James keeps his promise

FIGHTBACK UNDER WAY; Striker Shefki Kuqi puts Athletic back in the game with a side-foot finish following Preston’s quickfire double.

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Preston 3, Athletic 3
MIDFIELDER James Wesolowski vowed to plunder more goals after opening his Athletic account at the weekend and boy did he deliver in this ding-dong duel at Deepdale.

The pint-sized player struck twice as Paul Dickov’s side battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to earn a point.

Juvhel Tsomou nodded the Lilywhites in front after 29 minutes — the first of four goals in the space of a quarter-of-an-hour.

Jamie Proctor soon doubled the home side’s lead with a poacher’s effort and ‘ole’s’ were ringing around the ground with the visitors seemingly on the ropes.

But Dean Furman fed Shefki Kuqi, who converted from close range and Wesolowski pounced three minutes later.

Daniel Devine’s spooned free-kick from 45 yards put Preston back in front after 66 minutes with Athletic having a good shout for a foul by Proctor on goalkeeper Alex Cisak, before Wesolowski’s rescue act clinched a deserved point four minutes from the end.

Dickov made one change to the side that eased past Wycombe Wanderers 2-0, with Filipe Morais — deemed too big a risk after feeling his hamstring in training yesterday morning — replaced by Tom Adeymi, and Carl Winchester added to the substitutes’ bench.

The Scot opted to start with a 4-5-1 formation which saw Kuqi supported by Robbie Simpson and Chris Taylor roaming from the flanks.

Athletic made a bright start and did not look fazed by coming to a venue more familiar to npower Championship football.

Nathan Clarke’s long ball was headed on by Simpson, with Taylor a whisker away from beating goalkeeper Iain Turner to the ball after 15 minutes.

Taylor did make contact barely a minute later but his long-range drive flew wide.

Preston, with a point to prove after four successive defeats, probed and playmaker Paul Coutts was at the heart of their most effective work. The ex-Peterborough man should have broken the deadlock after 27 minutes but his curling effort went the wrong side of the post after good work from Danny Mayor.

Tsoumou made no mistake shortly afterwards — he nipped in between centre-halves Clarke and Jean-Yves Mvoto to power home Mayor’s teasing delivery with his head.

Athletic’s supporters, who turned out in their droves, must have feared the worst when Coutts wriggled past David Mellor down the right and picked out Proctor with a pinpoint pass along the ground, the striker netting from close range.

For five minutes the visitors could not get a foothold but they persevered and, after close calls from Kuqi and Mellor, and back to 4-4-2 with Simpson pushed up in attack, they halved the deficit.

Skipper Furman slipped a beautiful ball into Kuqi’s path and the Finn sprung the offside trap before prodding in via a Turner palm.

Barely two minutes had passed when Wesolowski got on the end of Simpson’s wicked free-kick from 35 yards out to level matters and strike a huge psychological blow to the opposition.

For Athletic, and any neutrals watching, the half-time whistle could not have come at a worse time.

The first 15 minutes of the second period saw both teams play some good stuff on a zippy surface. Furman's long-range drive provoked a sprawling save from Turner, before Preston’s Mayor went close at the other end with a dipping effort.

Then came the most contentious incident of the night — Devine made such a mess of his set-piece that, when it was still in the air, he held up his arm to acknowledge his mistake — only for it to dip under Cisak’s crossbar. Proctor appeared to impede the Australian as it slipped through the ’keeper’s grasp but the goal stood.

Clearly riled, Athletic had the bit between their teeth. Mellor’s trademark burst forward from full-back was followed by a fine cross which just evaded substitute Matt Smith, on for Kuqi who felt his groin tighten.

Taylor and Wesolowski swapped passes and found Simpson, but the on-loan forward did not connect properly, and Kieran Lee’s long pass also made its way to the striker, who volleyed over.

Mvoto was waved forward to a striker’s role for the final 10 minutes although that plan was abandoned when Wesolowski, latching on to the ball after Furman forced his way through several challenges, slammed it home first time from 25 yards.

There was even time to press for an injury-time winner. Lee played in the energetic Adeymi, but the ball just ran away from him and Turner gratefully gathered.

Turning point in a season hampered by inconsistency? Dickov may have told his players as much in a jubilant post-match huddle in front of the away fans.