Preston North 0 Bournemouth 1 THE injury crisis which has hit Deepdale meant that if you took your boots along to the ground, you had a reasonable chance of getting a game.

Not surprisingly, North End were penned back in their own half in the initial exchanges and goalkeeper Bobby Mimms was under pressure, bringing off two spectacular saves as Bournemouth battled for the breakthrough.

Even he could do nothing about the opener on thirty minutes, when what looked like a harmless cross into the box had Preston players standing around admiring it, and Sean Fletcher had the ball in the net in a flash.

Preston counted themselves unfortunate, when a stunning 30-yarder from Neil McDonald hit the underside of the bar and appeared to bounce over the goalline, but the referee, right up with play, refused the frantic appeals from the Preston players.

Gary Peters drafted Michael Holt into attack at the start of the second half to play alongside Andy Saville and North End began to tick.

Ashcroft shot wide with an angled effort and Kevin Kilbane, after a brilliant solo run, put his effort a foot wide of the post with the keeper beaten.

Ryan Kidd got forward in support of the attack and his close range header hit the keeper and bounced clear, then Saville shot high over the crossbar.

In a final barnstorming assault of the Bournemouth goal, Ian Bryson struck a scorching 30-yard goalbound shot, until Neil Young, standing on the goal-line, headed clear.

So Preston suffered their first home league defeat of the season, but the consolation for North End fans is that Preston could have one, and maybe two, new signings in the squad for Tuesday's Coca Cola Cup first leg clash with Tottenham Hotspur at Deepdale.

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