IN A humdinger of a cup tie, in very testing conditions, North End stayed on the Wembley trail with this hard earned win on Tuesday (January 13) when the final score stood at Macclesfield 0: PNE 1.

David Moyes took charge for his first match as manager and he rang the team changes in all areas.

He brought back former skipper Simon Davey in midfield alongside Mark Rankine and they both turned in impressive performances.

Macclesfield, who are a great side at home, looked sharp throughout and battled hard for every ball.

They had two chances from free kicks on the edge of the box but on both occasions Steve Wood failed to hit the target.

Ryan Price in the Macclesfield goal made two fine saves to keep out efforts from Davey and Lormor and Eyres just failed to get the touch required to steer in Rankine's cross.

It always looked likely a single goal would settle it all and so it turned out to be.

In the early minutes of the second half Macclesfield failed to clear a high cross into the box, the ball fell to Cartwright and he made no mistake with the low angled shot from 12 yards.

The final 20 minutes were played in torrential rain and both sides battled hard providing end to end action which the crowd loved.

Michael Jackson had a great match alongside Ryan Kidd but it was a fine all round team performance and earned Preston a home tie against Mansfield in the next round.

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