North End 1

Darlington 1

TWO points dropped, Andy Saville sent off and more ground conceded in the promotion battle - what a disastrous afternoon for North End!

Preston went into this game straight from an emphatic 3-0 away win at Rochdale, but never looked like taking all three points. Determined Darlington took the game to PNE, sprayed the ball around with confidence and would have taken all three points had it not been for the brilliance of John Vaughan.

A crowd of 11,419 turned up for the opening of the magnificent Tom Finney Stand and were treated to a stunning strike by Ian Bryson.

Kevin Kilbane - buoyed by his call-up to the Republic of Ireland's under-21 squad - stormed down the left flank and laid the ball off to Graeme Atkinson, who then teed up Bryson. His scorching first time shot from 30 yards ripped into the net to give North End a 26th minute lead. It was goal-bound from the moment it left his foot!

That wonderful goal was worthy of any occasion, but yet again North End failed to build on their advantage. It remains to be seen how costly this will prove. Darlington strung together several neat passing movements and were back on level terms four minutes from the interval. Gary Bannister turned quickly and sent the ball soaring into the top right-hand corner to make it

1-1.

The second half saw Darlington keep up their attacking momentum and they could very easily have smashed in several more goals. A combination of John Vaughan's ability and the woodwork saved PNE from another home defeat.

It was an afternoon when Preston were stretched by the visitors' incisive passing. Paul Birch looked a little uncomfortable, Andy Saville couldn't put a foot right and Steve Wilkinson just couldn't compete with the strength of the Darlington rear-guard.

Gary Peters brought on Tony Grant for Kevin Kilbane in the 71st minute in an attempt to break the dead-lock. The Irish youth international has been knocking in sensational goals for the reserves and made quite an impression in his brief first senior appearance.

It was left to John Vaughan, however, to save the day for North End. He made a stunning double save in the dying minutes to rescue a point for PNE's faltering promotion charge.

Andy Saville was dismissed in injury time for dissent and is expected to receive a two match ban. That red card rounded off a disastrous afternoon for Preston. Gillingham sneaked a 1-0 win at Mansfield, while Plymouth beat Northampton.

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