Preston North End vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
DeepdaleAttendance12,821.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Preston and Birmingham at Deepdale as Scott Hogan struck late to cancel out Patrick Bauer's first half opener and earn a point for Lee Bowyer's Blues
Saturday 15 January 2022 19:01, UK
Preston missed the chance to move back into the Championship top half as Scott Hogan's late goal snatched a point for Birmingham in a 1-1 draw at Deepdale.
Neither side created much in terms of clear-cut chances throughout the 90 minutes with Patrick Bauer's instinctive first-half finish seemingly putting Preston on course for a crucial three points.
However, a late triple substitution turned the tide for Birmingham and in the dying minutes Republic of Ireland international Hogan popped up to seal a dramatic point for the away side.
The draw breaks North End boss Ryan Lowe's 100 per cent record in league action since taking charge of the club back in December, with the Lilywhites remaining in 15th place in the table.
The struggling Blues stay 18th with a bit of a buffer to the relegation zone, despite picking up just one win in their last 10 games in all competitions.
Preston did look the brighter of the two sides in the early stages, with Andrew Hughes nodding just wide of the post from Ben Whiteman's whipped corner and Emil Riis Jakobsen heading a great chance straight at Birmingham stopper Neil Etheridge.
However, that early attacking pressure did finally pay off for Lowe's troops as they deservedly edged in front just past the half-hour mark.
Another Whiteman corner was only half-cleared to the edge of the box by the Birmingham back-line and Alan Browne's driven effort was poked home from six yards by centre-back Bauer.
Lee Bowyer's visitors looked to spark themselves into a response after the restart with Jordan James' long-range strike bravely blocked away by Whiteman.
Preston still carried a threat in the final stages, with Etheridge called into action to deny Brad Potts and Ched Evans in quick succession.
Both bosses made changes to try and force the issue in the final 15 minutes, with Lowe bringing on Sean Maguire and Tom Barkhuizen and Bowyer rolling the dice by throwing on Ryan Woods, Jobe Bellingham and Hogan in a last-gasp move.
Bowyer's gamble paid off in style after 86 minutes as his fresh faces conjured up an unexpected equaliser.
The 16-year-old Bellingham - younger brother of England international Jude and making his Championship debut - weaved past two Preston challenges in midfield to create an angle for Woods to deliver a cross into the box and Hogan got in behind the defence to nod home past an exposed Daniel Iversen.
Preston's Ryan Lowe: "I'm disappointed, I felt we had opportunities at 1-0 to finish the game off. I would have liked us to test the keeper a bit more. We are probably 60 per cent of where we want to be at the minute. We've got seven points out of nine so far, it's good but we want to be better. I thought we were OK first half, we got into some good positions but we didn't have that killer instinct and that killer pass.
"If you can't finish them off, you've got to defend at the other end of the pitch and it was a sloppy one from us. We didn't have that final touch in the final third, not for a lack of trying, we had opportunities to do that but it wasn't to be, although I can't question the effort and the attitude of the lads. Birmingham are fighting and they were never going to roll over, we just needed to get that second goal to finish it off."
Birmingham's Lee Bowyer: "I'm really pleased because Scotty [Hogan] has had a tough week with some personal things going on away from the game. I'm glad he got the goal and it is an important result for us away from home.
"I have to give the players full credit for the way they kept on going and pushing right until the end like that. I think we could have nicked a win. We dug deep and kept on pushing and fighting. I will always keep on fighting and pushing these players and they will keep fighting for the club and that's what they've just done here, right until the end of the game.
