By Alex Atkinson -
PNEfans.net
Dichio brace
seals victory
Preston North End 2-1 Hull City
Hull city images
here North End continued their good form with a battling win over struggling
Hull City. Danny Dichio was the hero of the day grabbing a first
half brace.
Paul Simpson brought his North End team back to Deepdale on the
back of the impressive comeback win at Portman Road in midweek.
Simpson fielded an unchanged starting eleven against bottom of
the league team Hull City.
Phil Parkinson was the visiting manager
at Deepdale. Parkinson was widely tipped to be the next manager
at Preston over the summer
months. Parkinson’s Hull career hasn’t taken off, as
they sit at the wrong end of the table.
North End couldn’t have asked for
a better start to the game. Danny Dichio latched onto a Simon
Whaley miss hit to poke
the ball home from six yards. The big striker celebrated with his
team mates in front of the Kop end.
The match was only a minute old when Dichio pounced in the opening
goal. Preston started to create chance after chance, to no avail.
Hull City played some good passing football in the first half,
especially for a team bottom of the league.
Carlo Nash was equal to everything Hull
gave. Nash didn’t
have anything serious to deal with. David Nugent was causing Hull
all sorts of problems. Nugent took the ball away from the defender
to cut the ball across the goal, for the waiting Dichio who couldn’t
adjust his position for a shot.
North End should have had a clear penalty
when Dichio was climbed all over by a Hull defender. The referee
chose to put a blind eye
of that decision, along with the rest of the poor decisions he
made. North End did a “Beckham to Scholes” when Whaley
squared the ball to Pugh who hit a first time volley, only for
it to hit Nugent as the ball went goal wards.
Danny Dichio grabbed his second goal of the game when he towered
a header in from close range. Simon Whaley did well to deliver
the ball from the right wing towards Dichio. Dichio playing with
a huge morale boost after his second goal of the season climbed
highest to find the net.
The first came to an end, the supporters
signing Dichio’s
name aloud. The second half was a scrappy half, the plonker in
charge of the game made it into a stop/start affair. North End
started to look jaded after their midweek win, letting Hull get
back in the match.
North End failed to clear the ball after Nash had made a smart
save. John Welsh scrambled the ball past Nash to put the Tigers
back in with a shout. The remainder of the half was very bitty,
both teams playing some unattractive football.
Hull should have had a player sent off!
Only the referee will know why he didn’t send Danny Mills
off. Mills was already on a yellow card when he raised his hands
towards substitute Lewis
Neal. Mills only got a telling off, the PNE crowd booing the poor
decision.
The Lilywhites held out for the victory
and the three points, which was well earned in a game that can
be labelled a battle.
Other results in the Championship went North End’s way, with
Cardiff loosing out to Norwich. Paul Simpson’s whites remain
in second spot, only three points behind Cardiff City.
PNE legend - Sir Tom Finney before kickoff
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