BURNLEY were stung on the stroke of half-time when Kyle Lafferty's opener was cancelled out by Chris Sedgwick.

Lafferty gave Burnley the upper hand in this Lancashire derby at Turf Moor just after the half-hour, when Wade Elliott's centre flicked off the head of Liam Chilvers, straight to Lafferty, who looped an excellent header beyond Andy Lonergan into the far corner.

It was just reward after referee Lee Mason failed to award the Northern Ireland international a penalty when his goalbound shot appeared to be handled on the line by defender Matthew Hill after just 90 seconds.

Jon Harley and Alan Mahon had two long-range attempts blocked out, while Preston, who had previously been restricted to half chances, almost took the lead through Neil Mellor then Paul Gallagher, but Gabor Kiraly saved well to deny the Preston strike duo.

However, the goalkeeper was well beaten by Sedgwick, who drilled home Mellor's square ball into the box just before the break.