Watford 2 Preston North End 1

1:42pm Monday 6th October 2008

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Preston slumped to their fourth straight defeat and moved further down the table after losing 2-1 at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

However it will be the manner of the loss that will have displeased manager Alan Irvine, now having two weeks international break to correct the situation.

Yet it started so well for the travelling away fans who saw their side race into an early lead against Watford.

Ross Wallace, making a rare start for North End since his season-long loan move from Sunderland, quickly impressed by providing for Sean St. Ledger to score.

The tricky Scottish winger floated a ball into the box which was in-turn headed down by Neil Mellor and slotted home for St. Ledger to get his first of the season.

It was a dream start for Preston North End but they soon returned to earth with a bump as the lead lasted less than 10 minutes.

A seemingly innocuous punt forward by Watford’s Tamas Priskin caught the Preston defence napping and Jon Harley was on hand to slide the ball past Andy Lonergan into the far corner of the net.

Minutes later Priskin again nearly turned provider for Harley as the former North End loanee sees his shot nearly divert into the path of Harley but fortunately Billy Jones was on hand to advert the danger.

On the 20 minute mark Watford did take the lead with almost a similar goal as the first.

Again, a ball over the top by Watford should have been easily dealt with by Jay McEveley only for Watford forward Tommy Smith to steam in ahead of the defender and goalkeeper to slot home.

Preston rallied with a nice four man combination saw the ball eventually land on the head of Chris Brown only for the ball to go inches wide with Mellor arriving too late at the far post to convert.

Meanwhile Sedgwick, on one of his trademark cuts inside and into space, could only see his low shot blocked with the hornets buzzing at the half-time whistle.

In contrast to the first half, the second period started slower with Preston having the best of the early exchanges as Paul McKenna’s shot was blocked and Jones’ follow-up went out for a corner.

Down at the other end, a sublime piece of skill by Will Hoskins presented John O’Toole with a 20 yard effort which was tipped over by Lonergan.

Preston than began to dominate as they tried to find an equaliser but a lack of potency in the final third was all too evident.

When the tireless Sedgwick released Jones who turned his marker to curl the ball across goal there was no-one on hand to convert while when a mistake by the Watford defence let in substitute Stephen Elliott, his shot was straight at the Watford goalkeeper.

As the minutes ticked away, Watford went more defensive to protect their win as Preston continued to find an equaliser as Elliot managed to find space but hesitated in releasing an effort and seeing the eventual shot blocked for a corner.

The final whistle blew after the five minutes of injury time with the 2-1 defeat seeing Preston’s drop to mid-table going into the international break.