Adrian Hughes scored the only goal of the game as Preston North edged out Fulham in a dour contest at Deepdale this afternoon.
The decisive moment came just after the hour mark when Fulham’s offside trap, which had caught out North End’s attackers throughout the first half, had a serious malfunction. Glen Thomas and Jeff Eckhardt played Hughes onside from Iain Bogie’s free-kick and the centre half had all the time in the world to loop a header over the stranded Jim Stannard.
PRESTON NORTH END: Farnworth; Swann, Hughes, Fee, Wrightson, Rathbone, Williams, Joyce, Bogie, James, Shaw.
GOAL: Hughes (63).
FULHAM: Stannard; G. Thomas, Eckhardt (Joseph 75), Pike, Marshall, Newson, Scott (Skinner 75), Kelly, Brazil, Davies, Haag.
ATTENDANCE: 4,691.
