Irvine joy at first win

Preston boss Alan Irvine expressed his relief after claiming the first win of his fledgling managerial career.

Preston boss Alan Irvine expressed his relief after claiming the first win of his fledgling managerial career. Irvine, who succeeded Paul Simpson last month, looked set to endure another fruitless evening after overseeing successive defeats in his first three games in charge. However, second-half goals from Patrick Agyemang, Simon Whaley and Lewis Neal sunk Hull 3-0 to partially lift the gloom at Deepdale and end a six-game winless slump. North End remain in the bottom three but Irvine is adamant this result can revive the club's flagging fortunes. "I'm delighted obviously with the win," enthused the former Everton assistant manager. "It's been tough for the players, fans and staff and the board of course and I'm delighted for all of them. "The feeling from the players is that this is the start rather than anything else. That's good because we can't rest on that and we still have a lot to do." Agyemang broke the deadlock on the hour after latching on to Paul Gallagher's threaded pass and firing past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

Emphatic

Seven minutes later, Whaley beat Myhill with a deflected eight-yard strike and Neal put the seal on an emphatic win two minutes from time with a close-range tap-in. Hull came closest to netting midway through the first half when Caleb Folan barged past Youl Mawene but saw his rasping 12-yard drive cannon to safety off the post. Boss Phil Brown branded his side's second-half showing as "totally unacceptable" and bemoaned several missed chances early in the game. "I thought in the first half we were different class and should have gone in front," said Brown. "Everything was going according to plan but the second-half performance was totally unacceptable. No excuses. "The first goal was always going to be important for both sides in terms of confidence. "If we'd got our noses in front, we're a good side and we go on to win the majority of the games when we do that. "It was important for Preston to get the first goal as well for their confidence which we identified was fragile before the game. "Consequently, they got it and went on to comprehensively beat us."