This promised to be a mundane Boxing Day game between a side scuttling along trying to avoid relegation and Bury. However after last Tuesday's rather tasty Football League trophy match, the ante has been upped. Westley's remarks that Bury have no respect is bound to provoke a response from Blackwell's boys, perhaps they will hoof everything even higher than a Blackwell side usually does or kick more opponents, Blackwell doesn't do pure football. There could be action on and off the pitch with this one. Will North End improve their abysmal record of having won 6 home games in the last 15 months, time to start producing the goods Graham, mid table mediocrity is not for me, after all 5 months down the line season tickets will be advertised. It promises to be tasty, be there or be square.
GW has been saying that his teams storm through the second half of the season to gain promotion. Now is the time to start storming! It would be nice to thump Blackwell's team after what Blackwell said about GW & PNE. Apparenly, NE played vry well against the form team, Coventry. Even the BBC called NE's goal 'deserved'. If the team plays like that on Wednesday then Bury will be in for a hiding.
This was a half decent game, the first providing as much entertainment than many of the preceding matches in recent months . Sadly though the end product was a goalless draw between Preston and Bury in front of a decent Boxing Day crowd of 12200. North End started at a breakneck pace having four efforts on goal in the first 2 minutes sadly all were not converted due to their inability to hit a cow's backside with a banjo, Beardsley, King, Hayhurst and Welsh having the efforts. Bury were defending for their lives in thje first 20 minutes, a Hayhurst shot was blocked by a defender and other shots went high wide and not too handsome. North End's approach play was good some nice one touch passes but once they got near the goal the moves collapsed. Indeed it was Bury who should have taken the lead after 25 minutes when Hooper found himself in the clear after clever work by Healy, his shot found the side netting it should have found the side netting it should have been scored. A chronicly short back pass by Wright let in Hooper but Stuckmann managed to block his shot. Back down the other end North End continued on their shot to miss policy and half time arrived it seemed fairly obvious that Bury were going to sneak a victory. The best thing that could have happened was that everyone should have gone home at half time as the second half was dire, apart from Thompson's shot for the Shakers in the second half, nothing happened apart from the ball being continually booted into outer space. Preston North End 0 Bury 0 Att 12200
