PNE midfielder John Welsh saluted his teammates as the Lilywhites gave Manchester United the fright of their lives before succumbing to the Premier League side.
Scott Laird put North End in dream land when his low drive beat David De Gea before the Red Devils got back into the match in contentious fashion.
Ander Herrera’s goal had more than a hint of offside about it in relation to ‘interfering with play’ before Marouane Fellaini smashed home at the second attempt.
Wayne Rooney then won a very dubious penalty to wrap up the win.
But Welsh insists that the only emotion in the PNE changing room at full time was pride.
“The work rate and the passion the lads showed, you can’t fault them, to a man,” stated Welsh.
“We had good shape, good organisation on the pitch and we knew that is what we needed to get anything from the game.
“I think we had a really, really good balance first half and we kept our organisation, kept our shape and played from the shape.
“We knew that if we stayed in the game for as long as we could that we had a chance of scoring.
“The first half went really well and we come out second half and just tried to get at them.
“Lairdy gets the goal and we thought there was a hint of offside for their first goal but these things don’t always go for you.
“They smelt blood, world class players, that’s what they do.”
You can watch the full interview with John Welsh on PNE player now by clicking here.
Ander Herrera’s goal had more than a hint of offside about it in relation to ‘interfering with play’ before Marouane Fellaini smashed home at the second attempt.
Wayne Rooney then won a very dubious penalty to wrap up the win.
But Welsh insists that the only emotion in the PNE changing room at full time was pride.
“The work rate and the passion the lads showed, you can’t fault them, to a man,” stated Welsh.
“We had good shape, good organisation on the pitch and we knew that is what we needed to get anything from the game.
“I think we had a really, really good balance first half and we kept our organisation, kept our shape and played from the shape.
“We knew that if we stayed in the game for as long as we could that we had a chance of scoring.
“The first half went really well and we come out second half and just tried to get at them.
“Lairdy gets the goal and we thought there was a hint of offside for their first goal but these things don’t always go for you.
“They smelt blood, world class players, that’s what they do.”
You can watch the full interview with John Welsh on PNE player now by clicking here.