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We started brightly and Nik Kudiersky came close with a shot, but Preston soon had us on the back foot and exposed some unusual hesitation in our defence. A couple of good challenges by Dan Brown kept us level but less than a quarter of an hour in the home team did take the lead.
Again we failed to clear our lines properly and the ball dropped for the North End forward who made no mistake from the edge of the box. Soon after we had a half chance but Preston continued to look dangerous with us at times nowhere near our best at the back.
But as the half wore on so the game changed and the Clarets got on top. We thought we'd drawn level when Michael King got clear down the right but home keeper Jack Cudworth blocked his shot. However Dom Knowles got in first but with the keeper unable to recover his header went agonisingly wide of the post.
An equaliser looked due and was certainly deserved when it came. And it was Knowles who scored at the second attempt after his first shot was blocked. We'd really turned things round and when they went in at half time with the scores level at 1-1 we certainly had the upper hand.
Unfortunately the opening minutes of the second half decided the result and things went wrong for us. But surely the first of their two goals in a short space of time shouldn't have been allowed. King was clearly fouled in the centre circle and as he was left on the ground it enabled Preston to break clear and regain the lead. Just two minutes later it looked all over as a mix up let them in for number three.
It took us a while to recover from that but when we did we started to put Preston under some real pressure. All credit too to their goalkeeper Cudworth, he was outstanding and for me the man of the match, but he was a lucky lad to stay on the pitch as the Clarets pressed towards the end.
King played in skipper Chris Lynch, Cudworth was quickly out to block and clearly handled the ball outside the box and in doing so prevented Lynch from getting in a shot at goal. Up went the flag of an assistant referee well known to this web site. The referee went to speak to him and then showed a yellow card.
With two minutes to go we pulled one back. It was a scrappy goal as King's effort was deflected in but it gave us a real chance to go for an equaliser. And it almost came, but again Cudworth denied us with an excellent save.
After three minutes of stoppage time the referee brought it to an end with Preston the winners but we'd more than played our part.
The major disappointment on the night was the very poor attendance of only around 400 with the away fans contributing significantly to that figure. Preston had allowed free entry to season ticket holders of both club, something this site would have reported yesterday had the information been circulated.
Now our lads have to go and win their last three league games to win the trophy they so richly deserve. That starts this Saturday when we are at home to Oldham.
Last night's teams were;
Preston: Jack Cudworth, Conor McLaughlin, Phil Quirk, George Miller, Thomas Smyth, Dominic Collins, Danny Mayor, Adam Barton, Ryan McGreevy (Jamie Douglas 69), Jamie Proctor, Neil Dougan. Subs not used: Tom Owens, Ben Proctor, Sam Hart, Scott Davidson.
Burnley: Stef Ritchie, Dan Brown, Nik Kudiersky, Chris Lynch, Jake McEneaney, Dil Chaggar (Liam Newman 73), Chris Anderson, Alex-Ray Harvey, Michael King, Dom Knowles, Wes Fletcher. Subs not used: Danny McDonald, Ed Williams, Ross Wilson, Oliver Devenney.