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Match Day Thread Those pesky friendly games match thread

Discussion in 'Preston' started by themaclad, Jul 6, 2017.

  1. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Almost at an end of the pre season friendlies, have got my tickets for Accrington, Leeds and Derby away which means less than two weeks to go until Th'Owls rock up at Deepdale.
    Tomorrow Tuesday Premier League Burnley arrive at Deepdale, the Clarets were in action at two grounds on Saturday and won both games beating Alfreton and Kidderminster. Gray got a hat trick in the game at Alfreton.
    From what I can see they have made three signings Cork, Walters and Taylor have arrived to bolster the squad before they lose their opening game at Chelsea.
    To give them credit they did well to stay up last season mainly due to the home record which wasn't bad given the standard of opposition they played.
    Last time we met a deflected Barton free kick won the Clarets the game although in nets that day we had Chris I can't see Kirkwood famous for his glass back.
    New signings Maguire and O'Connor linked up with the squad today don't expect them to figure tomorrow possibly may get a gig at Fleetwood on Friday.
    Probably not be attending.
     
    #21
  2. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Welsh playing his first game since last October
     
    #22
  3. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Lost 1-2 to Burnley Maguire scored for us
     
    #23
  4. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    First Team News
    Gaffer Hails Maguire Impact
    15 Hours ago



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    @pnefc

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    Alex Neil praised new boy Sean Maguire after he made himself known to the PNE fans with a terrific solo goal on his first outing in a PNE shirt.

    Coming off the back of already a terrific season in the League of Ireland, Maguire, alongside fellow Irishman Kevin O'Connor made their Deepdale bow tonight as half-time subsititutes.

    It took Maguire just 20 minutes to get on the scoresheet with a terrific solo run, surging into the box before calmly slotting past Burnley's Tom Heaton to reduce the deficit to 2-1 after Jonathan Walters and Kevin Long had previously netted for the Clarets.

    "I thought we got better second half and the introduction to Sean Maguire at half-time with his pace stretched the game for us," said Neil to iFollow after North End played out their penultimate pre-season friendly against Burnley at Deepdale.

    "It was a great individual goal, I thought his pace in behind was excellent and I thought he showed why he's had such a good season so far this year. The lads been here one day and played really well based on that.

    "They started playing deeper which opened up spaces meaning we could move the ball and create some decent chances.

    "All in all, we're a little bit frustrated with the first half as I think we're better than that but I think second half was a lot better.

    "I thought we played against a really good organised team that work extremely hard and have got some real physical presence in their side.

    "You can see the difference with the two teams especially from set plays, and we got undone with two setplays.

    "There's a difference between the sides in that they've probably got about eight or nine players over six foot and we've probably got three or four so that's maybe something we need to look at."

    Attention now turns to North End's final pre-season friendly against Fleetwood Town at Highbury on Friday, and Neil believes that game will prove vital in preparation to the start of the season in less than two weeks time.

    Neil added: "Fleetwood is going to be a crucial game for us to help us be prepared for the following week - but I think you can see that the lads are in great shape, the fitness levels are good, it's just a case of match sharpness now."

    For more reaction from Neil as he also speaks of the return of John Welsh to the side, watch the interview in full above this article.
     
    #24
  5. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Fleetwood Town v Preston North End @ Highbury Stadium 28/7/2017

    The end of the friendlies see us rock up at the Football League ground which is the closest geographically to my humble abode. Live about two miles from Estadio de Cod as the crow flies however the River Wyre is rather a major obstacle and therefore it is a 30 minute trip.
    As it's the last friendly suspect it should be more or less the side that starts next Saturday against our Yorkshire frinds from Sheffield.
    Will be interesting to see if new signing Fisher gets some game time also to see a first glimpse of our new striker Maguire apparently he has a bit of pace which sems to be the way we are going these days lots of Usain Bolts in the side.
    The opposition lost out in the play offs last season under manager Rosler have lost a couple of better players during the close season.
    Anyway this is the Cod's view of the game

    Match Previews
    Preview: Town ready to round up pre-season against Preston
    4 Hours ago



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    Fleetwood Town are close to finishing their pre-season schedule, as Preston North End make the short trip to Highbury Stadium this Friday for a pre-season friendly.

    Town’s pre-season is coming to a close and have had a good showing throughout. Uwe Rosler’s side have come away with wins against Queen of the South, FK Jablonec and Bolton Wanderers in the last three weeks.

    Preston – who finished 11th in the Sky Bet Championship last season – will be finishing their pre-season at Highbury on Friday, and have won four out of six games so far. The Lilywhites have come out on top against Bamber Bridge (7-0), Stockport County (2-1), Morecambe (2-0) and Accrington Stanley (3-2) but weren’t able to deal the final blow against Newcastle United, drawing 1-1.

    In their last pre-season fixture, they were beaten at home by Premier League side Burnley 2-1. PNE’s new signing Sean Maguire introduced himself with an impressive solo goal but it wasn’t enough as goals from Jon Walters and Kevin Long earned the Clarets all three points.

    TEAM NEWS

    Town rested a lot of playing earlier on in the week so they should all be refreshed for the home derby against Preston.

    Even though new signing Maguire was fielded midweek against Burnley, he is likely to make an appearance after scoring a solo-goal on Tuesday.

    ONE TO WATCH

    Local-lad, Barkhuizen has started his 2017/18 campaign off like any striker would like to as he has scored four goals in six pre-season games from PNE.

    The attacker started his career playing junior football for Blackpool Rangers, and was scouted by Blackpool in 2009 as a first-year scholar in their youth department. A year later, as a second-year scholar, he made his first team debut in the second round of the League Cup against Milton Keynes Dons away from home.

    Whilst at Blackpool, he spent time on loan at Hereford United, where he scored 12 in 39 games, Fleetwood, where he played 13 and scored one and finally at Morecambe in 2014.

    After making 21 appearances for the Tangerines in five years, he made the move to Morecambe on a two-year contract. Barkhuizen played a total of 60 games there, netting the ball 17 times before he cancelled his contract through mutual consent.

    In November 2016, the 24-year-old was handed the number 29 shirt at Preston after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the club. Since joining, he made his mark in the latter half of the 2016/17 season and this pre-season.
     
    #25
  6. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Won 5-1 at Fleetwood
     
    #26
  7. themaclad

    themaclad Well-Known Member

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    Fleetwood Town 1 Preston North End 5 Att 2081

    On a soggy old night at the Estadio De Cod, North End hammered league one local rivals Fleetwood 5-1, although for a period in the first half this scoreline looked miles away aS the home side dominated for a period and were unlucky not to add to Bolger's header from a corner.
    Early scare for the home side when the lively Maguire turned and hit the post from18 yards, he also nearly charged down keeper Cairns clearence. North End were on top in the early stages but one complaint the build up was oh so slow.
    The home side got a couple corners from the second they scored as Bolger easily headed home avoiding statuesque defenders. Hiwula could have had two more in the next couple of minutes as panic set in with theNorth End defenders, narrowly wide after chipping Hudson then denied by the keeper after some cack defending.
    After a Grant free kick was tipped over by Hudson, the home sides participation in the game was basically to chase the ball and then pick it out of the net.
    Cairns was lucky not to be sent off when flattening Maguire way outside of his area, nothing given by Mr Salisbury, getting towards the break North End won a series of corners, most were abysmal but the last one before the break Robinson finally put over a decent cross and Huntington levelled the score.
    The second half was all one way, Browne being unlucky with a 50 yard volley which hit the top of the bar from Cairns poor clearence.
    Wasn't long until we took the lead Robinson's through ball found Barkuizen in the clear rounded the keeper slotted home, from then on in it was just a matter of how many we would get.
    Maguire was brought down, Johnson scored from the spot, Horgan then cut in from the right and passed it into the net from 18 yards to make it four, before a late own goal made the scoreline more emphatic.
    Doyle contrived to miss another late on, still yet to score this season.
    For North End Maguire looks very useful, Johnson seems to be enjoying his new role in the team and new man Fisher put in a useful shift although did seem to get a muscle strain late on.
    Only criticism played at too slow a pace in the first half and the passing out from the keper will get us in trouble at some time during the season.
    So that's the friendlies done and dusted a week to go until the main event.

    The boss speaks

    Alex Neil On Perfect End To Pre-Season
    6 Hours ago





    Gaffer On Perfect End To Pre-Season

    Manager Alex Neil was delighted to end pre-season on a high with a 5-1 victory over Fleetwood Town.

    anager Alex Neil was delighted with his side's performance in their final pre-season game ahead of the new campaign.

    North End put five past Fleetwood Town at Highbury, and the gaffer was pleased with the work rate of his players and how they have adapted to the new style of play.

    On the win, the PNE boss told iFollow PNE: "It's probably the perfect way to finish a pre-season campaign, I think the big thing for us now is making sure that how hard we worked tonight and how well we moved the ball we try and take that into competitive action next week.

    "We played really well, I felt we should have been in front and it's always disappointing when you go a goal down against the run of play but we need to try and make sure we improve on defensive set plays because it has been a weakness for the last couple of weeks so that is something we will certainly work on.

    "In terms of the game itself, the way we played, the chances we created and certainly how we performed in the second half I was delighted."
    The manager was particularly pleased with the second half performance and was happy to see his half-time comments come to fruition in the second half.

    Neil continued: "I felt that we weren't as aggressive with our passing in the first half as we could have been, we spoke to a couple of individual players in terms of taking less touches and moving the ball a bit quicker and the lads did exactly as I asked at half-time and I thought to a man they performed extremely well.

    Attention now turns to the opening game of the season when North End host Sheffield Wednesday at Deepdale, and the manager is enjoying having a selection headache ahead of that first game.

    "That is the luxury of having a good squad, over the course of the season we are going to have to use everyone. Everybody is going to have to be ready and the guys who are called upon will need to make sure they do the job.
    "We are all excited about it [the opening game of the season], the lads will have an in-house game tomorrow which the lads who didn't play tonight will play in, then they will rest Sunday and then Monday we will be back in getting ready for next week."
     
    #27

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