Leicester v PNE: Minute-By-Minute
Posted on: Sat 26 Sep 2009
Leicester v PNE
Walkers Stadium
Coca-Cola Championship
Saturday 26th September, 3pm kick-off
Final Score: Leicester City 1 Preston 2 (Berner 90; Mellor 42, Chaplow 65)
Click here to listen to PNE Player coverage from 2pm.
Email your thoughts to the matchday commentary team via ged.mills@centralradio.fm, phone the studio on 01772 708 000, or send your thoughts via SMS - text CENTRAL then your message to 81803.
1655: So what a performance! North End march on after what is one of the most professional and satisfying away performances I have witnessed in recent times. To come to Leicester and take their unbeaten record is some feat. This is the Lilywhites' fourth consecutive victory over the Foxes on their home turf. PNE now look to Tuesday night and another home game, this time against Reading.
90+4 min: It got a bit twitchy towards the end but North End claim all three points as the referee blows for full-time.
90+3 min: 20,623 fans is the attendance. I think a lot of the home fans might have left early though and will miss out on this late fightback!
90 min: Goal for Leicester!!! A late scare for the Lilywhites! Bruno Berner squeezes a shot in from the left channel and Lonergan just can't get enough on the ball to prevent the ball from crossing the line.
89 min: Davidson is loving this. Chris Brown goes down after the ball smacks him in the face, Callum has a little chuckle to himself and points to his nose.
87 min: Waghorn is booked for a late challenge on Liam Chilvers. There is a steady stream of Leicester fans now leaving the stadium, they've seen enough. Callum shows me five fingers to signal that Spurs are beating the Clarets 5-0.
85 min: Lonergan is almost taken by surprise when Dutchman Yann Kermorgant volleys the ball across the face of goal from an unlikely angle, Lonners has to scramble across to ensure that the ball does not find its way in at the far post.
80 min: A bit of pressure from Leicester City. A great ball in from the left from Waghorn and Nolan has to head the ball from underneath his own crossbar, the ball goes up into the air and neither Dyer or Fryatt can get a sight at goal before Neilson blasts the ball high and wide in frustration.
78 min: Callum Davidson has a big grin on his face. Not neccasarily anything to do with what's going on in front of him, maybe something to do with the scoreline which is coming in from White Hart Lane where Spurs are beating Burnley 4-0.
77 min: A change for the Foxes. Richie Wellens is replaced in midfield by the exotically named Yann Kermorgant.
74 min: A nervous moment for PNE. Gallagher sends a ball in from the right and Fryatt manages to spin into space and drill a shot at goal, Lonergan parried the ball into the air and Chilvers looked to have it covered but Oakley poked out a leg and almost turned it into the empty net. Fortunately for PNE the ball found the sidenetting.
71 min: The home fans are getting a little restless and impatient with their team this afternoon.
65 min: Goal for PNE!!! Fantastic stuff from the Lilywhites!!!! Neil Mellor runs the length of the field before finding Richard Chaplow with an exquisite pass, perfect weight and Chaplow simply cannot miss. Wonderful counter-attacking stuff from Alan Irvine's men.
63 min: A double substitution from the home team. Lloyd Dyer and Martyn Waghorn are on to replace N'Guessan and Howard, a like for like change in terms of position.
62 min: Chaplow has a header from eight yards out. It was a free header as it turned out from a Billy Jones cross in the deep, and the groan that Callum Davidson made to my left suggests that Chappy might have done better.
58 min: Dany N'Guessan should have done better when teed up by Wellens in the box, the former Lincoln man from 12-yard out side-footed the ball over the bar.
56 min: North End look really positive going forward and are going at the Foxes from both flanks. Mellor runs at the Leicester defence and there doesn't seem to be a Foxes man who wants to challenge him, he plays the ball into Chaplow's feet and there's a very blatant handball from Chappy as the ball is cleared in his direction. On the other flnak Eddie Nolan cuts inside from the left flank and on his favoured right boot drills a low shot at goal, Weale does well, in his cap, to get down and save.
54 min: Collins sends a header high into the air, Lonners has a close eye on the ball and just tips it so that the ball lands on the crossbar and bounces away for a corner.
53 min: The North End fans are in fine voice again as the sun bathes down on Deepdale. The floodlights have been turned off and 'THERE'S ONLY ONE ALAN IRVINE'.
50 min: Fryatt takes another swipe at goal, he gets on the end of a long Weale punt downfield and volleys one at goal from some distance and some angle, it was always heading over the bar though.
47 min: A bright start from the Lilywhites in the opening moments of the second half. Wallace takes another whack, he's got a problem with his ankle from the earlier challenge from Neilson but he's happy enough to run it off.
1603: Back underway here at the Walkers.
1557: The food situation at the Walkers has just improved dramatically. Hot roast beef sandwiches!!! It's like they've gone from relegation fodder to promotion contenders in one fell swoop!
1550: It's half-time here. A decent first half performance from Alan Irvine's side. They looked after the main threat of Fryatt pretty well, limiting him to minimal chances. They've also looked good up the other end of the field, carving out a number of chances.
45 min: Two minutes of added time which is a little bemusing as Wallace was down injured for a bit. As the board goes up Nolan has to be alert to nod the ball back to Lonergan as Fryatt lurks with menace.
43 min: A great time to score and it's almost 2-0 before the break. Mellor with another fine chance this time from eight yards out, he just can't get the ball from under his feet though, he still brings a good save from Weale. Leicester look a little rattled.
42 min: Goal for PNE!!! You can't say that the Lilywhites have not deserved it!!! Neil Mellor with his sixth goal of the season. Billy Jones once again the provider, he's making a right nuisance of himself in opposition boxes recently and it's his persistence which gets the ball to Mellor's feet 15 yards out and he does not miss from there!!! Get in!!
37 min: After a frenetic opening half an hour we've not really had a chance to speak about for a few minutes. Time for me to tell you about one of the executive boxes just over my right shoulder which is packed full of Preston fans. They're quite voiciferous as well so if we get a Preston goal it could be interesting.
28 min: A good effort for Leicester. Fryatt is the dangerman again, his industry down the left channel attracts a few PNE players and he plays the ball inside to Oakley who drills the shot straight at goal, Lonergan saves really well but Gallagher is there with a header almost straight away, Gally's header though is over the bar.
27 min: Whilst PNE are down to 10 men they create a great chance of their own. The ball comes in from the left and Leicester can only clear the ball as far as Mellor who is lurking on the penalty spot, Mellor volleys towards goal but his effort is well blocked by Tunchev.
25 min: First yellow card of the game is for a Leicester man. Robbie Neilson with a late challenge on Ross Wallace, it was one of those where the crowd all went 'Oooh' and to be honest Ross doesn't look too happy. 'Cueball' the physio is on the pitch and he takes Wallace off who is hobbling about rather gingerly.
24 min: A really good opening quarter to the game. North End certainly don't look to have come here to defend, they look really confident on the ball whilst the home team also look like a side who have not been beaten on home soil for a while. A really entertaining affair.
23 min: Real end to end stuff at the Walkers. N'Guessan sends a great delivery to the far post and Fryatt arrives from nowhere to get a volley at goal, it's a sliced effort but is still only just over the crossbar. Probably the Foxes' best chance so far.
22 min: Another good chance for North End. Mellor surging down the left flank and he has only Brown to aim at, but he finds his target and Brown's header is back across goal, forcing Chris Weale to be at his best to pluck the ball out of the air.
20 min: Three decent chances for Fryatt within the space of a minute of two, the second of which was his only clear-cut chance, he picked up the ball just inside the box and tried to curl the ball low and beyond Lonners, it was always going wide though.
17 min: A counter-attack from the Lilywhites, Chaplow surging clear downfield, he takes the ball from one end of the field to the other and has only Ross Wallace in support, he just can't find his man.
16 min: North End carve Leicester City wide open and it should have been 1-0 to the Lilywhites. Jones and Mellor combine excellently on the right flank and Jones it is who surges into the box before squaring the ball towards two unmarked PNE players, it arrives at Chaplow's feet and he had time to take a touch but he hit it first time and spooned the ball over the cross-bar. A really decent chance!
14 min: North End win their first two corners of the game in quick succession but neither of them come to a positive conclusion.
11 min: PNE, PNE, PNE!!! The North End fans tucked away in the far corner are in fine voice. There's quite a few of them, I saw five or six coaches departing the Deepdale car park this morning.
9 min: The floodlights are on here. A reminder that the nights will be closing in soon and that it might be time for me to jet off to spend the winter on my own private caribbean island.
6 min: PNE haven't settled yet, they've got to get a foothold in the game somehow. There's a big drum blasting out from the stand opposite the press area, thankfully it's opposite the press area and nowhere near it otherwise the drumstick might disappear rather quickly. Drums at football? It's not a rock concert!
5 min: North End are actually in white shirts this afternoon and I must admit it's taken a few fans by surprise, there's a smattering of yellow in the away end and lots of red. Can anyone actually remember the last time we wore our home strip at the Walkers?
4 min: First shot of the afternoon comes from distance. A bit of a scramble on the edge of the box and it comes out to Richie Wellens who hits a shot that is always rising.
2 min: A really bright start by Nigel Pearson's men. They're knocking the ball about with a great deal of confidence and seem to have target the right flank as their main point of attack.
1 min: Those of you who remember our last Saturday trip here will remember Matty Fryatt scoring a goal after nine seconds. The Foxes fans were off their seats just as early as Fryatt ran down that same channel but Neill Collins was well placed to intercept the former Walsall man.
1501: We're underway.
1500: A late kick-off here. We've got 'Hey Jude' by the Beatles blasting out now.
1456: The sounds of Kasabian are now blasting around the stadium, they're Leicester boys and the annoying commentary is now rubbing it in our faces by telling us that the Foxes are unbeaten in a calender year.
1451: They're playing a bit of Elbow and Kings of Leon over the tannoy system here, lovely stuff, only ruined by the fact that they keep playing little commentary snippets of Leicester goals over the top of the music. Must be part of their pre-match build-up and it seems to be working as they're unbeatable at home.
1439: Callum Davidson is another late arrival in the press-box. His hamstring woes allow him to take a visit to his former club in a non-playing capacity but more importantly it allows the PNE Player and Central Radio listeners to hear his gruff Scottish voice and undoubted passion over the airwaves. If you've never heard Callum co-commentate on a match before you are in for a treat.
1437: Steve Cowell has just turned up in the press-box, he's dressed in his usual manner, finely coiffured hair, sartorial elegance at its best. He's just told me that he doesn't want to talk about the Fans Team's result. Oh dear, we can only guess that things didn't go to plan.
1432: They have tightened the purse-strings a little here at the Walkers since recent times. A trip to Leicester used to be one which we always used to look forward to due to the culinary delights of the Press Room. We were always greeted with a fine selection of pies, soup, pizza pods, sandwiches and even a well stocked bar. We get there today and we are greeted with just one tiny plate of tiny sandwiches.
1429: Leicester have two former North Enders in their starting eleven. Wayne Brown and Paul Gallagher have both spent loan time at Deepdale under Alan Irvine in recent seasons. North End's sole Leicester playing connection, Callum Davidson, is on co-commentary duty for PNE Player this afternoon. Preston also have a former Leicester boss, Robert Kelly, on the bench as assistant boss for the Lilywhites.
1427: So a total of five changes for the Lilywhites. No real shocks, as Alan Irvine fields a similar eleven to the one which beat Coventry in the league last weekend. The Lilywhites revert to six players on the bench again, no space for any of the youngsters who featured on Wednesday night against Spurs.
Leicester: Weale, Neilson, Tunchev, Brown, Oakley, Howard, Fryatt, Berner, N'Guessan, Wellens, Gallagher. Subs: King, Dyer, Logan, Adams, Waghorn, Kermorgant, Hobbs.
PNE: Lonergan, Jones, Collins, Chilvers, Nolan, Sedgwick, Chaplow, Shumulikoski, Wallace, Brown, Mellor. Subs: Henderson, Carter, Hart, Mawene, Elliott, Parkin.
1415: We are still awaiting the team news from the dressing room areas. Chris Sedgwick and Neill Collins are both back available for selection, Sedgwick's missus had a bouncing baby boy on Wednesday, Benjamin Laurence, congratulations Sedge, Collins was cup-tied.
1412: So we are here at the Walkers Stadium. North End hoping to end the longest unbeaten home record in the Football League and continue their charge at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship.
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