It’s fair to say Blackburn Rovers fans won’t relish the Lancashire derby these days after Preston North End picked up another win at Ewood Park on Friday night.
A wonderful goal from Alan Browne and a late header from Liam Lindsay gave Preston a 2-1 win and ensured they left Ewood Park with three points for the fifth time since 2016.
Two draws and just one defeat have come in that time, and Preston have become a bit of a bogey team for Rovers in recent years.
The two sides didn’t play each other in the league for 14 years following Rovers’ promotion to the top flight in 2001. Since Preston won the League One play-offs in 2015 though, the sides have both been in the Championship for eight of the following nine seasons.
The seven games at Deepdale since then have brought three wins each, and a draw last season. A 4-1 win and a 3-2 Tom Barkhuizen inspired comeback victory being the highlights there.
But the Ewood Park victories have been ones to savour as well, so let’s have a look back at those.
Rovers 1-2 PNE – 2nd April 2016
Preston travelled to Ewood for the first time in over 15 years in a hotly anticipated match. All the action took place in the first half here, with Elliot Ward giving Blackburn an early lead before Shane Duffy was sent off after giving away a penalty.
Garner dispatched the spot kick and Jordan Hugill scored what would be the winning goal just before half time. That goal helped kicked start Hugill’s Preston career, and the fans could celebrate an overdue victory over their Lancashire neighbours.
Rovers 2-2 PNE – 18th March 2017
Not a victory on this occasion for The Lilywhites, but one that stays in the memory bank thanks to a dramatic last minute equaliser from that season’s talisman; Aiden McGeady.
Tom Barkhuizen gave Preston the lead on the day. The winger loved this game, going on to score three more in this fixture before his departure last summer.
Elliott Bennett and Craig Conway gave Blackburn the lead before a late leveller from Preston. Paul Gallagher calmly threaded a ball through for Tom Clarke who cut it back. There was Aiden McGeady and on St Patricks’ weekend, the Irishman slotted the ball into the net to send the away fans wild.
Rovers 0-1 PNE – 9th March 2019
After a season apart with Blackburn in League One, the rivalry resumed. Preston had already beaten Blackburn 4-1 earlier in the season, but this time they only needed the one goal.
It was a wonderfully worked team goal, with every player having a touch of the ball, before Lukas Nmecha pulled the ball back for Daniel Johnson to put past David Raya. Even a late red card for Darnell Fisher didn’t affect the result.
Rovers 1-2 PNE – 12th February 2021
The next victory at Ewood Park would come behind closed doors unfortunately, however the game was still broadcast on televison.
Greg Cunningham had recently returned for his second spell at the club, and scored a scorcher of a goal early in the game. Liam Lindsay who had also just joined the club, nodded in another just before half time. Although there was still time for Adam Armstrong to score a penalty before the interval as well.
Preston held on to give the fans some joy in lockdown, but Lindsay’s Ewood Park scoring exploits wouldn’t stop there.
Rovers 1-4 PNE – 10th December 2022
In snowy conditions last year, North End ploughed through the Rovers team with Ched Evans the star in a 4-1 victory. There had been a break in league action because of the World Cup, and although Preston returned with quite a few players missing on the day, they simply had too much for Blackburn.
Ben Woodburn had given Preston the lead after a nice through ball from Ryan Ledson, before two from Evans sandwiched a Bradley Dack goal. Ben Whiteman got a fourth with 25 minutes still to play, and allowed Preston to bring on Jacob Slater and Noah Mawene for their league debuts.
Rovers 1-2 PNE – 10th November 2023
Friday night’s win was special, and the perfect match to go into the international break from. Both teams had been inconsistent going into this match, and you felt there would always be goals.
It was an end-to-end encounter, but Alan Browne’s goal would have been worthy of winning any match. Despite Sammy Szmodics equalising, Preston would have the bragging rights with Liam Lindsay popping up to score his second Preston goal at Ewood Park.
If both teams remain in this division next season, Preston fans will be looking out for this game as soon as the fixtures come out, and eagerly anticipating another dream away day.