Preston 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
by James Nalton 
at Deepdale

THERE was a sense of relief amid the extended celebrations from fans of Preston North End on Saturday afternoon, as their team won their first game of the season, lifting them off the bottom of the Championship table.

Not only was it their first win, but these three points against local rivals Blackburn were also their first points of the new campaign with five games played.

Manager Paul Heckingbottom was pleased to get off the mark and keen to start looking ahead.

“It’s an important win for lots of reasons, not least because it’s a local derby,” he said.

“It’s an important game for everyone, both sets of players, both sets of fans.

“I think it was a good derby, a good atmosphere, and both teams were going for the win.

“There’s always pressure when you do this job. I think the only thing that changes is people’s narratives. This is the enjoyable bit, and now we get to work.”

Preston opened the scoring within the first 10 minutes when some good work from Caleb Wiley and Alfie Devine down the left set up Delano Burgzorg. The striker pulled his shot slightly wide, but Callum Lang was waiting at the far post to turn it in.

Blackburn had a chance when Ryoya Morishita looked certain to score from close range following a pull-back from Andri Gudjohnsen, but his shot hit the head of Leo Leroy and went over.

The home fans at a packed Deepdale didn’t have to wait too long after that for a second, as Lang headed in Jordan Thompson’s free-kick.

At that stage Blackburn looked like they would go on to concede more rather than come back into the game, but Tony Mowbray’s side emerged for the second half looking like a different team.

They got their reward when a cross from Ryan Alebiosu was turned into his own goal by Stanley Mills.

For a moment, it looked like Blackburn had enough momentum on their side to get the equaliser.

Given their season so far, Preston fans probably feared worse, especially when Rovers substitute Jayden Fevrier hit the bar with a rasping effort from the left, but the home team weathered the passing storm and Blackburn’s threat petered out along with the game itself, much to the enjoyment of the Preston fans.