Preston undone as home side scale the table

There were no early indications that the Strollers would win this game because they were on the back foot for almost the entire first half as Preston took the game to the home side. Marc Lothian had a shot cleared off the Strollers goal-line in the eighth minute then a Mark Duthie cross was headed over by Gerri Burgess before the Strollers gained four consecutive corners. Then Kyle Collins, the nephew of former Hibs manager, John, created space for a cross which Preston's new signing, Mark Pagliarulo, headed wide from a good position.

It was virtually one way traffic and Collins had a long range shot which drifted wide, a Pagliarulo shot earned another corner and a Lothian header scraped the upright. The best opportunity fell to Pagliarulo on the half-hour mark when when he was sent through by Stuart Miller but lifted his 16-yard shot high over the crossbar. Kevin Lee had a powerful shot palmed away by Stuart Burnside who was by far the busier goalkeeper and he was again called into action to pick the ball off Pagliarulo's toes as the striker homed in on goal.

The Strollers had their first attempt on goal in the 40th minute when John Dunn was fouled by Collins and Bobby Gay's 25 yard free kick was competently gathered by Ross Gilpin. However, completely against the run of play, the Strollers took the lead three minutes before half-time. A long ball into the Preston penalty box was headed on by Gary Calvey to Craig Dickson who steadied himself and shot the ball behind Gilpin from ten yards.

The goal gave the home side a new lease of life and they started the second half positively with a well hit shot from Dickson testing Gilpin. They increased their advantage ten minutes after the break when defender James Robertson robbed Lothian on the half-way line and passed to Dunn who in turn threaded the ball to Calvey. The former Whitehill Welfare striker calmly took stock and fired an unstoppable angular shot behind Gilpin from twelve yards.

However, Preston were by no means out of the contest and Pagliarulo had a shot which Burnside saved well with his legs, then a Lothian header seemed destined for the net before the goalkeeper again stopped the ball with his legs.

The game was put beyond doubt in the 68th minute when, after a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to Robertson who powered it into the net from eight yards. To be fair to Preston they still pressed forward and Martin Laidlaw hit the post and a Pagliarulo header was cleared off the goal-line by Russell Hogarth. Preston fully deserved their consolation goal in the final minute when a Lee free kick found its way to Pagliarulo who scored with an accurate shot over Burnside.

The Stollers joint manager, Andy Raeburn, said: "I felt that the first half could have gone either way until we stole the opener a couple of minutes before the whistle. In the second half we competed more and I actually felt that we could have scored more goals.

"I have to admit that, without doubt, our opening goal came against the run of play and at that stage Preston could have been at least two goals ahead.

"At half-time we spoke about the situation and the players admitted that they were letting themselves down although we were all still very upbeat. We knew that if we got the ball on the deck then we could pull Preston around the pitch.

"We were really pleased with the second half performance as we looked like a team. Hopefully we have now turned the corner and that victory puts us into the top half of the table from bottom place so that shows just how tight this league is."

Iain Houston, the Preston coach, said: "The Strollers were never in the game in the first half and our goalkeeper had only one save to make. Then we made a terrible defensive mistake and goals change games. If we had scored first, which we should have, then it would have changed the match. Instead of going in at half-time saying to the players it had been a good forty five minutes we go in having conceded a soft goal.

"We explained to the players at the break that we had controlled the first half so just go out and do the same again because the game is there to be won. Then we lost possession again despite us telling our players to keep the ball. We got into the final third without any problem.

"This is a very tight league and on our day we are good enough to beat any other team but if we lose goals as we did against the Strollers then we can get beat off anybody."

Civil Service: Burnside, Robertson, Newby (Wheelan 56), Barbirou, Dunn, Hogarth, Gay (Murray 75), Burgess, Calvey (White 79), Dickson, Dick. Sub: Dillon.

Preston: Gilpin, Barton, Lee, Leighfield, Scott, Collins (Fairbairn 75), Duthie, Lothian, Miller (McCaul 65), Pagliarulo, Laidlaw. Subs: Haynes, Houston, McColl.

Civil Service Strollers 3

Preston Athletic 1