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Preston North End 6 Cardiff City 0
Preston spanked promotion-chasers Cardiff with six of the best to keep their play-off flame flickering.
North End's biggest win for eight years pushed them to within one point of Lancashire rivals Burnley who must wait until Monday to play their crunch game with Sheffield United.
Two goals from Neil Mellor and others from Jon Parkin, Chris Brown, Lee Williamson and a Mark Kennedy own goal completed an astonishing rout and gave the Preston fans an unbelievable afternoon of entertainment.
The scoreline was even more incredible considering the Welsh side had the best of the first half and created 11 scoring chances to Preston's three.
But Mellor's double and a wonderful penalty save by Andrew Lonergan sent North End in 2-0 up at the break and gave them the confidence to come out all guns blazing in the second period.
Mellor put Irvine's side in front after 17 minutes, sweeping home from close range, although a deflection wrong-footed keeper Stuart Taylor on the line.
The goal was his 11th of the season and he was claiming No 12 after 41 minutes when he got the final touch to a rocket shot from McKenna.
The goal was initially credited to the skipper - on the day he equalled Sir Tom Finney's appearance record of 472 games for the club - but Mellor was awarded it after TV pictures proved he had got the final
touch.
Just before the break referee Keith Stroud, who sent two PNE players off in his last visit to Deepdale, controversially awarded the Welshmen a penalty after he felt Billy Jones pushed Joe Ledley as the pair went for a high ball.
Ross McCormack, with 23 goals to his name so far this season, stepped up to hammer the spot-kick towards the bottom left corner, but Lonergan flung himself across at full stretch to turn it round the post.
Referee Stroud then needed an escort off the field at the half-time whistle with home fans baying for his blood.
The game had started in frenetic fashion, both sides playing 100mph stuff with a string of mistakes the inevitable consequence.
Striker Jay Bothroyd got in the first goal attempt, a glancing header which flew well wide of Lonergan's right-hand post.
And the former Blackburn frontman got even closer after 10 minutes when he held off Sean St Ledger on the right of the box and got in a shot which Lonergan spread himself well to beat out.
Skipper Ledley tested the keeper from long range as the North End defence backed off.
But after 17 minutes Preston took the lead. And the move had "Route One" written all over it.
Referee Stroud gave North End a soft free-kick deep in their own half, Lonergan launched the ball towards Parkin on the edge of the Cardiff box, he nodded it off to Mellor and the club's top scorer swept in a shot which took a deflection off Johnson and rolled past a wrong-footed keeper Taylor and over the line.
A stunned Cardiff responded with a header by Ledley from a Whittingham corner on the right, but Lonergan was in exactly the right spot to save on the line.
North End could have doubled their lead after 26 minutes when Sedgwick played a delightful ball inside his full-back for Jones on the overlap, but the defender's cross on the run was straight into the grateful arms of keeper Taylor with both Mellor and Parkin in scoring positions on the edge of the six-yard box.
Back down the other end McCormack chipped to the far post, but his strike partner Bothroyd put his header inches over the top.
And moments later Rae fluffed a tremendous chance to equalise when he broke through into the box but then completely mis-hit his shot.
On 33 minutes Wallace cut in from the right and thumped a low left-foot shot inches the wrong side of the left upright.
Bothroyd continued to find space in the North End box and, despite suspicion of offside on the left of goal, he smashed in a terrific shot which Lonergan acrobatically turned over the top for a corner.
Preston went 2-0 ahead four minutes before the interval when Wallace's free-kick was long beyond the far post, Mawene headed it back inside, the ball was knocked out to McKenna outside the box and his first-time shot looked to take a deflection off Mellor before spinning past Taylor into the net.
Both players claimed the goal, with the skipper initially being credited with it by the announcer and then a correction made after the break.
North End were 3-0 up six minutes into the second half when Mellor fed the ball forward for Parkin to thunder through and smash a shot past the hapless Taylor.
After 54 minutes it was four with Mellor crossing in from the left and defender Kennedy heading in off the inside of the far post as he tried to clear.
Mellor was denied his hat-trick on the hour by Taylor's fingertip save.
But by the 75th minute there were five on the board, this time substitute Brown rising unchallenged to head into the far corner from a Chris Sedgwick cross.
The sixth and final goal went in four minutes from time when midfielder Williamson bagged his first for the club, controlling the ball and then rifling it past Taylor to send the home crowd into orbit and the large Welsh following heading for the exits.
Earlier, the Beast was back as Preston went into their shoot or bust clash.
Jon Parkin, rested for Monday's trip to Doncaster, snatched his place back at the expence of goalscorer Chris Brown for a game North End had to win to retain any hope of securing a play-off place.
The giant targetman, without a goal in his last four appearances, was relegated to the bench at the Keepmoat Stadium along with recent strike partner Stephen Elliott as manager Irvine rotated his frontmen for their second match of the Easter weekend.
Brown and Mellor came in and both scored, leaving the manager with a selection poser for the big one with Cardiff.
But he opted for Parkin alongside Mellor - his two top scorers this season - with both Brown and Elliott amongst the substitutes.
Callum Davidson, who had been expected to figure after returning to training, was not even on the bench.
Preston went into the game four points adrift of the play-off places.
Cardiff, sitting in fourth place and still eyeing an automatic promotion spot, made two changes to the side which beat the Clarets 3-1 on Monday.
Manager Dave Jones, a former Preston player, brought back Roger Johnson to the centre of defence just a week after he was hospitalised with a damaged windpipe following a controversial clash with another ex-PNE man Claude Davis.
Johnson came in for Darren Purse and Peter Whittingham replaced Michael Chopra.
Preston North End: Lonergan, Jones, Mawene, St Ledger, Nolan, Sedgwick, McKenna, Williamson, Wallace, Mellor, Parkin.
Substitutes: Neal, Brown, Carter, Chilvers, Elliott.
Cardiff City: Taylor, McNaughton, R Johnson, Gyepes, Kennedy, Ledley, McPhail, Rae, Whittingham, McCormack, Bothroyd.
Substitutes: Heaton, Purse, E Johnson, Comminges, Chopra.
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire)
>> Policing stepped up for big match
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Weather for Preston
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -4 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
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