Preston North End - 12th November 2010

Preston North End 0 Hull City 2

npower Championship

This was a real six pointer for both sides, which ended up being a fixture which would see North End at the bottom of the table within 24 hours.

Darren Ferguson had said at the start of the week that he was looking for six points from both home matches being played this week, but ended up with nothing.

Ferguson was able to restore loan signing Ian Hume up front with Jon Parkin, giving him some hope of a potent attacking threat.

Hull made their own changes, with Vito Mannone replacing Matt Duke in goal, and Robert Koren returing to the side for John Bostock.

North End had the ball in the back of the net early on, but Jon Parkin was clearly offside, when he was in place to put home a shot saved by Mannone.

Hull threatened themselves, Richard Garcia missing a great chance to put the visitors ahead, after a neat through ball which split the home defence. His shot which went past the far post was an opportunity to show the home team how open they were to the visiting threat.

On 20 minutes, Garcia took advantage of a great cross from Koren on the right wing, who made use of the space he was given to put the ball into the box, with the Spaniard stooping at the back post to put Hull 1-0 in front.

Preston weren't learning from what had happened before, with the back line being split open once again, this time Koren wasted a great chance, which to be fair, was saved well from Andy Lonergan from point blank.

Preston themselves maintained their own threat up front, and were wasteful of the few chances they had, with an Adam Barton header missed from all of three yards out.

Hume did well to get a ball into the Hull six yard box, after collecting the ball up the left wing, with little support. His cross was cleared for a corner, to bring the home support to life.

Up to half time, Preston had two more efforts on goal, with Chris Brown shooting narrowly wide from distance, and Parkin hitting the side netting from an angle.

Into added time on, Chris Parry was through on the Hull goal, and only thwarted by a fantastic tackle by Anthony Gerrard.


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The home side kept pressing at the start of the second half, and perhaps their best effort of the match was from Hume, who hit the base of the post; the ball rolling just in front of the line, wide of the opposite post, and cleared from danger.

Hull retained their ability to threaten, as Preston always looked jittery when off the ball, and at times, seemed incapable of winning the ball back from their guests, who were able to play 'keep-ball' for periods of the second half.

Sky cameras giving a view of thousands of empty seats at Deepdale

The second goal came from a piece of great tenacity by Garcia who seemingly chased a lost cause on the right wing, getting past the defence, putting in a blistering cross into the heart of the six yard box, with veteran Nick Barmby poking the ball past Lonergan.

While Preston missed chances again to get a goal, Jay Simpson for the visitors missed a clear chance to kill the match completely in added time, when he hit the far post when one on one with the keeper.

The final whistle was met by a howl of booing from the home Town End fans, with manager Darren Ferguson facing calls for his sacking by a home support who have seen their team slide alarmingly down the table.

Ferguson later admitted that: "It was a  a disappointing evening and result", with news of a post match player's meeting giving him the confidence that: "they are 100% behind me".

The attendance of 9,088 was a reflection of the level of support behind the club, at a time when Preston are in real danger of losing their eleven year stint in the Championship.

Sale Sharks - 5th November 2010

Sale Sharks 39 London Irish 14

LV= Cup

Friday night - Bonfire night, and the sparks were flying at Edgeley Park, Stockport, when Sale Sharks met London Irish in the LV Cup.

A narrow bonus point opportunity for Sale went begging the last time these sides met, only six days previously. An opportunity then, for revenge, and with twelve changes to the starting line-up, Sharks went for the visitors from the off. Sale managed to see off the Londoners with a first half display of blistering running and solid defensive work.

View from the back row of the press box at Edgeley Park. 

Straight from the start, the early intentions of Sale was to put points on the board; the first of the match was from the boot of fly half Rob Miller from five metres inside his own half after three minutes. Following that, the first try of the match followed soon after, with Tom Brady evading his opponents with clever footwork, before touching down on the left wing. The conversion from the touchline was kicked wide of the near post by full back Paul Williams. Brady left the field afterwards, replaced by debutant Ian Thornley on the wing.

As for the visitors, London Irish were left resorting to kicking the ball for position, as they were struggling to get past the gain line. A wet pitch from the day’s rainfall, had left the ball slippery, and this was evident with handling errors on both sides. Marland Yarde, for the visitors, was culpable with a missed opportunity on half way, losing possession to Sale.

The home side were always looking for more point scoring opportunities, and Miller tried to add to the tally with a second penalty kick from inside his half, this time falling just short of the posts. Running at pace into the Irish line paid off halfway into the period, with Fergus Mulchrone putting down after getting the ball from Williams, who side stepped his opposite number brilliantly. Williams converted the try.

It took a full 25 minutes for London Irish to take their first scoring attempt – Chris Malone hit the post with his penalty attempt, before Darren Allison was through for a try, before being called back for picking up his own knock on.


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This period of the half saw Irish put some pressure on the Sale line, with Chris Brightwell in particular hitting the carriers well, and then taking the ball deep into the visiting half, getting the ball out wide to Mulchrone for the third try of the match on the overlap. Williams converted once more.

Just on half time, debutant Thornley scored; the ball being kept in several phases on the try line before being taken out left to the winger for a converted score, to take the Sharks in 25-0 at half time.

The second half saw a renewed effort from Irish, putting Sale on the backfoot for the early period. Again, solid defending saw off the threat; Asaeli Boko saving a certain score by Alex Corbisiero by putting him into touch at the very last. London’s attempts to pass out wide were pounced upon with an audacious interception by Rhys Crane, who took the ball on the wing in his half, and got under the posts to have put the match beyond the visitors. Miller converted.

As if the game wasn’t over as a contest by that point, Chris Leck scored for the Sharks last try of the match on 70 minutes, after great running by Lee Imiolek. Miller converted for Sale’s last points of the match.

With confidence running through the home side, passing out wide saw them found out by Yarde, who took his chance with an interception, his score converted by Chris Malone. With only fourteen players on the pitch at the last, due to late replacement Karena Wihongi being sin binned, the visitors got their second try of the game, with Chris Hala’ufia carrying from a ruck on the line after some sustained pressure. Malone again converted, for a final score of 39-14.

The match was worthy of a greater attendance than the 5,106 who attended, and a great way of laying to rest the disappointment of the previous fixture. With so many young players in the side tonight, it can only mean a great future for the club in terms of their playing staff.