It’s been a special few days for the Mawenes. The eldest son of PNE legend Youl, Noah made his Deepdale debut on Friday, at the end of a week which has seen his younger brother Theo join in with first team training.
Noah, who signed his second professional deal in February, had previously only made three cameo appearances off the bench away from home, and he was given his first taste of Championship football on home turf in the 3-0 victory over Rotherham United.
The midfielder was involved in the thick of the action, carrying the ball up the pitch and getting stuck into tackles, and earned plenty of praise as a result.
Speaking after the game, Noah said: “It was great. I’m really thankful. I can’t describe the feeling to be fair, I’ve not quite settled down from it.
“It’s a lot of hard work and it’s something I’ve been dreaming of. Listen, there’s still plenty more for me to do and I’m still a million miles away. It’s just a start but I’m glad that I’m taking the right steps in the right direction.
“I had a good little spell there and the lads made it easier for me. Mads [Frøkjær] was always free and skip [Alan Browne] was always talking to me and made my life pretty easy. All the lads were chipping in, so I just had to go on and be myself.”
The North End faithful certainly enjoyed seeing one of their own get minutes, bringing back out the ‘You make me happy’ chant which was so often aimed towards Noah’s father, Youl in the noughties.
He was otherwise occupied due to his role at Fleetwood Town, but Noah’s mum was in tears in the crowd, sat next to 16-year-old Theo.
The first-year scholar has picked up his first experiences at Euxton during the international break, and manager Ryan Lowe gave him glowing reviews in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“It’s been an absolute joke,” laughed Theo. “I’ve been helped out a lot to be fair and going there [to Euxton], Noah has obviously looked after me in training and in the gym by taking me to training and things like that.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable here. I’ve played here once before in the FA Youth Cup but it’s something completely different coming here with the first team.
“The standards are a joke and everyone is keeping their levels so high right until the end of the game, and right until the end of the season. It’s an excellent group of lads.
“It’s incredible. For me it’s simple stuff. Going in I’ve just got to work hard. There’s a good opportunity there with a good group of lads. I [needed to] go and work hard, go and show what I can do, and that’s what I’ve been doing.
“Thankfully the gaffer’s happy with it and I’ll go and continue and hopefully stay with them for as long as possible, and keep going maybe until the end of the season. Who knows?”
