Darren Ferguson returned to his former stamping ground with Preston in a hard-fought 1-1 draw against a Wrexham side that were well up to the task.
Danny Mayor opened the scoring in the 21st minute, when he took advantage of a defence-splitting Billy Jones ball to slot home past Chris Maxwell. Andy Mangan equalised ten minutes later though, finishing off a breakaway move with a shot that deflected in off Sean St. Ledger.
The Lilywhites did have chances to win it through Paul Hayes, Keith Treacy and Danny Mayor, but in the end the result wasn't important as Preston continued their successful pre-season preparations.
Preston named a strong team for their clash at the Racecourse Ground, with former Wrexham defender Craig Morgan partnering St. Ledger at the back. Callum Davidson and David Gray completed the back line, whilst Jones moved into midfield once again. There were also places for Mayor and Adam Barton, behind Chris Brown in attack.
The home side featured Davidson's former Leicester team-mate, Frank Sinclair, as well as strikers Mangan and Andy Morrell.
With Paul Hayes slotting in behind Brown, PNE lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, and were almost ahead in the fifth minute when a Mayor cross was sliced goalwards by Morrell. Putting a man on the post paid off for Wrexham though, as Jay Harris scrambled a clearance.
Wrexham came up with a chance of their own five minutes later, when a driven right-wing cross from Morrell required a Gray intervention to deny Mangan a tap in from six yards.
Brown and St. Ledger both followed up with headed efforts for North End. In the 12th minute St. Ledger got on the end of a Danny Mayor free kick, and two minutes later Brown managed to do the same with a Davidson cross, both chances missed the target however.
PNE then took a deserved lead in the 21st minute through Mayor. The midfielder latched onto a wonderful pass from Billy Jones that split the Wrexham defence wide open. Through on goal, the youngster coolly slotted it underneath Chris Maxwell to make it 1-0. It was a great finish by Mayor, but credit must go to Jones for the pass.
North End's lead lasted all of ten minutes though when Mangen equalised for Wrexham. Declan Walker robbed Paul Hayes of the ball on the right hand side, before breaking at pace. He then teed up Mangan for a shot from 12 yards, which took a cruel deflection off St. Ledger to deceive Andy Lonergan.
The rest of the first half passed without any clear-cut chances, although Wrexham were starting to play their way into the game, giving a good account of themselves. For North End, Mayor looked like the main threat, and his dangerous runs were beginning to attract the attention of the harder tacklers in the Wrexham team.
Darren Ferguson made two changed for the second half, with Keith Treacy and Jamie Proctor replacing Brown and Gray. Proctor slotted in up front, whilst Treacy went wide left, meaning Jones reverted back to right-back in a 4-4-2 formation.
Wrexham made a change of their own, with Shearer coming on. The Newcastle legend's namesake, Scott, was a goalkeeper not a striker though, and replaced Maxwell in net.
The Lilywhites started brightly, Mayor and Barton combining beautifully on the right, winning a corner. Morgan rose to meet the resulting corner, but the referee blew for a foul by the Welsh international.
In the 51st minute Mayor was again involved, as his cheeky lob from the right wing floated just over the crossbar, leaving Shearer scrambling on his line. This marked North End's best spell of the game, using possession well and starting to wear down their Welsh opponents.
Six minutes later Jones almost got his second assist of the match. His cross from the right was greeted by Hayes, but the new signing from Scunthorpe couldn't keep his header down, and it went agonisingly over the bar.
Wrexham were having a little spell of their own now, although without creating any real chances of note. This was mainly thanks to the defending of St. Ledger and Morgan, who were fantastic at the back for Preston.
Dean Saunders then made a triple substitution in the 64th minute, bringing on Johnny Hunt, Jamie Tolley, and David Brown to replace Neil Ashton, Jay Harris, and Kevin Gall.
The changes seemed to have worked, as Mangan found himself one-on-one with Lonergan shortly afterwards, but the PNE number one showed what great concentration he has, producing a wonderful save at the strikers feet.
Now on the left, Mayor was helping to get young Jamie Proctor into the game, who was making some insightful runs, and almost set Hayes up in the 73rd minute, only for Chris Blackburn to get across and block the shot.
There were then two more substitutions, one for each side. Conor McLaughlin came on for Davidson, and Cieslewicz for Andy Morrell.
The hosts then created their best chance of the half, when Tolley played a clever pass through to goalscorer Mangan on the right. unfortunately for Wrexham, his shot was a poor one, and went out for a throw in on the left hand side.
With 83 minutes on the clock, Treacy proved he has a left foot like a traction engine, unleashing a powerful shot from 20 yards after a mix up at the back. Scott Shearer couldn't hold on to it, and Wrexham could count themselves lucky that the rebound didn't fall to a white shirt.
Wrexham made their final change with five minutes on the clock, 16-year-old Jamie Morton replacing Dean Keates. The hosts were pushing for a winner, but PNE looked comfortable in a match that had a pre-season feel about it. It was a good workout for Darren Ferguson's men, against a tough Wrexham side, and he will have been pleased with the 1-1 final scoreline.
PNE: Lonergan, Gray, Morgan, Davidson, St. Ledger, Barton, Coutts, Jones, Brown, Hayes, Mayor Subs: Arestidou, Treacy, McLaughlin, Proctor, Douglas, Wright, Middleton, Collins
Wrexham: Maxwell, Walker, Ashton, Blackburn, Sinclair, Harris, Gall, Keates, Mangan, Knight-Percival, Morrell. Subs: Shearer, Hunt, Obeng, Tolley, Brown, Williams, Edwards, Baynes, Cieslewicz, Smith, Mawer, Morton
By Jonny Lally
