Potters luck for Schumacher as scrappy finish seals win
STOKE’S Luke Mcnally gave the Potters a lifeline in their battle against the drop with a late and lucky winner at Deepdale.
Preston’s supersub Milutin Osmajic looked to have saved his side’s blushes when he rubbed out Andy Hughes’ own goal that had put relegationhaunted Stoke ahead.
But as the tension mounted, a Ben Wilmot header from a Lewis Baker free-kick hit a defender,
then bobbled off Mcnally’s shin and into the net.
Not the best of strikes, but it left Stoke boss Steven Schumacher a happy man.
He admitted: “That was incredibly satisfying. We had to match Preston and my best mate Ryan Lowe. It was the gutsy performance that we wanted. We showed character and got the result we needed.”
Preston boss Lowe, who played with ‘Schuey’ and then managed together with him at Bury and Plymouth, blamed “schoolboy defending” for the defeat.
But he added: “Maybe it’s the kick up the backside we needed. We didn’t dominate enough and it cost us.“
Stoke’s opener may have been an own goal but it was a cracking cross that was struck by Lynden Gooch.
It was hit hard and Hughes could do nothing as it hit him and went in.
Preston levelled when Osmajic was perfectly positioned to nod home a cross from the left by Mads Frokjaer.
PRESTON: Woodman 7; Storey 7, Lindsay 6, Hughes 6; Browne 7, Mccann 6, Whiteman 6 (Ledson (83) 5), Millar 6 (Brady (74) 5), Frokjaer 6; Keane 7 (Osmajic (59) 7), Riis 7 STOKE: Iversen 6; Mcnally 7, Wilmot 7, Rose; Hoever 6, Laurent 6, Burger 6 (Manhoef (74) 5), Gooch 8; Bae 7 (Leris (89) 6), Baker 6; Campbell 6 (Ennis (83) 5) STAR MAN: Lynden Gooch – Tireless performance and forced Stoke’s breakthrough goal with his troublesome and powerful cross. REF: Josh Smith 6