Preston North End's unbeaten run came to an end as they lost 3-2 away to Derby County.
The Lilywhites clawed their way back from being 2-0 down at half time with a goal from Sam Cadwallader in 57th minute.
Moments later, Amie Davidson completed North End's comeback but in the 67th minute, Derby scored what proved to be the winning goal and condemned Preston to their first defeat since September.
North End travelled to the East Midlands keen to continue their recent good away form against a Derby County side they had beaten 4:2 at the QED Stadium on the opening day of the season. The visitors started brightly enough but were unable to create a clear chance for all their possession.
In the 13th minute, Preston goalkeeper Emma Reader had to be quick off of her line to deny County a goalscoring opportunity. This goalkeeping epitomised North End's stubborn defence who dealt with a string of corners from the home side.
Ultimately it was only a matter of time until the Rams opened the scoring and it came in the 22nd minute when a Derby managed to bundle in a corner.
That lead was then doubled from a free kick minutes later and Preston were staring down the barrel of a second defeat this season against a promoted side.
However, Preston almost got back into the match as half time approached and had a run of corners of their own and a Sarah McCrea cross almost picked out striker Cadwallader in the final seconds.
At half time Preston made a double substitution with Vicky Westerman and Hannah Bailey replacing Jess Clayton and Laura Walker. The impact was almost immediate as Preston took the game to Derby and forced a string of corners.
On 54 minutes another PNE corner found Sarah Berry on the edge of the 18-yard box but her volley went narrowly wide of the angle.
Minutes later, some good interplay between McCrea and Cadwallader ended with the North End striker slotting the ball home to give Preston a deserved route back into the match.
A Preston comeback was completed just moments later after another corner from McCrea caused confusion in the Derby area and Davidson's effort was adjudged to have crossed the goal line, much to the annoyance of the home crowd.
In the 67th minute, a Bailey shot was well saved by the Derby keeper, but Jenny Wootton was adjudged to have fouled County's goalkeeper from the resulting corner. From there Derby formed an attack that ended with the decisive goal, despite the best efforts of Reader.
This came as a great blow to the confidence of North End and from there on in it was Derby who did the pressing with Reader twice more called into action.
The final whistle blew to bring to an end the unbeaten run of PNEWFC and give the hosts much needed points in the battle for Northern Premier League survival.
Preston's attention now turns to the Lancashire County Cup tie against Preston Rangers that will be played at the Preston Sports Arena on Sunday 15th November. Kick off will be at an earlier time of 1pm.
Report by Julie Jones. Photos by www.pne-invincibles.com
