Fans have made their minds up on management duo after battling derby display, says John Smith
I went to Deepdale for this Sky TV high noon shoot out with our good "friends " from East Lancashire feeling in a cautious but optimistic mood following our two valiant performances in successive 1-1 draws against the high quality opposition of Middlesbrough and Fulham.
These displays meant I went into the derby feeling positive which for me is by far the biggest home match of this year's fixture calendar.
I did not really know quite what to expect from this game and noticed before kick off that Rovers fans arriving at Deepdale were certainly in buoyant mood following their unbeaten start to the season.
However, after this goalless draw it could be argued that considering we played with 10 men for almost an hour of the game it meant that we have retained the so-called workplace bragging rights especially as we have now gone five matches since we last lost to our nearby neighbours.
In the first half, both sides prodded and probed but were unable to create any clear cut chances until five minutes from the interval when this Lancashire "hot pot" derby suddenly burst into life.
It was as if the carrots ,onions and Worcester sauce had been added to the lamb stew and tripe dish making it far less bland by adding some flavour to turn the match into a real blood and thunder one.
Shortly after Rovers had missed a golden opportunity to take the lead, the dynamics of the game altered when Sam Greenwood was shown a straight red card for a challenge in the middle of the park.
This did not seem to faze our battling team and just before the interval Brad Potts stung the palms of the Rovers keeper who was called into action again from the resulting corner pushing away a goalbound header from Andrew Hughes.
In the second half, we defended well with my man-of-the-match Ali McCann breaking up play a lot in the middle of the park, winning numerous tackles which helped in not allowing Rovers to get a foothold in the game
After we made a triple substitution at times it did not feel like we were playing with 10 men and we were not put under any real serious pressure as Rovers failed to press home their numerical advantage.
Towards the end of the match the game took another turn following a melee which resulted in the numbers being levelled up as the feisty derby boiled over.
As the atmosphere cranked up in the home sections of the ground at this point it looked like we could even go on and grab a late winner with it now being the turn of the opposition fans to be apprehensive .
However, there was to be no late winner which meant the result was the first 0-0 draw in this fixture since April 18,1981.
Back then, Bucks Fizz topped the charts with their signature tune "Making Your Mind Up". Judging by the enthusiasm shown in the warm applause at the game it appears that our fans have made their mind up about the new management duo of Paul Heckingbottom and Stuart McCall.