Martyn Woolford claimed a late winner to give spirited Scunthorpe a 3-2 victory at Preston.
Preston come from behind before Scunny hit back to snatch victory
Martyn Woolford claimed a late winner to give spirited Scunthorpe a 3-2 victory at Preston.
The Iron drew first blood in the battle of the Championship strugglers when Chris Dagnall opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a speculative low shot.
North End were booed off by their own fans at the break but turned the game on its head with two goals in six second-half minutes around the hour mark through defenders Craig Morgan and Billy Jones.
The hosts' lead was short-lived, though, as Michael O'Connor drew Scunny level within 60 seconds with a fine free-kick.
Ferguson pressure
Winger Woolford then tapped home eight minutes from time to lift Ian Baraclough's men away from the drop zone and turn up the heat on Darren Ferguson, whose side are now second-bottom.
Scunthorpe had failed to win any of their previous six games but fully merited their victory and the boos that rang out at the final whistle left Ferguson in no doubt as to the challenge facing him.
The visitors were buoyed by the presence of West Ham striker Freddie Sears, who was handed his debut after joining on a month's loan.
The 20-year-old has struggled for regular first-team football at Upton Park but he was a menace throughout and his new side soon led when Dagnall collected possession and fired in a low 20-yard shot off the inside of a post.
Preston almost fashioned an immediate response when Paul Hayes played a one-two with on-loan Manchester United youngster Josh King and hit a low shot from 12 yards which drew a fine parried save from Iron goalkeeper Joe Murphy.
Sears threat
Sears then picked up possession 25 yards out, advanced towards goal and unleashed a fierce right-foot shot which was deflected out for a corner.
It was a reminder of Scunthorpe's threat, even if Preston largely dominated possession, as Sears teased and tormented the visitors.
Preston youngster Danny Mayor scuffed a shot wide on the half-hour mark but Sears' pace was evident again eight minutes after the restart when he broke the offside trap and scampered clear of a static home defence.
Sears bore down on Andy Lonergan but lacked conviction and the Preston goalkeeper smothered his effort before Michael Collins fired the rebound wide.
Chants of 'Fergie, sort it out' from restless home fans at least prompted a response from the hosts and in the 58th minute Morgan rose highest at the back post to head home a corner from substitute Paul Parry.
In the 64th minute, Preston led from another corner which was cleared by the visiting defence but fired back into the net by Jones.
The visitors equalised when O'Connor curled in a free-kick from the left into the top right-hand corner.
However, the real drama was still to come as Sears fired against a post from close range before Woolford swept home the rebound.
