First half strikes from Neil Mellor and Billy Jones gave PNE another valuable three points against newly promoted Peterborough United as the unbeaten start to 2009/10 continued, but the win was tinged with sadness with Barry Nicholson appearing to have suffered a serious injury.

The goals in a resolute victory came either side of a crunching clash between Nicholson and George Boyd, which resulted in the Scot being carried off with what looked like a broken leg just before the half hour, going off the noise made when the pair came together.

The injury was a sign of the fact that things didn't all go Preston's way on a fractuous afternoon under the Deepdale sunshine, with a number of niggling challenges and some curious officiating making it a nervy victory at times.

Alan Irvine made three changes to his line-up as opposed to the team at Barnsley on Tuesday - all in midfield. Only Ross Wallace remained on the left, with Richard Chaplow, Barry Nicholson and Chris Sedgwick in for Darren Carter, Veliche Shumulikoski and Paul Parry, who all took a seat on the bench.

Russell Martin for Tom Williams was the only Posh change from their last effort against West Brom, a 3-2 defeat that almost saw them recover from being 3-0 down in the first half.

The most telling effect the changes had was to ensure North End took a nice early lead to give them a platform for progression. Sedgwick, one of the incoming bodies, left full-back Charlie Lee for dead down the right hand side with less than eight minutes played, and having worked his way to the byline, his gently rolled ball into Neil Mellor's path was bread and butter for a striker who doesn't miss chances when unmarked six yards out.

More good football from PNE five minutes later nearly created a second. Chaplow picked up a loose ball in midfield after Nicholson had competed for possession, and finding captain Callum Davidson on the overlap was a good move; the only misfortune being that Jon Parkin's back post header from his skipper's cross was straight at keeper Joe Lewis.

It took a great tackle from Russell Martin to deny Nicholson when clear from the following attack, and similar defending was required at the other end as Sedgwick was caught out by hotshot Craig Mackail-Smith on the counter, but Davidson's slide held off the threat of a man you would back to score when clear on goal, having netted 23 goals in last year's promotion season.

North End enjoyed a relative let-off with 20 minutes played, George Boyd squaring to Aaron McLean in space within the box, but he shot high and handsome with the goal at his mercy, but there was bad news to follow with a heavy collision following just a matter of minutes later between Boyd and Nicholson.

Both went for a loose ball in midfield, but Nicholson certainly came out of it second best with they challenge a heavy one. The cracking sound on impact was certainly a huge concern, and after four minutes of nerve-jangling treatment and Nicholson in evident pain, he was carried off on a stretcher and replaced by Carter - the yellow card shown to him by referee David Webb literally adding insult to injury.

Seemingly shaken by the lengthy stoppage, Preston were slow to re-start, and were thankful when Lee spun a shot over the bar with the defence not ready to deal with him. That shake-up soon got North End going again though, and with Mellor and Wallace harrassing the back-line initially, it was left to an unlikely source to double PNE's lead on the half hour.

Mellor dropped off into a wide right position to help with the ball-winning expedition, and having sent full-back Billy Jones away on the overlap, the defender surprised the opposing defence by opting not to cross, and instead beat the onrushing Lewis from an angle, gliding the ball into the opposite top corner.

Such was Preston's enjoyment down that flank that left-back Lee was only given another three minutes in that position before being replaced by Tommy Rowe, seemingly without injury, as a lack of communication with any of his colleagues as he slumped onto the bench probably testified.

It was perhaps sign, however, of Preston's superiority on that side than Posh's ineficiency when Sedgwick immediately left the new defender trailing, freeing Jones to square to Parkin, who tapped into an empty net, but it was all made a bit easier with Jones having been the victim of a relieving offside flag from the visitors' viewpoint.

The only thing holding Preston back was the pickiness of the officials - Carter and Davidson both booked for innocuous challenges before another Mellor tap in was denied for a harsh offside call against Chaplow as he seemed to have found room when latching onto Wallace's through ball. Nonetheless, it didn't prevent them from taking the two-goal lead they deserved into the half-time break.

A steady starting second half was interrupted only briefly for a visiting substitution, a few short forays to the edge of the Town End penalty area that ultimately came to nothing, and a dangerous Shaun Batt challenge on Liam Chilvers that went unpunished, with the first notable moment of the half taking 15 minutes to arrive.

Parkin, the furthest man forward, held of Zakuani for as long as he could before finding Mellor, and he in turn sent Carter racing into the box. Just as he aimed his shot as goal, Craig Morgan slid across to produce a late block, and PNE were still waiting for the strike that would have killed the contest once and for all.

Yet again Morgan held up PNE's hopes by throwing his body into a challenge on Mellor three minutes later, and hence Alan Irvine looked to his bench for inspiration; Paul Parry on for the hard-working man who had just been denied.

Parry's throw, soon after his arrival, gave Parkin room to tee up Sedgwick, but the winger's shot was palmed away by the black-shirted Lewis, and Parry then dispossessed Rowe on a further attack, again finding Parkin, but the striker's scuffed shot was wayward.

The half had a largely disjointed feel - epitomised by substitute Dominic Green's tame shot with ten minutes left, perhaps indicative of the newly promoted side's lack of belief that the game was there to be wrestled back into their grasp.

Preston were content to keep the ball and press for adventure with an element of caution; with Sedgwick predominantly playing inside Parry, the side largely boasted a five in midfield for much of the half to keep it tight.

The relative frustration felt by all in the second half was perhaps best summised by Wallace's miss with just over two minutes to play. Chaplow, sub Chris Brown and Parry had all switched play one way and the other between them, the final ball played straight into the Scotsman's path six yards from goal, but just as the chance came to pass he slid into the path of the ball and turned it wide of a gaping far post. An unfortunate end to a very nice passing move.

All that matterered, however, was that the result went PNE's way, and North End's place at the right end of the table was cemented with our unbeaten start continuing.

PNE: Lonergan, Jones, St. Ledger, Chilvers, Davidson (capt), Sedgwick, Nicholson (sub Carter 26), Chaplow, Wallace, Parkin (sub Brown 77), Mellor (sub Parry 64). Subs not used: Henderson, Hart, Shumulikoski, Nolan.

Booked: Nicholson, Carter, Davidson

Peterborough: Lewis, Martin, Lee (sub Rowe 33), Morgan, Zakuani, Batt (sub Green 73), Coutts, Diagouraga (sub Frecklington 53), Boyd, McLean, Mackail-Smith. Subs not used: McKeown, Pearce, Keates, Torres.

Booked: Zakuani

Referee: Mr D Webb

Attendance: 11,549