Ryan Lowe admitted he couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the derby victory over Blackburn Rovers, as Liam Lindsay headed home a last-minute winner.
It looked as though the points were going to be shared at Ewood Park after Alan Browne’s opener was cancelled out by Sammie Szmodics, but Lindsay popped up in the final minute of normal time to score the winning goal.
It happened right in front of the 5,789 PNE fans in the away end, cuing bedlam both on and off the pitch.
On the winning moment, Ryan said: “Fantastic. In front of our away end as well, they were bouncing weren’t they?
“What more can you ask for? A winner in injury-time and the way that it was.
“It’s a great header from Linds and, with the celebrations at the end, we couldn’t have asked for a better ending.
“What I will say is the lads were fantastic right the way from start to finish. We dealt with large parts of pressure from Blackburn who are a very good footballing team and very intricate.
“The first goal we scored was fantastic. We were disappointed with their goal of course, but the never say die attitude and the way we just kept fighting until the end to get that winner is really pleasing.”
North End enjoyed a brilliant day at Ewood Park 11 months ago, winning 4-1 in the snow, but this time around it looked like they were going to have to settle for a point.
That was until a late corner was earned and Ben Whiteman crossed the ball in for match-winner Lindsay, who cued huge celebrations in the packed-out away end.
On the fans: “[They were] Boss. I put a bit of pressure on myself in the week by saying let’s fill the top stand and I was thinking about that today when I was coming in. I was thinking ‘Oh God, make sure we win because they’ll be after me’.
“This is our only derby and when you’ve got your only derby you’ve got to make sure you send them home happy and they rallied us through.
“They were singing right the way through. Even when they scored, they got back on side with the players, and to sing the way they did and to rally them through [was fantastic].
“They’ve been doing that all season. Continue it because the lads need it on a weekly basis, and they’re the rewards they get: we send them home happy.”
