It took two penalties to settle the 126th Lancashire derby between the Lilywhites and the Clarets as Preston furthered their Play-Off push in the best possible fashion.
A brace of league victories to open 2009 against leading promotion contenders will mean that hopes are high at Deepdale, and the confident 12-yard strikes from Callum Davidson and Neil Mellor were indicative of the growing belief around Deepdale.
It was possibly harsh on the cup specialists from the other end of the M65 with both penalties being genuine talking points, but it's all about taking the chances when they come, and there were no complaints from the recipients.
Crucially, North End made just one change to the side that stunned Wolves in such convincing fashion seven days earlier, bringing Davidson back after recovering from injury in time to take his familiar place at left back; Eddie Nolan reverting to the bench.
Under bright sunshine, Preston made an equally glowing start, with forwards Jon Parkin and Stephen Elliott, alongside winger Ross Wallace on his first outing as a permanent PNE player, looking lively from the outset.
It didn't take long to fashion out a chance that Burnley found hard to defend in the low sun, with Paul McKenna launching a hanging cross towards the back post that Sean St. Ledger found easiest to spot, and he was only a whisker away with his header as it rolled along the roof of the net.
The arial route looked to be a profitable one as Callum Davidson turned defence into attack with a high through ball from within what would be considered the usual left back's patch, but though Stephen Elliott got goal side of Stephen Caldwell and one-on-one with keeper Brian Jensen, he appeared to lose his footing as Burnley's own Beast approached and ended up crumpled in a three-man pile up as the ball rolled away to safety.
The visitors turned that moment of defensive anguish into an immediate counter as they secured a set piece on the counter. Eagles drifted his 25-yard free kick to Leyland lad Clarke Carlisle, and his return header into the centre of the box found Martin Paterson, but Andy Lonergan reacted well to keep the perrennial menace's own header out from just underneath the crossbar.
Having proved an attacking threat at one end, Carlisle also proved troublesome to his fellow defenders at the other as a woeful mis-kick gave Elliott something to chase, and though he couldn't fashion a clear opening, he helped start a move that culminated in Wallace's cross being headed at goal with pace by Parkin, albeit with Jensen ready to react and claim the ball at head height.
With pacy Elliott proving hard to handle, Carlisle may have perhaps found form by switching to a striking position, as once again he posed problems with an incisive ball.
Stabbing a low cross-cum-shot with pace towards the back post, Richard Chaplow responded quickly to avert the initial danger, but he could do nothing to prevent the loose ball from bouncing straight into Chris McCann, a matter of millimetres away from goal. Fortune was with Preston, however, as the midfielder reacted instinctively to pinch a shot towards goal, though alas he fired high and handsome over the top of a target that seemed impossible to miss.
Parkin continued to make a nusiance of himself at the right end from a Preston perspective by winning most of his arial challenges, including one that dropped onto the feet of Billy Jones, but the angle and the quantity of defensive cover were two factors that very much counted against him.
Though not what would be termed a 'classic', this was certainly shaping up to be another entertaining derby tussle, with chances aplenty at both ends, including a couple of snapshots from former Deepdale hero Graham Alexander, who received far kinder treatment from the supporters of his former Club than Richard Chaplow did from the followers of his debut team.
Another arial threat came from Mawene, whose far post effort from a Wallace corner was blocked just short of the line by Carlisle, while Lonergan had to be alert to a shot dipping out of the sky as Chris Eagles drew him into an acrobatic block with an audacious shot from just inside the right hand touchline that was otherwise destined for the top left hand corner of the Town End net.
All the first half seemed to lack was a goal, and after the obligatory 15-minute rest, Burnley started with huge promise, needing a sprawling fingertip stop from Lonergan and a committed block from Parkin to keep out McCann and Michael Duff respectively within the opening seconds of the second period.
Paterson also read a flick from strike partner Steven Thompson well, as was soon racing free inside the box, but his low shot was comfortably dealt with by the reliable presence of Lonergan.
Preston posed questions of their own when Billy Jones burst into the box with Caldwell for company, and though there were cries for handball against the defender from the Town End masses, Preston got their penalty within eight minutes of the game re-starting.
The Parkin-Elliott combination once again worked wonders, with the latter chasing a flicked header into space, and having drawn Jensen to the right hand side of his box, the collision between keeper and forward seemed almost inevitable.
Previously, the man to convert a pressure penalty for the Lilywhites in a derby situation would have been Graham Alexander, but with the Scottish international instead finding himself as the leader of the opposition protests, it was left to our new penalty specialist, Callum Davidson, to thump the ball into the bottom right hand corner in front of the watchful eye of Scotland boss George Burley and around 13,000 gleeful North Enders.
With the deadlock broken, the atmosphere finally came to the fore, and chances seemed so much easier to carve.
Parkin's delightful ball was close to exploitation from the twinkling toes of Wallace, though having twisted and turned his way into the box with sprawled bodies left in his wake, the right-footed shot drifted an agonising matter of inches wide of the far post.
He then turned provider after Mawene spread position to the flanks, and despite an inviting ball to the edge of the six yard box, Chaplow couldn't convert with his head against his old club, with Jensen waiting with relief to collect the ball placed straight into his palms.
Needing an answer to Preston's new found dominance, the Clarters sent on regular troublemaker Robbie Blake to try and unsettle the determined Deepdale defence, with Joey Gudjonsson making way having appeared to suffer from injury throughout the game - the result of a knee complaint suffered in the warm-up.
Sedgwick and Chaplow, however, proved equal matches to anything Burnley could throw at us, with the latter latching onto the winger's defence carving ball to strike, and only an interception from Caldwell - leading to a corner - kept the scoreline to one-nil.
From that resulting corner, Sean St. Ledger showed great composure in twisting the ball onto his stronger right foot, but after the silky skills he will have been disappointed not to have struck his eventual shot with greater pace as Jensen held on.
It was a shame neither chance was taken, because the away side took advantage in the worst possible fashion.
Sedgwick was harshly adjudged to have been at fault as a foul call went against him, 25 yards from his own goal, and the fears over the arrival of Blake that some will have felt were soon realised as he curled the ball with expert precision over the top of the wall and in via the inside of the post.
The first league goal PNE had conceded at Deepdale for over 400 minutes meant for a frantic final 13 minutes in this encounter, with nerves frayed on both sides of the divide - albeit that those from east Lancashire now had the wind behind their sails as a chilly January breeze began to bite.
Alan Irvine sent on Barry Nicholson and Neil Mellor in search of a killer second, and what a change it proved to be.
A bizarre penalty call went Preston's way as the referee spotted a stray Burnley arm making contact with the ball as Caldwell went up for a high challenge with Parkin. A confused Deepdale crowd seemed unsure as to what had been given following a muted North End appeal, but Mellor showed he had a clear head to pinch the dead ball duties and bury the ball below Jensen's dive. Practically his first touch within 60 seconds of coming on, and a vital lead with only five minutes of normal time to play.
From a position of ascendency, the second penalty appeared to have knocked the stuffing out of the Clarets, with Preston professionally working the ball into the corners for much of the remaining period, but it also took Lonergan's brilliant tip around the post from the visitors' top scorer Paterson to ensure that North End went fourth prior to the start of the 3pm kick-offs elsewhere in the country.
PNE: Lonergan, Davidson, Chaplow (sub Nicholson 81), Mawene, Sedgwick, St. Ledger, McKenna (capt), Jones, Wallace, Parkin, Elliott (sub Mellor 84). Subs: C Neal, Brown, Nolan.
Booked: Wallace.
Burnley: Jensen, Alexander, Duff, Carlisle, Caldwell (capt), Gudjonsson (sub Blake 66), Paterson, McCann, Jordan, Thompson (sub Rodriguez 76), Eagles. Subs: Penny, Mahon, McDonald.
Referee: Mr P Taylor.
Attendance: 15,692.
