Lowe’s on a high as his men look Keane to perform
PRESTON boss Ryan Lowe was gushing with pride after his side held on to sink promotion-chasing Ipswich.
The Tractor Boys’ hangover following their FA Cup humbling by Maidstone continued as North End were three up by half-time.
The pressure was increasing on Lowe following five losses in their previous eight.
But the Preston gaffer was delighted after a backs-to-the-wall final 15 minutes followed a debut brace from Ipswich’s halftime sub Kieffer Moore.
Lowe said: “The lads were fantastic – everything they did from start to finish was brilliant.
“It had to be because Ipswich are a top-quality side.
“It was great to be three up at half-time, but we knew there would be a reaction.
“They brought Moore on and he was a real handful, and they went a bit more direct, but we defended brilliantly.
“It’s all about the three points at the end of the day, though, and we’ve hung on for a big victory.”
The Tractor Boys got off to a disastrous start as North End notched twice inside the opening eight minutes, right in front of the noisy 3,000-plus travelling army from Suffolk.
Will Keane got the hosts off to a flyer, with his 20-yard drive going in via a hefty deflection off Town defender George Edmundson.
The roof almost came off when Preston swiftly added a second.
This time the stunned
Edmundson darted in to tackle the on-rushing Emil Riis Jakobsen, only to end up poking the ball past his own keeper Vaclav Hladky.
The Czech stopper then had a nightmare when Keane tapped in his second after Mads Frokjaer-jensen had intercepted an awful attempt at a routine pass out from the back.
Ipswich left-back Leif Davis thumped a post soon after the restart, before Moore, a midweek loan capture from Bournemouth, bagged a brace in the closing stages to ensure it was a nerve-wracking climax. Town boss Kieran Mckenna dismissed talk of a negative response to the their FA Cup exit.
Mckenna said: “We lacked enough profile and presence in that first half, and ultimately it’s cost us.
“At half-time, despite the scoreline, I still thought we were right in the game.
“We needed to improve of course, and we did, and by the end of the game I thought we probably deserved something.”
PRESTON: Woodman 7; Storey 7, Lindsay 7, Hughes 8; Potts 6, Browne 7, Whiteman 8, Frokjaer 8 (Mccann (70) 6), Millar 8 (Brady (77) 6); Riis 6 (Osmajic (70) 6), Keane 9 (Woodburn (90) 5) IPSWICH: Hladky 5; Clarke 6, Woolfenden 6, Edmundson 7, Davis 6; Luongo 7 (Harness (80) 6), Morsy 6; Burns 5 (Al-hamadi (80) 5), Chaplin 5 (Hutchinson (68) 7), Sarmiento 5 (Broadhead (68) 5); Jackson 5 (Moore (46) 8) STAR MAN: Will Keane – Deserved his two goals after looking a major threat. REF: Graham Scott 8