IT was very much a case of the late, late show as Preston North End, in their white shirts, produced an avalanche of attacks on the Gillingham goal, only to come up against one of the most resilient defences in the division.

It seemed that whichever way North End attacked, down the wings, through midfield or from an assortment of set piece moves, there was always a red shirt to get in the way, or the excellent Marshall in the Gillingham goal.

Kevin Kilbane provided the first threat with a lovely cross to the near post, Steve Wilkinson's touch on way on the way into the net until Marshall clawed it around the post.

Gillingham's five-man rearguard protected the goal from all angles and despite the pressure, Preston couldn't find a way through.

Russ Wilcox came forward in support of the attack and hit a piledriver from 30 yards which had goal written all over it but, again, Marshall was there to stop it.

Gillingham raised their game as North End took a breather but they never seriously troubled a Preston defence in which Ryan Kidd was outstanding.

The second half saw Michael Holt hit a daisycutter that was on the way into the bottom corner until that man Marshall again dived to his left to turn the ball around the post.

Lee Ashcroft then put over a perfect cross and this time the defence was caught out, but David Moyes sent his header inches over the crossbar.

The crowd urged North End on as time began to run out and Reeves had a shot blocked and McDonald shot wide.

The frustration and the tension mounted and the tackles started to fly as Gillingham's supporters shouted for the final whistle.

Then North End, with two minutes remaining, got a corner out on the right.

Gillingham brought every player back to defend it as McDonald played the ball into an area packed with 18 players.

The ball was headed clear to the edge of the box but dropped into the path of Simon Davey.

He waited for the ball to drop and struck an unstoppable shot scorching into the top corner of the net and Deepdale became a cauldron of noisy celebration as Preston clinched all three points and a fourth consecutive win.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.