Preston North End 1 West Bromwich Albion 0

Last updated : 12 September 2006 By Footymad Previewer
Preston capped a great four days for manager Paul Simpson with a hard fought 1-0 win over promotion-fancied West Bromwich Albion in front of a disappointing crowd of 12,119.

West Brom had many stars on display and Kevin Phillips was the first to curl a 20-yard shot wide of the right-hand post after just nine minutes.

Zoltan Gera headed wide from ten yards after quarter of an hour and Phillips again had another 25-yard shot which went narrowly wide.

Patrick Agyemang, one of the stars on Saturday, had a great chance after 23 minutes when his shot was blocked but then rebounded towards the keeper who saved the ball.

John Hartson hit the bar with a seven-yard header from a Gera cross after 27 minutes and Nigel Quashie shot just over.

Quashie was booked for a foul on Graham Alexander and Paul Robinson just before half-time was also booked for a foul on Sean St Ledger.

Only seconds into the second half, Hartson fouled Liam Chilvers and was booked.

Carlo Nash made a great save from Quashie when he tipped the ball round the left-hand post for a right-wing corner from a 25-yard shot. Martin Albrechtsen then shot over and Simon Whaley shot wide.

Paul McKenna should have done better when he was put clear by Danny Dichio, but he shot wide from 20 yards.

Chris Sedgwick also shot wide and Danny Pugh followed it up with another 15-yard shot which went wide.

St Ledger forced a save from the Baggies keeper and Hartson had a header cleared off the line.

Whaley had a shot saved and the dangerous Nathan Ellington came on for Hartson and immediately brought a good save from Nash who pushed the ball for a left-wing corner.

Albrechtsen then had a header well saved by Nash.

With 12 minutes to play Agyemang scored one of the goals of the season so far when he received a good ball from Sedgwick and managed to knock the ball up, before hitting a powerful overhead kick into the bottom corner of the net for a stunning goal which sent the fans wild.