the second half as UCLan began to break up the Sheffield attacks, with both keepers at each end having little to deal with. A neat finish from right back, Daniel Dasololu, on 75 minutes reduced the scoreline to 1-4 after a well delivered corner kick; giving the hosts a chance of making a game of it.

The home side were unlucky to not grab a second five minutes later after some last ditch defending prevented them from hitting the back of the net as they entered their best spell of the game.

Cruelly, it was Sheffield who grabbed the sixth and final goal of the match, as the result of another corner kick. This time the set-piece was headed home by defender Sam Dave, to seal the victory for the away side.

UCLan captain, Matthew Bell said afterwards, “We gave them too much respect”.

“We were much better in the second half, but we really need to concentrate on conceding less and today we just weren’t good enough”.

By Joe Angove

Preston will be looking to kick start their season on Saturday, as they welcome a Rochdale side currently sitting 21^st in League 1.

The Lilywhites haven’t won in the league for seven games, a run that stretches back to the 27^th September, when they triumphed 4-3 away at Wycombe.

Despite this poor run of form, North End are only five points off the play-off places, and a win on Saturday would give the team a huge lift as the season enters one of its most hectic periods.

Phil Brown will be hoping Iain Hume and Neil Mellor are available for Saturday after making tremendous strides in the last two weeks, although the game will come too soon for Jamie Proctor as he recovers from Hernia surgery.

Should Hume or Mellor not make the game, Southampton loanee Jonathon Forte is likely to lead the line with Juvhel Tsoumou a viable alternative up front.

Rochdale make the short trip to Deepdale in similarly bad form to their hosts, having not won in the league for six games, where they also beat Wycombe.

However that result was at home and it’s on their travels where the Dale have found life difficult. The Spotland side have only won once away from home, losing the other six and drawing one.

In that time they have conceded 19 goals, the worst of any team in the league and are yet to keep a clean sheet.

Manager Steve Eyre has no new fresh injury concerns ahead of the game and will be hoping for a positive result to inject some life into Rochdale’s season.

The teams met as recently as the 8^th November in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. The game ended 1-1 after Harry Bunn had cancelled out Adam Barton’s opener for North End. Penalties followed, with Phil Brown’s men coming out on top 4-2, after youngster Luke Clark  struck the winning spot kick.

That game will have little bearing on Saturday’s encounter, although Rochdale would be very pleased to leave Deepdale with a point. On the other hand, only three points will do for North End, and it’s games like these they will have to win, if they have aspirations of a play-off position come the end of the season.

By Richard Evans

UCLan 3rd’s followed up their embarrassing loss to the 4th team last week with another defeat, this time at the hands of Salford in the Conference Cup.

Salford are in the division below UCLan and goals from Matthew Collum and Craig O’Neil looked to have given the home side an expected win. But a late Salford equaliser ensured that it went the distance with the underdogs winning on penalties, despite being reduced to 10 men in extra time.

Despite the near perfect playing conditions the game began in a very scrappy manner with neither side being able to get a foot on the ball. UCLan skipper James Makki looked to be the biggest threat, the pacey winger getting in behind the Salford back line on a few occasions.

Inevitably it was Makki who had the first sighting of goal in the match on 20 minutes. A long ball forward from right back Steve Yates saw Makki baring down on goal, only for his shot to be blocked by a heroic Salford centre back.

Salford posed very little threat in the first half, resorting to long range efforts which UCLan goalkeeper Tom Massey had little trouble in dealing with. As the first half progressed UCLan began to gain control with wingers Makki and Ross Dennison causing the visitors’ defence problems.

On 26 minutes Dennison’s well struck 25-yard free kick whistled just over the bar with the keeper beaten as the home side looked to make their superiority pay.

 UCLan’s pressure finally told ten minutes before the half time whistle. Striker Matthew Collum showed how clinical he can be after being fairly anonymous until this point. After latching on to a ball played into the right channel he skipped inside the Salford left back before unleashing a ferocious drive across the stranded goalkeeper into the far corner of the net.

It was nearly 2-0 seconds before the break after the increasingly influential Dennison striking the woodwork with a looping free kick.

With a goal lead at half time and Salford looking toothless in attack, a place in the next round looked assured.

Salford came out in the second half with a renewed vigour and needed just a minute to get back on level terms. Out of nothing, midfielder Matthew McDermott found himself through on goal, needing no second invitation to slot past Massey to stun a previously redundant UCLan defence.

It went from bad to worse for UCLan a minute later when adamant penalty appeals were turned away by the referee despite it looking as though Collum had been felled in the area.

Salford’s revival continued as they continued to look more dangerous. Their big striker found himself through on goal on 53 minutes, only to muster a weak shot on goal which Massey easily fielded.

After a lively start to the second half the game began to resume its scrappy nature with several passes from both sides going astray.

The next action of note came on 70 minutes when goalscorer Collum was found by the dangerous Dennison in space. He surprised everyone by shooting early on his unfavoured left foot. The striker was incredibly unlucky to see his effort come back off the post with the keeper left grasping at thin air.

Salford failed to heed this warning and were made to pay a minute later.

On 71 minutes the ball broke to substitute Craig O’Neil who lashed the ball left footed past the Salford keeper’s despairing dive from just outside the box.

This looked to have won it for the home side until three minutes from time. The UCLan defence finally caved in to a barrage of Salford pressure when they failed to deal with a long ball in to the box. It fell kindly to striker Loris who poked the ball into the top corner to force 30 minutes of extra time.

The extra time period only brought about one incident of note but it was a big one. After a contentious offside decision was given against his team, a Salford centre back went too far in his dissent, being shown a straight red card for foul and abusive language.

UCLan failed to make the man advantage count meaning that the tie went all the way to penalties.

In a cruel twist of fate, man of the match Ross Dennison saw the first penalty of the shoot out saved as the keeper got down well to block his well struck effort.

The Salford penalties were all well placed, leaving Massey no chance before UCLan’s 4th penalty was skied by the centre back. This gave Salford savour Loris a chance to enhance his hero status by scoring the winning penalty which he took with aplomb, sending Massey the wrong way.

The result sees Salford march on to the next round while UCLan 3rds must stop the rot by avoiding a 3rd successive defeat next week.

By Will Rivers

Women’s Football 2nds were on the wrong end of a 5-1 score-line against an impressive Edge Hill Women’s 1sts in the Northern Conference Cup at the UCLan Sports Arena on Wednesday, despite battling hard for the duration of the game.

Edge Hill looked to push forward straight from the kick-off with some impressive passing moves to put the home defence under immediate pressure which they dealt with well.

However, on the ten minute mark UCLan found themselves 1-0 down after a well distributed ball over the top from the Edge Hill midfield found striker Lauren Horsefield;  putting her clean through on goal, striking the ball just to the right of keeper Laura Miller and giving the visitors an early advantage.

UCLan picked themselves up and started to play some impressive football which questioned the Edge Hill defence. Captain Stacy Partridge came close with a delightful curling free-kick just outside the box, edging just wide of the post on 22 minutes.

The hosts maintained the pressure and tested the Edge Hill keeper for the first time with an impressive effort from Mel Metcalfe after the number eight’s great run down the right wing.

The game began to feel quite edgy as both teams battled for possession just after the mid-point of the first half with a lot of the play in the middle of the park. But it was Edge Hill who began to produce the clear cut-chances, most notably Harriet Goon; who found herself with the goal at her mercy after a long shot had been parried by the home keeper into her path but the striker fired just wide.

On 40 minutes Edge Hill extended their lead after a free kick from just inside the UCLan half was delivered into the area falling to the feet of Anna Quintaid who made no mistake, powering the ball into the right hand corner to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

Edge Hill once again began the second half in an attacking fashion, producing some swift passing up and down the flanks and this created all sorts of problems for the UCLan defence. A majestic ball from captain Harriet Lewis found Chelsea Goon who steadied herself to rifle the ball into the far left of the goal, increasing the score-line to 3-0.

UCLan immediately hit straight back on 57 minutes after a well delivered free kick just left of the penalty area resulted in a messy clearance at the back which kindly fell to Stacy Partridge who finished well to lift give her side a chance of producing a  comeback.

Minutes later chances of a UCLan comeback were struck down after a superb long range strike from Edge Hill’s stand-out performer, Harriet Lewis, struck the inside of the post on its way into the back of the net.

UCLan continued to battle bravely into the latter stages of the game before Goon got her second of the game for Edge Hill on 82 minutes, sliding the ball past the oncoming Laura Miller just inside the penalty area to make it 5-1 to the visitors.

Captain for UCLan Woman’s 2nd Stacy Partridge said she was “happy with the work rate of her team”.

She added: “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game, they are a league above us and we had a few players out, but it just wasn’t our day again”.

By Joe Angove

Goal scorers – UCLan- Stacy Partridge

Edge Hill – Lauren Horsefield, Anna Quintaid, Chelsea Goon (2), Harriet Lewis

Phil Brown will welcome a break from league action as his Preston North End side take on Southend United in the first round of the FA Cup with Budweiser at Deepdale.

The Lilywhites have only picked up a single point from the last 21 available and dropped into the bottom half of the table after last Saturday’s crushing 5-2 defeat at top of the table Charlton Athletic.

Cup competitions have provided the club with some relief in a difficult few weeks, and are just three games away from Wembley after progressing to the area semi-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, although both the wins over Morecambe and Rochdale required a penalty shoot-out.

An extremely leaky defence has been a major factor in North End’s torrid run, conceding 18 in just five games as Brown has struggled to settle on a consistent back four, eight players having lined up at the back in that period.

Brown also has injury problems in attack with the trio of Iain Hume, Neil Mellor and Jamie Proctor still absent while Jonathan Forte, signed on loan from Southampton on Tuesday, has not been given permission to play.

With confidence at Deepdale ebbing away after every defeat,  in Southend they face a side on top form, riding high at the summit of League 2, with 11 wins from the last 12 in all competitions under the stewardship of Paul Sturrock.

The Shrimpers have also progressed to the JPT area semi-finals, after overcoming Oxford United 1-0 in a bad tempered contest which saw three red cards.

 The visitors will be without the suspended Anthony Grant, after the ex-Chelsea youngster was sent off while Blair Sturrock, Paul’s son, is also a doubt after going off with an abductor strain.

Sturrock senior is expecting his side to face a big challenge if they are to cause an upset: “Their whole team is full of first division, Championship players, so it will be a tough game.”

It is the first time in 12 years that Preston had featured in the first round of the FA Cup, while they last met Southend in Championship in 2006/07 season, where two late goals saw the visitors snatch a 3-2 win at Deepdale after the match at Roots Hall had finished goalless.

This weekend’s visitors were relegated at the end of that season and dropped into the basement division in 2009, however look set to challenge for promotion this year after former Plymouth manager Sturrock took over in July 2010.

A tough challenge awaits PNE on Saturday but if the FA Cup does provide the relief that they are looking for then it may also deliver a welcome victory.

By Ciaran Thomas

Current league form will favour neither side going into this Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area quarter-final between Preston North End and Rochdale.

PNE are now without a win in eight games following their 5-2 defeat at the hands of Charlton Athletic on Saturday, and will be looking to pick up a much needed, confidence boosting win at Spotland.

The League One leaders carved the helpless North End defence apart at the weekend and the Lilywhites found themselves 4-0 down within 38 minutes of the first half.

The performance in the second half was much improved for PNE, with a late header from Craig Morgan followed by a wonder goal from Keammar Daley, but it was still too little too late to mount any sort of comeback.

Rochdale, similarly to Preston, have struggled for form in recent weeks and are without a win in six, which finds them just inside the relegation zone after their 3-1 defeat to 4^th placed MK Dons at the weekend.

PNE may look back to the previous round of the JPT to find some inspiration for a victory against the Dale, after their gutsy 7-6 penalty shootout triumph against Morecambe in early October. Rochdale also progressed to the quarter-final of this competition following a penalty shootout victory against fellow League One side Walsall.

Meanwhile, North End fans spirits may be boosted by the signing of goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann – who put pen to paper on a one-month deal with the club yesterday. Having previously trialled with the Lilywhites in the summer, the German giant could be in line to start tonight’s game following injuries to both Iain Turner and Dominic Comrie.

Striking trio Iain Hume, Jamie Proctor and Neil Mellor are all set to remain sidelined for the match due to injury which leaves duo Barry Nicholson and Juhvel Tsoumou a possible pairing up-front.

Meanwhile, Rochdale manager Steve Eyre is set to name a similar side to that of Saturday including top scorer Ashley Grimes in attack.

This looks set to be an entertaining encounter as both sides look for a cup win which could potentially turn their so far disappointing season around. 

By Joe Angove

The 3rds began the game with some early pressure but the first chance fell to the 4ths in the fourth minute when Adam McLoughlin brought a fine save from the 3rds goalkeeper.

Five minutes later the deadlock was broken as a great piece of vision from Andy Harrison found Max Rippington just outside of the area and he made no mistake with his finish after coolly rounding the keeper to put the 4ths into the lead.

The 3rds responded to the goal with a decent spell of pressure but failed to create any clear cut chances as the 4ths defence held their own. After a quick counter attack from the 4ths, McLoughlin found himself one-on-one with the keeper once again and comfortable slid the ball into the right hand corner of the net to put his team 2-0 up.

Brimming with confidence the 4ths flooded forward with another attack and after a delightfully delivered corner on 26 minutes, Jocobo Manso found himself unmarked in the six-yard box to head home and extend his sides somewhat shock lead.

With frustration now settling in, the 3rds maintained a good spell of pressure but yet again failed to create many decent chances. The 4ths took advantage when they hit the back of the net following some poor defending which allowed McLoughlin to latch onto a loose ball and neatly finish to make it a resounding 4-0 in the 39^th minute.

By this point the stuffing had been completely knocked out of the 3rds and there looked to be no way back, however a mix up in defence gifted them a goal in first half injury time. James Bonvini misplaced his pass straight to 3rds number nine Dennison who hammered home to give the 3rds a glimmer of hope.

The 3rds come out strong in the second half creating a number of chances but their opponents defended bravely, although it came at a cost as their influential midfield captain Josh Rice suffered a head injury and was substituted on 65 minutes.

After striking the cross-bar minutes before, it was Andy Bartholomew who reduced the scoreline to 4-2. A long shot was parried by the 4ths goalkeeper and the ball worked its way to Bartholomew for a simple tap-in and suddenly the comeback was on.

The pressure grew on the 4ths and in the 85^th minute Dennison get his second of the game from an in-swinging corner by substitute De Luka. However it was too little too late for the 3rds as the 4ths picked up a vital win against their league and university rivals.

Delighted 4ths Captain Josh Rice said: “We showed great character and kept going until the end. Our first half performance was superb and it shows we have the quality to win the league and now we are getting back up the table to where we should be”.

By Joe Angove