Preston North End manager Simon Grayson was delighted to break his own duck whilst managing teams against Brentford.
And he had an outstanding individual performance from Irish winger Aiden McGeady to thank as the Lilywhites came from behind to thrash the Bees 4-2 at Deepdale.
Stunning goals from outside the penalty area by the North End No.14, one with each foot, plus an assist to set up Callum Robinson put the home side 3-1 ahead, before Daryl Horgan scored his first goal for the club to put the icing on the cake, before a late deflected consolation for Dean Smith’s side.
The PNE gaffer led a PNE team to their first win over the Londoners since 1999 and afterwards was pleased to break that long wait for three points.
“A lot of people were talking this week about the fact we had not won against Brentford at Deepdale in 18 years, but we have broken that record,” he told PNE Player. “It was there to be broken and we did it.
“We suffered conceding the early goal, which was a bit of a body blow for us, but we showed a lot of character, a lot of quality and we were very positive about the approach and the performance today.
“You don’t mind sometimes teams cutting you open with good play and forward runs, so it is disappointing when someone gets a free header, but these things can happen. I know they work extremely hard on their set pieces, but we needed to do better.
“We showed a lot of character, first and foremost, and then we had the quality with McGeady’s first goal, his assist and then his second goal.”
McGeady trebled his North End tally with his goals and the North End chief said that the productivity of the winger had been a topic of discussion on the training ground this week.
“We joked earlier this week about his end product, wanting a couple of better deliveries or shots on target and he has certainly responded to those cries today,” he continued.
“It was fantastic quality from Aiden and anyone who knows him and has watched him, knows he is capable of that and we were delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net twice today, as well as his ball through for Callum to get the second.
“We said at half-time that we needed to be a little further up the pitch - I though the difference between the midfield and the front was too big, to allow them to play in between, but we got on the front foot and then Geads put in a great ball and it was good movement from Callum.
“It was a great way to start the second half and ultimately give us the impetus to get on the front foot and take the game to them and we could have had a few more if we had been a bit more clinical, but we are pleased with the performance.”
And a perfect way to cap off the performance and result was for fellow Ireland winger Daryl Horgan to get his first goal for the club.
“It was nice to see the third go in, because you know Brentford are always going to ask questions of you; they have some good players and then the icing of the cake was for the fourth. We broke very quickly at times, with players getting in decisive situations.
“We were just looking to take Daryl off, because he looked like he was starting to look a little fatigued, but he kept going and took it early and didn’t allow the keeper to get set and it was nice to nestle in the bottom corner.
“He and Andy have settled in really quickly and hopefully a first goal with give his confidence a big boost, because he is a good player and good lad, who is willing to work,” added Simon.
Stunning goals from outside the penalty area by the North End No.14, one with each foot, plus an assist to set up Callum Robinson put the home side 3-1 ahead, before Daryl Horgan scored his first goal for the club to put the icing on the cake, before a late deflected consolation for Dean Smith’s side.
The PNE gaffer led a PNE team to their first win over the Londoners since 1999 and afterwards was pleased to break that long wait for three points.
“A lot of people were talking this week about the fact we had not won against Brentford at Deepdale in 18 years, but we have broken that record,” he told PNE Player. “It was there to be broken and we did it.
“We suffered conceding the early goal, which was a bit of a body blow for us, but we showed a lot of character, a lot of quality and we were very positive about the approach and the performance today.
“You don’t mind sometimes teams cutting you open with good play and forward runs, so it is disappointing when someone gets a free header, but these things can happen. I know they work extremely hard on their set pieces, but we needed to do better.
“We showed a lot of character, first and foremost, and then we had the quality with McGeady’s first goal, his assist and then his second goal.”
McGeady trebled his North End tally with his goals and the North End chief said that the productivity of the winger had been a topic of discussion on the training ground this week.
“We joked earlier this week about his end product, wanting a couple of better deliveries or shots on target and he has certainly responded to those cries today,” he continued.
“It was fantastic quality from Aiden and anyone who knows him and has watched him, knows he is capable of that and we were delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net twice today, as well as his ball through for Callum to get the second.
“We said at half-time that we needed to be a little further up the pitch - I though the difference between the midfield and the front was too big, to allow them to play in between, but we got on the front foot and then Geads put in a great ball and it was good movement from Callum.
“It was a great way to start the second half and ultimately give us the impetus to get on the front foot and take the game to them and we could have had a few more if we had been a bit more clinical, but we are pleased with the performance.”
And a perfect way to cap off the performance and result was for fellow Ireland winger Daryl Horgan to get his first goal for the club.
“It was nice to see the third go in, because you know Brentford are always going to ask questions of you; they have some good players and then the icing of the cake was for the fourth. We broke very quickly at times, with players getting in decisive situations.
“We were just looking to take Daryl off, because he looked like he was starting to look a little fatigued, but he kept going and took it early and didn’t allow the keeper to get set and it was nice to nestle in the bottom corner.
“He and Andy have settled in really quickly and hopefully a first goal with give his confidence a big boost, because he is a good player and good lad, who is willing to work,” added Simon.