Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Preston North End: Ryan Lowe collects three points on his return to Home Park

Preston North End gathered three points on the South West Coast this afternoon in an important 1-0 win for Ryan Lowe's men.

Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Preston North End: Ryan Lowe collects three points on his return to Home Park
(Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)
sebmellis2004
By Sebastian Mellis

The Lilywhites travelled to Home Park for this afternoon's clash against Plymouth Argyle.

Ryan Lowe was forced into two changes early on in the game due to two injuries in the starting team.

This began a very physical affair between the two sides.

Liam Millar got his name on the scoresheet in the 43rd minute of the match when he slotted a volley into the far corner of the net.

Plymouth Argyle failed to get back into the game and equalise which meant the visiting side took the three points back to Preston.

  • Story of the Match

Ian Foster made two alterations in his starting team from their draw last weekend with Blackburn Rovers.

The first change being Joe Edwards coming into the side for Bali Mumba who could not participate due to a suspension.

Adam Forshaw was also dropped from the starting squad, allowing Adam Randell to take his role in the middle of the park.

The travelling side made some huge changes to their previous lineup going into this one.

Returning from injury, Brad Potts made his first start since February for the Lilywhites.

Captain Alan Browne and Ben Whiteman were unavailable for selection due to injuries, seeing Ryan Ledson take the armband and slot into the midfield.

Summer signing Milutin Osmajić joined the frontline due to an Emil Riis absence with an illness.

Plymouth Argyle began the game in 17th place with 41 points, 12 points behind Preston North End in 10th place.

The game came to a stop within minutes when Osmajić hit the ground from a tussle with Mustapha Bundu, forcing an early change in the dugout for Ryan Lowe's men.

Substitute Liam Millar soon got involved in the controversy of the game, failing to get a penalty from a soft push in Argyle's box.

Brad Potts was unable to get going in his return from injury which led the Preston physio to make the call the full-back is not ready to continue and forced another change in the 19th minute seeing Layton Stewart come on.

The first big chance of the game came just after this when Millar knocked it wide of the post just in front of the Plymouth goalkeeper.

Tensions are rising...

An extremely late challenge from Mickel Miller towards the end of the second half saw John Busby show his first yellow card of the match.

Liam Millar's fifth goal of the season came in the 43rd minute from a failed header by Will Keane which fell to the feet of the Canadian who sweetly finished it into the bottom left corner, making it 1-0.

Another Preston threat came in the eight minutes of added time with a dangerous cross from Robbie Brady but goalkeeper Michael Cooper reacted well.

Bundu's header late into stoppage time just went wide meaning the visiting side held onto their one goal lead before the sound of the half time whistle.

The Pilgrims struggled to get a hold of the game at the start of the second half which allowed the away side to cause them some problems but not enough to further their lead.

Preston nearly doubled the scoreline at Home Park from a corner in the 57th minute before the home side hit the North End defence on the break which led to a volley from Morgan Whittaker which flew wide of the net.

Goal number two nearly came for the Lilywhites before the 70 minute mark when Mads Frøjkær-Jensen put the ball in behind the Argyle back line but Liam Millar couldn't control the ball in time.

Layton Stewart struck the post from a long shot following this.

Randell's shot from afar just breezed past the right post of Preston's net, nearly equalising in front of the away fans.

Plymouth pushed on towards the end of the game, really causing the away side's back line serious issues.

The home side had a penalty shout of their own in the 85th minute but this did not work out in their favour.

Four minutes of added time were not enough for Plymouth Argyle to get one back, giving the three points to Preston North End; an important win in their campaign for a play-off spot.

  • Player of the Match - Liam Millar

Liam Millar shone for Preston in this one, scoring his fifth goal of the season for the club and helping them massively get the three points on the road today.

Not listed in the starting lineup, the Preston loanee came on in the fourth minute for Osmajić following an ankle injury.

Originally beginning his game up top, Lowe decided for the Canadian to take the right flank which is what caused the home side some difficulties.

Using his quick feet and brilliant footballing mind, Millar used this to get into multiple goalscoring positions and take the lead which ultimately won North End the game.

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About the author
Sebastian Mellis
I am 19 year old currently studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire in year 1 of the course. I am a football and darts lover and have a passion writing about sport.