Source: Telegraph
Preston North End 0 Newcastle United 1: match report
Kevin Nolan's status as a talismanic figure for Newcastle was enhanced on Monday night when his goal sent his club back to the top of the Championship. [LNB]The former Bolton captain struck his ninth goal this term in the second half as Newcastle regained pole position in the race for Premier League football. [LNB] Related ArticlesChampionship tableTelegraph player raterChampionship fixturesSport on televisionNolan celebrated in front of the 3,500 travelling fans after drilling the ball beyond Andy Lonergen from 10 yards following Marlon Harewood's flick on from Danny Guthrie's cross. [LNB]Preston manager Alan Irvine, a former Newcastle academy director, will count himself unlucky not to have beaten his old club whose fans became so desperate that the threw a beach ball into the Lilywhites' goalmouth just after half-time. [LNB]Preston enjoyed the upper hand for much of the game thanks to midfielder Richard Chaplow's dominance and went close on several occasions, but only tested Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper twice through strikers Neil Mellor and Chris Brown [LNB]Irvine's team suffer a major set-back when centre-half Youl Mawene was taken to hospital for scans on suspected knee ligament following a collision with Lonergen. Despite his loss Preston thrived but Mellor sliced wide when sent through by Billy Jones just minutes before Nolan's intervention.[LNB]Match details[LNB]Preston (4-4-2): Longeran; Jones, Mawene (Chilvers h-t), Collins, Davidson (Nolan 73); Sedgwick (Parkin 80), Chaplow, Tonge, Parry; Brown, Mellor. Subs: Henderson (g), Shumulikoski, Carter, Elliott. [LNB]Newcastle (4-4-2): Harper; Simpson (Kadar 66), S Taylor, Coloccini, Enrique; Guthrie (Lovenkrands 90), Nolan, Smith, Gutierrez; Harewood, Carroll (Ranger 62). Subs: Krul (g), Geremi, Pancrate, Donaldson. Booked: Smith [LNB]Referee: S Mathieson (Cheshire).[LNB]
