Irvine proud of effort

Alan Irvine hopes Preston have turned a corner, after hanging on for a surprise 2-1 win over West Brom.

Preston manager Alan Irvine hopes his Coca-Cola Championship strugglers have turned a corner, after hanging for a surprise 2-1 win over West Brom. Youl Mawene's sixth-minute opener put Preston in front early on at Deepdale, before a superb strike from Zoltan Gera gave West Brom a deserved equaliser in the 50th minute. But Karl Hawley, Preston's two-goal hero against Derby, stunned the Baggies with a 61st-minute goal - and although Irvine's men had Mawene and Chris Brown sent-off late on, they held on for just their second victory in six league games. "It was a great performance," said Irvine. "We knew, having scored that early goal, that West Brom would come after us. We had to weather the storm - and we did that. "We were disciplined and well-organised, with everybody doing their job and filling in for each other. "We knew it was going to be a test, because West Brom can open you up if you aren't properly organised and disciplined. "We're not quite where we want to be. But it's better, and we're looking very solid." While Irvine had no complaints about Brown's dismissal, the Preston boss was mystified by Mawene's red card - which could have cost the Lillywhites a crucial three points. The French defender was trying to come off after suffering a shoulder ligament injury, but the referee felt he was time wasting. "Youl Mawene was injured, and we were trying to make a substitution - but for some reason, we weren't allowed," said Irvine. "We tried to get him some treatment on the pitch but we weren't allowed that either. "Perhaps he should have laid down as if he'd been poleaxed. But he was trying to be the ultimate professional, stay on despite the pain and help us defend the set-piece. "That was interpreted as time-wasting; he was given a second yellow card - but he's left the ground with a sling on. "Thank God it wasn't 15 minutes earlier. Those last few minutes felt like about 40." West Brom manager Tony Mowbray lamented his side's defending, having conceded the opening goal from a corner and the winner after failing to deal with a deep free-kick into the danger zone. "I think we played reasonably well and created lots of chances - but we didn't take them and got punished by our inability to defend set plays," he said. "Any manager will tell you it's frustrating when you keep conceding goals from set-pieces. "But I've got to give Preston credit for sticking to their game, and they got their reward."