By LINDSAY SUTTON at Deepdale

PATRICK BAUER ended eight months of injury misery to finally get Preston North End off the mark.

The big German defender (above) used his height and presence to head home a set-piece cross by Ryan

Ledson, ending North End’s pointless start to the season.

And though Preston lived dangerously at times they showed that fight and determination can get results.

North End boss Frankie Mcavoy said: “It’s a mixture of delight and relief. We should have made it easier with the amount of opportunities we had. At 1-0 it was precarious. We went for the second but couldn’t get there.

“Patrick’s goal was a stunner though. We’ve missed him. I had earmarked him for the midweek match but we have to be careful with him. Now he’s shown he’s fine.”

Posh chief Darren

Ferguson, once sacked by Preston, said: “We had no conviction at all in the first half, and no shot on goal. We had to hang on until the break.

“But I thought that if we got one goal we would get two and win. Siriki Dembele was so close, and that was the big chance of the game.”

But Preston deserved their victory, and Bauer the plaudits, with his moraleboosting breakthrough coming after just 14 minutes.

Having been sidelined by an Achilles injury for eight months, he made his presence felt in his first league outing of the season.

Racing up for Ledson’s ball into the box, the North End matchwinner used every inch of his 6ft 5in frame to power home a bullet header.

PRESTON: Iversen 6; Storey 7, Bauer 8, Hughes 7; Van Den Berg 6, Ledson 7, Johnson 8, Whiteman, Earl 7; Sinclair 7 (Riis 68, 6), Maguire 6 (Potts 78).

Unused Subs: Rudd, Cunningham, Baylis, Rafferty, Rodwell-grant

PETERBOROUGH : Pym 7; Kent 6, Thompson 6, Knight 6 (Randall 77), Ward 7, Norburn 6, Burrows 7 (Szmodics 67, 6), Butler 6; Grant 6; Dembele 6 (Marriott, 67, 6), Clarke-harris 6.

Unused Subs:cornell, Edwards, Tomlinson, Barker

MAN OF THE MATCH: Patrick Bauer. Superbly taken breakthrough goal and a tower in Preston’s defence.

REFEREE: Dean Whitestone 6.