Preston North End 2 Crystal Palace 0

9:29am Monday 18th August 2008

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Goals from midfield duo Barry Nicolson and Richard Chaplow continued Preston North End’s 100 per cent record on a monumental day for the club.

The day marked the opening of the Invincible Pavilion in what the fans call ‘The Final Stand’ as it saw the completion of all sides of the Deepdale ground.

Preston now have a ground worthy of the 21st century and after three wins in three a new team to push forward and potentially make their own history as ‘Invincibles’.

Alan Irvine started the game with the same side that served him so well a week ago at Ipswich with goalkeeper Andy Lonergan adding to the day’s milestones by making his 100th appearance for North End.

It seemed that the day’s occasion spurred Preston North End on as they looked the brighter from the start with a fantastic opportunity to open the scoring just before the quarter of hour mark.

Nicolson’s corner was met by the head of Billy Jones only for a good save from Palace keeper Julian Speroni.

The ball fell kindly to Sean St Ledger but his attempt was blocked on the line.

Preston continued to dominate with Crystal Palace offering very little in return, undoubtedly lacking firepower after the summer departure of Clinton Morrison, last season’s match winner.

Richard Chaplow, continually causing the visitors problems, was the architect of a great opportunity just after the half hour mark when he played in Nicolson who in turn fed Simon Whaley only to see his shot dip over the bar.

The second half started similar to the first, Preston in the ascendancy but, similar to Tuesday nights Carling Cup game against Chesterfield, had to be patient for the deadlock to be broken.

After a melee in the box, the ball fell for Nicolson whose pile driver seemed to bounce off a palace defender and hit the keeper on the back of the head before resting in the net.

A lucky first goal for the Scot but a relief for a North End side who had the majority of the possession.

Neil Mellor was a constant threat, never stopping running and causing the Palace defence no end of trouble.

The win was then sealed with an injury time goal, again proving Preston’s fitness as Chaplow twisted his defender before sliding the ball home at the far post.

The win took North End top of the table after two matches but after the game manager Alan Irvine played down the significance.

He said: “It's a fantastic start, there's no doubt, but it is only a start.

"It's only two league games and one cup game, there's an awful long way to go.”

Irvine also noted the impact that Nicolson has had since his arrival from Aberdeen: “Barry's a really good footballer.

"He's intelligent, he's very good technically, he's got great energy and with his experience and understanding I think he is going to be a very good player for us.”