Deepdale

It seemed strange arriving at Ewood before 10:00 am for a trip to Preston North End and a 12:00 kick off. Usually early starts are reserved for trips over the border to Yorkshire and Sheffield or the North East and Hull or Middlesbrough and, it certainly doesn't seem right to be kicking off at bacon and egg time on a Sunday. However the 100 club rallied to the cause and we had an almost full coach for the trip. The journey was so short that by the time Dave Hembrough had given his welcome address we were nearly at Deepdale meaning Andy and Mel couldn't get round the coach with the betting. No guess the crowd, no first scorer, and no final result, and, without Mystic Dave Walton we were denied his incredible ability to name the team before even Eustace knew it. Was it Shearer up front, or Metcalfe in midfield, or even Freddie Pickering as without Mystic we were floundering grasping for names that we could remember that might be playing. As it was the first scorer was irrelevant as no-one did in a pretty scrappy game. Preston were reduced to 10 men when Sam Greenwood was sent off for a bad tackle on Lewis Baker just before half time. The game was ours we thought as the second half kicked off now with big man Gueye up front the man was brought in to replace Gallagher, and although more aggressive he shows an unerring ability of his predecessor to lack first touch. And so the game dragged on towards a 0-0 draw and thoughts of our meal on the way home became more in mind when suddenly the game exploded into action when Owen Beck was sent off for Rovers late in the second half. Admittingly he did kick out at the Preston Player but then the Montenegrin  Milutin Osmajic whose name translated to English is possibly Dracula decided to bite Becks shoulder and incredibly the ref and the linesmen who were stood next to the event didn't see it unlike the Millions of Sky viewers and all the stadium. Oh well at least we are still unbeaten.

Mel who seems too able to find us good meals with the same ability Haaland finds the net had us ensconced in the Foxfield at Billington for our after-match fare. It was truly excellent though I am sure most of us could have shared each portion between two as they were massive, I think my bread and butter pudding was a full loaf.