Preston v Leeds United: Last five meetings at Deepdale

Deepdale has been a happy hunting ground for Leeds United over the past 12 years with three victories coming in their past five visits to tomorrow's opponents Preston North End.
Shaun Derry and Neil Sullivan celebrate after final whistle at Preston.Shaun Derry and Neil Sullivan celebrate after final whistle at Preston.
Shaun Derry and Neil Sullivan celebrate after final whistle at Preston.

One of those five visits was the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-final in 2006 where the Whites came out on top to progress through to the Championship’s showpiece event at the Millennium Stadium.

Here’s a look back at Leeds United’s last five matches at Deepdale.

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Preston North End 1 Leeds United 2 (npower Championship, March 8, 2011)

The most recent meeting between these sides at Deepdale was five years ago with Preston battling relegation and United looking to consolidate their place in the play-off positions.

The home side started the brighter but it was United who broke the deadlock thanks to a stunning finish from Neil Kilkenny who rifled his shot from the edge of the area into the top right hand corner.

From then on Leeds gained the upper hand and pressed forward for a second. This duly arrived in the second half when Billy Paynter produced a lovely strike of his own.

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Preston did get a goal back through Iain Hume’s 63rd-minute effort giving Preston a glimmer of hope but Leeds stood firm and closed out the match to take the points back across the Pennines.

Preston North End 4 Leeds United 1 (Coca-Cola Championship, October 31 2006)

New United manager Dennis Wise watched as his side were dismantled by a rampant Preston side.

Danny Dichio opened the scoring on 20 minutes after good work from David Nugent who picked out Dichio to head home.

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Nugent was again heavily involved as he set up Danny Pugh to double Preston’s advantage. It was then Nugent’s turn to get on the scoresheet as he finished off Simon Whalley’s cross to put Preston three goals to the good.

David Healy pulled one back for United but substitute Lewis Neal’s long-range deflected effort four minutes later completed the scoring for the home side.

Preston North End 0 Leeds United 2 (Coca-Cola Championship, play-off semi-final second leg, May 8, 2006)

After a 1-1 draw at Elland Road in the first leg, United progressed to the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium thanks to goals from Rob Hulse and Frazer Richardson which gave them a 3-1 aggregate victory despite finishing the game with nine men.

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Hulse scored the first goal after evading his marker and stroking home Gary Kelly’s corner from close range. Hulse then turned provider as he weaved in from the left-hand flank before crossing for Richardson who finished clinically to put United in firm control of the tie.

Leeds however, were not going to make it easy for themselves when Stephen Crainey was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 69th minute and then Richard Cresswell was dismissed in the dying seconds of the game.

Preston looked to make the numerical advantage count and pushed forward forcing a number of smart saves out of Leeds keeper Neil Sullivan but the home side couldn’t find the breakthrough.

Preston North End 2 Leeds United 0 (Coca-Cola Championship, April 30, 2006)

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This game was billed as a warm up for the first leg of the play-off semi-final between the two sides which was due to take place just five days later.

Brian Stock opened the scoring for Preston with a lovely free-kick after 38 minutes and Brett Ormerod secured the points with a scrappy goal 12 minutes from time.

Preston North End 2 Leeds United 4 (Coca-Cola Championship, November 6, 2004)

A clinical performance from United meant they left Deepdale with all three points.

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David Healy scored two goals against his former club with Brian Deane and Simon Walton completing the scoring with Richard Cresswell getting two back for the home side.

Deane headed the opener after 13 minutes before Healy took centre-stage two minutes later with the first of his two delightful long-range efforts and then added his second in the 44th minute to all but settle the game as a contest.

Preston started the second half better and pulled one goal back through Cresswell but soon after, Deane controlled the ball into the path of Walton who finished emphatically to make it 4-1.

Cresswell did add another seven minutes from time but it turned out to be a mere consolation.