Charlton Athletic 1-2 Preston North End as it happened: Comeback win on Gentry Day
Preston North End came from behind to beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 on Saturday
It was far from the ideal start to Gentry Day in the capital as the hosts started the stronger, with Greg Docherty volleying a vicious effort just over, before Joe Rankin-Costello’s header came back off the post. At the other end, Brad Potts had worked a promising position to shoot but his effort, while on target, lacked the power required to trouble Will Mannion.
With 18 minutes played, Rankin-Costello made no mistake with his second opportunity of the half. Charlton’s long-throw wasn’t dealt with and the number 26 was on hand to stab home from close range, with a clinical first time finish. Shortly after, the lively Tyreece Campbell forced Daniel Iversen into two smart saves.
Preston were yet to really settle into the contest but there had been some encouragement from crosses and on the 25 minute mark, Lewis Dobbin popped up with a well taken, headed equaliser. The Aston Villa man was on hand to glance Brad Potts’ delivery into the far corner, for his ninth goal of the campaign.
From there, the visitors were the better side through to half-time and had opportunities to turn the game around. Alfie Devine was slipped in by Daniel Jebbison but the angle was tight and he saw his left-footed strike held. Dobbin then cut the ball back into a dangerous area but the arriving Potts sliced over.
PNE took confidence into the second half and had a glorious chance soon after the restart, but Jebbison could only slot his close range effort, from Devine’s low cross, the wrong side of the post. Ben Whiteman then headed over from a corner before Iversen watched a Docherty strike, from range, all the way and made the catch.
Space was there for Preston and after the hour mark, they finally made Charlton pay as Dobbin led a lethal counter-attack. This time, the Aston Villa loan star turned provider, teeing up Potts to slam home first time. The number 44 had made a lung-busting run in support and sparked wild scenes in the away end, behind the net.
Charlton rallied and threatened to equalise, no more so than when Lloyd Jones hit the target from point blank range but was denied, remarkably, by Iversen. In the dying embers, PNE had a two-v-one opportunity but couldn’t kill the game as Devine’s pass across to substitute, Milutin Osmajic, was misplaced. Nonetheless, three points at last on Gentry Day.
Attendance: 18,902 (2,101 away) PNE starting XI: Iversen; Offiah, Storey, Gibson, Potts (Lindsay 82’), Hughes (Vukcevic 87’), Whiteman (c), Devine, Moran (Thompson 74’), Dobbin, Jebbison (Osmajic 74’) PNE unused subs: Cornell; Valentin, Small, Lukovic, Smith.