On this day three years ago, on-loan Aiden McGeady was the hero for North End, scoring a late goal to earn a point on the road at local rivals Blackburn Rovers.
đď¸ On this day in 2017...
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) March 18, 2020
Aiden McGeady scored a late equaliser in front of a packed out away end at Ewood Park! đ
Were you one of over 6,000 North End fans that were there? đ#pnefc pic.twitter.com/Ew6k1b7Qqo
Tom Barkhuizen had given PNE the lead at Ewood Park, his fifth goal in four starts, slamming home after exchanging a one-two with Jordan Hugill, but Rovers levelled before the interval with Elliott Bennett’s 25 yard strike into the bottom left hand corner and then Craig Conway gave them the lead 11 minutes into the second half.
In the first of four added minutes of stoppage time Paul Huntington had the ball in the back of the net for the Lilywhites from Paul Gallagher’s reversed cross, but the referee’s assistant had the flag up for offside.
But in the fourth minute of stoppage time the yellows produced a piece of magic to level matters.
It was fantastic play as they passed their way through the penalty area, as Barkhuizen drove forward, slid the ball into Paul Gallagher; everyone expected a shot, but he slid the ball into skipper Tom Clarke, who pulled it back to Aiden McGeady on the penalty spot, he side-stepped and drilled home to give the 6,005 travelling fans the point they deserved.
Blackburn Rovers line-up: Steele, Williams, Lowe (c), Mulgrew, Emnes (S Gallagher, 80), Joao, Guthrie, Nyambe, Lenihan, Bennett (Mahoney, 76), Conway (Feeney, 80). Subs not used: Raya, Hoban, Feeney, Akpan, Brown.
PNE line-up: Maxwell, Clarke (c), Cunningham, Pearson, Boyle, Huntington, Horgan (Robinson, 67), Johnson (Gallagher, 75), Barkhuizen, Hugill (Makienok, 77), McGeady. Subs not used: Lindegaard, Browne, Beckford, Spurr.
Attendance: 18,435 (6,005 PNE fans)
Referee: Mr S Attwell