Preston North End fans were always going to have Blackburn Rovers marked down on the calendar when the Championship fixture list came out.
Not only are PNE and Blackburn local rivals, but the date of this clash was notable; the first game back after the World Cup break, the first North End game for a month.
Mix that together and you get an enormous game that feels like it has been looming for a while.
You would may have to forgive PNE fans for having something of a sinking feeling when the lineups were released though.
Supporters looked down the team sheet and saw no Andrew Hughes, Robbie Brady, Alan Browne, Ali McCann or Emil Riis.
All five seemingly have injuries and that’s a lot of quality to take out of the PNE squad for such a huge game.
There wasn’t even a murmur of one injury problem never mind five or six. That sudden realisation certainly heightened the panic amongst fans but fair play to PNE for keeping it under wraps.
Once the game actually kicked off, North End were superior in every facet of the game.
PNE played with so much composure on the ball in the middle of the park and were so incisive with it too.
The one and two-touch play around the box was outstanding and something resembling the attacking football Lowe has been seeking ever since his appointment just over a year ago.
The really striking factor in PNE’s play was the intensity.
There were large parts where Blackburn just couldn’t get out of their own half, even getting further than 20 yards from their own goal was a battle.
North End stepped onto them, won the ball back high up the pitch and had the quality to make Rovers pay.
The fourth was simply a thing of beauty.
Alvaro Fernandez bombed forward to support the attack and found Daniel Johnson, who seemingly had eyes in the back of his head to somehow flick the ball behind him for Ben Whiteman to run on and fire into the net.
Solid defensively, controlling the midfield battle, effective and incisive play in the final third – this was the most complete performance of the Ryan Lowe era.
That’s exciting in itself but for it to come in Blackburn’s own back yard?
This is a result and display that will live long in the memory for PNE fans and we can only hope that there is more of this to come from Lowe and his North End side.