Preston North End stormed to a three-nil lead on Saturday, but had to dig deep against Ipswich Town to see the eventual 3-2 win home.
Here are our talking points from Deepdale.
1. At it from the off
It's a major trait on show whenever you see Preston perform well - and the intensity was at the right level from minute one on Saturday. It cannot be easy to produce that every single game, when the matches come in quick succession, but PNE don't half give themselves a miles better chance of winning when they are in that mode. Ipswich are a terrific team and score goals for fun, but they were well and truly rocked in the first half at Deepdale. North End hunted the ball, got in the Tractor Boys' faces and forced errors in unwanted positions. PNE were aggressive and alert, taking the fight to Ipswich and getting the ball forward quickly. There was fortune for Preston's first two goals, but they had other chances to score in the half and will have felt they earned the luck which came their way.
2. Attacking and entertaining
You were wondering where the Ryan Lowe era was heading and what else there was left for him to try. There is still a lot of convincing for him to do yet, but the system and personnel in recent weeks has certainly been refreshing to see. With Mads Frokjaer pulling strings in the number ten position, Liam Millar out wide and the front two of Emil Riis and top scorer Will Keane - PNE have lots of attacking talent on the pitch. Behind those four on Saturday were Ben Whiteman and Alan Browne; let's not forget the experience and quality within this North End squad. Preston have often lacked creativity and spark during Lowe's tenure, but the XI we've seen of late is not short of it at all. Time will tell whether a long-term formula has been found. For now, Lowe would be foolish to try anything else as he looks to keep supporters invested in the remaining 16 games - while not allowing the season to fizzle out.
3. Kieffer chaos
It is a compliment to Ipswich that, even at 3-0, Preston could not afford to feel comfortable. The visitors had a super strong bench and Kieran McKenna wasted no time in sending new recruit Kieffer Moore on at half time. North End kept Ipswich out until the 75th minute, but the impact of the big striker was clear for everyone to see and he made the closing stages a very tense watch. Ipswich were camped in PNE's half and they had a physical focal point with quick and clever feet. Given the way this season has gone, it would not have been a surprise at all if Ipswich had come back from the dead and equalised. But, Preston deserve credit for getting over the line and inflicting just Ipswich's fourth loss of the season. They did it the hard way, but those are three excellent three points against a side who've taken the league by storm. Moving forward, North End will want to stay higher as a team, retain more possession and not invite constant pressure like that again.
4. Referee?!
It's a good job Ipswich didn't nick a draw, because the incident with Václav Hladký and Frokjaer would've been a major talking point. Lowe has been seething with some of the decisions to go against his team this season and there was another one on Saturday. North End did get a slice of luck for their second goal, with Emil Riis looking offside, but this was equally as poor of a call from the officials. Hladky had the ball passed back to him, took a loose touch under pressure and then swiped the ball away with his hand. North End ought to have been given an indirect free-kick and Hladky could've easily been sent off, as you would argue he denied 'the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity'. With PNE three-nil up at the time, you did not expect the call to prove costly. But in the end, it could quite easily have done. Those are decisions the officials simply have to get right.