Darren Carter's final minute screamer stole victory for Preston North End on a night where their luck finally turned for the better.

Leicester had three goals disallowed and had an equivalent number of penalty shouts waved away by Wiltshire referee Roger East, as everything went North End's way in the relegation tussle.

It was possibly harsh on the home side, who were territorially dominant for much of the game, but it was a more than welcome reward for Preston's resilience throughout, with Carter's goal one that will live long in the memory of the travelling army.

North End fielded new signing Craig Beattie from the off, and he could have had a goal within 30 seconds of his debut. Chris Brown's neat ball to the left found Chris Sedgwick in space, and he slipped it through perfectly for Beattie. He struck it neatly with the outside of his right foot, but Paul Henderson stuck out an arm to block what would have been a memorable start.

Leicester first tested inside 12 minutes when the lively DJ Campbell saw a shot charged down amidst a crowd of bodies in the visitors' penalty area, before feeding Iain Hume a couple of minutes later, but the wide man was a little too ambitious as he ran onto an angled chance with enthusiasm, and ended up scuffing the effort considerably wide of target.

Andy Lonergan and Matt Hill had to be alert to thwart Matt Oakley after a ricochet sent him through on goal, and though Preston had looked the better side in the opening minutes, it was the host side that made all the running as the half wore on.

The game fell into a lull until the half hour, when Leicester forced a succession of corners - eventually undone when North End broke at pace from a Lonergan clearance. Carter led the charge, and the pacy Beattie fired in a delivery from the left, but an advancing Sean St Ledger couldn't make sufficient contact on the cross to convert.

Beattie looked like North End's best bet for a goal, and saw another shot charged down after good interplay with captain Paul McKenna, while his cheeky flick gave space for Sedgwick to whip in a left wing cross that Patrick Kisnorbo nearly turned over the head of his own goalkeeper. Sadly, Beattie's night didn't last much longer.

Brown's snapshot pinged off a Leicester head as Preston pressed from a corner, while Lee Hendrie won a corner for his own side after coming close in a lightning break. All this occurred as Beattie remained static in back play, and was brought off as a precaution with a muscle injury; Neil Mellor his replacement.

The yellows didn't seem put off by the loss of the Scot, and continued to press with venom. However, they were nearly caught out when Oakley drifted a cross that squirmed right across the imaginary surface area of the goal, and the referee was called to intervene when Liam Chilvers was somewhat cheekily accused of felling Campbell with a clean interception.

The half ended goalless, with both sides having looked threatening, but never particularly likely to score.

Once again, the half included a penalty shout, with Mawene's feint brush on Hendrie producing a roar from the home crowd, but a spot kick was never the likely outcome.

More likely looked a Preston goal when Darren Carter flashed a shot just wide of the goalframe, drawing a collective 'ooh' from the 500 or so PNE fans in a season-low crowd of 19,264 at the Walkers Stadium.

Another chanceless spell of around ten minutes was ended when Carter again turned the ball wide, while Preston were nearly caught out again when they failed to effectively clear from a set play and Patrick Kisnorbo stabbed a shot over the top.

Mawene and Lonergan then courted controversy when the keeper handled a mis-timed backpass as he tried to clear the danger from Richard Stearman's long throw, with the home crowd turning their venom on the referee as they perceived him to be regularly persecuting against their heroes.

Leicester made a double change with Barry Hayles and Matty Fryatt entering the field as a new front two - and they thought it had worked as they netted with 15 minutes remaining. However, the flag went up for offside, with Fryatt having strayed beyond the last man as he tucked Stearman's angled cross below Lonergan's dive.

Fryatt thought he'd netted again five minutes later as he chased Hayles' chested ball over the top, but just as he'd done first time round, he'd gone beyond the last line of defence before firing the shot into the back of the net.

The longer the game went on, the less likely it looked that either side would fashion a win, but with just 30 seconds of normal time remaining...

Setting off on a mazy dribble down the centre, Mellor looked the obvious target for a through ball, but the front man strayed offside. Instead, Carter elected to go it alone, and with the defence opening up invitingly, he smashed an absolute beauty into the top left corner.

There was further drama in stoppage time as Leicester had a third strike disallowed. With just 30 seconds left, Iain Hume floated in a corner from the right, and with keeper Henderson up inside the box to cause confusion, Stearman scuffed the ball in at the back post. However, the referee spotted an infringement, and the supposed equaliser was ruled out. Unsurprisingly, home fans and players alike were livid.

It meant that North End were able to celebrate victory just moments later against a chorus of boos - one of the most satisfying sounds the PNE faithful have heard all season.

PNE: Lonergan, St Ledger, Mawene, Chilvers, Hill, Sedgwick, McKenna (capt), Carter, Whaley (sub Lewis Neal 77), Brown, Beattie (sub Mellor 38). Subs not used: Chris Neal, Hawley, Jones.

Leicester: Henderson, Stearman, Kisnorbo, N'Gotty, Clapham, Hume, Oakley, Clemence (capt, sub Mattock 59), Hendrie, Campbell (sub Fryatt 71), Howard (sub Hayles 71). Subs not used: Chambers, McAuley.

Bookings: Hill (63), St Ledger (81)

Referee: Roger East

Attendance: 19,264