Alex’s boys are still not Browne & out just yet
ALAN BROWNE’S tap-in was enough for Preston to keep their play-off hopes alive as they defeated Sheffield United.
The result leaves Alex Neill’s men two points shy of Derby going into the final day.
The North End boss said: “I don’t want to take anything away from the players.
“They’ve dug in and done what they had to do to get the result but it’s certainly not a vintage performance from us.”
The Blades had strong claims for a penalty turned down when Billy Sharp’s cross struck Greg Cunningham’s raised arm before keeper Declan Rudd kept out Leon Clarke’s first-time shot.
On the stroke of half-time John Fleck had a volley with the outside of his foot spectacularly headed away by Cunningham as the Lilywhites held on.
The tide turned after the break when a dangerous cross from Sean Maguire was cleared away by Chris Basham, with Robinson and Ben Pearson hoping for a tap-in.
The goal came in the 57th minute when Josh Harrop forced a decent save from Jamal Blackman but the keeper’s parry was not enough to stop the lurking Browne from poking the ball into an empty net.
North End thought they had doubled their lead when an indirect free-kick found Maguire and he redirected it across to substitute Tom Clarke who aimed a looping header into the net.
However, the flag was raised for offside.
A quarter of an hour from time, Rudd had to be on his toes when substitute George Baldock looped a first-time effort over the keeper, who was alert to help the ball on its way over the bar.
In stoppage time, Robinson went close to killing off the game when, from close range, he forced a good save from Blackman.
Blades boss Wilder said: “We saw today a lot of things that we’ve seen in previous games and we have to be better and learn through the experiences this year.”
IT IS not so many weeks since Saints’ DusanTadic admitted he is ashamed of his side’s position.
But he is certainly doing what he can to right the wrongs of life under flop boss Mauricio Pellegrino as his double gives Saints a glimmer of hope in the fight to avoid relegation.
The Serb has always been something of a cult figure at St Mary’s – but Pellegrino did not seem to share the love-in. Mark Hughes clearly has faith in the midfielder, who has now scored seven goals which have helped Saints pick up 12 valuable points. Tadic’s first yesterday – in the 25th minute – helped to settle the nerves. Three Saints players broke from a Bournemouth corner for the opener. Mario Lemina sprinted from inside his own half and kept his head to leave Tadic with a run on goal. He, too, stayed cool, smashing past Asmir Begovic for the boost that Saints craved. And nine minutes after the break he gave his new boss another lift. The winger went on a driving run and saw the opposition backline open up for him to fire past the Bournemouth keeper. Hughes was up on his feet and pumping the air. “Everybody understood the significance of the result,” the Saints boss said. “The order of the day was to get maximum points – a draw might not have been good enough to keep us in the league. Their goal just before the break could have adversely affected us but we picked ourselves up.
“It was huge for everybody here, it’s not an easy situation as we are trying to make sure this club stays in the league. There’s still a lot to do.”
When Eddie Howe’s team snatched an equaliser just before half-time, Hughes must have thought his wait for a first victory since returning to the South Coast could never come.
He had failed to get win in his first six games in charge – to add to a dismal record of six wins in 22 at Stoke.
Minutes before the interval, Saints had a let-off when Nathan Ake, up from the back, spun away from a couple of defenders and got off a shot.
Alex McCarthy stretched out a leg to keep the hosts hanging on to the lead.
But it was only a brief respite as they were almost immediately pegged back. After failing to deal with a corner, Josh King sneaking it at the far post to grab the equaliser.
But Tadic killed off Howe’s hopes of a point. The Cherries boss said: “I was disappointed with the performance, we gave the ball away cheaply and when you do that it’s difficult to get the control you want.”