Preston 2 Burnley 1 PRESTON North End were not the only winners in their match against Burnley at the weekend - the crowd were too as both teams provided wonderful footballing entertainment in a hotpot Lancashire derby.

It was all Preston in the early stages and Michael Jackson wasn't too far away with a toe poke effort that went narrowly wide.

Paul McKenna was next in line with a powerful drive that went wide and Nick Mickopoulos in the Burnley goal had to be quick off his line to beat Mark Rankine in a race for possession on the edge of the box.

Preston looked to have taken the lead when Michael Jackson arrived at the back post to send a header crashing towards goal and it looked as if the ball had crossed the line before Mickopoulos beat it out. The referee though was right up with the play and turned down the North End appeals.

Despite the mounting pressure from North End it was Burnley who went in front on 26 minutes with a brilliant individual goal from Ian Moore.

There didn't look to be any danger as Moore received the ball on the left hand corner of the box. Then a neat piece of close control took him beyond two tackles, a brief look up set his sights on goal and a classic curler zoomed past the desperate leap of David Lucas in the top corner and the Burnley fans went wild.

Preston came back and Bjarki Gunnlaugsson got into the box on the right and hit in a stunning low shot that Mickopoulos saved at full stretch and the Burnley keeper was in action again turning a glancing header from Jon Macken over the crossbar in spectacular style.

It was looking as if it was going to be one of those days for Preston as they came up against a brilliant keeper, but a goal just had to come, and it did five minutes into the second half. Again there didn't appear to be any real danger as the ball dropped to Jon Macken twenty five yards out. He had a little bit of space but from an almost standing position he let fly with a powerful shot that not even Mickopoulos could get to and the Deepdale roar exploded as the net caught the ball to level matters up at one all.

From then on Burnley were hanging on to the point that they started the game with.

Mark Rankine was through on goal looking for the winner but again Mickopoulos kept out his powerful shot and North End kept up the pressure with crosses from both flanks but the Burnley rearguard in which Steve Davis was excellent keeping Preston out.

Then came the winner - and what a goal it was. Rob Edwards played a corner to Graham Alexander on the edge of the box and the Preston full back came forward looking to have taken the ball too close to the goal line.

But, from the narrowest of angles Alexander hit a stunning shot between the keeper and the near post and the roof of the net bulged to send Deepdale once again into a frenzy of cheering Preston fans and down went the heads of the Clarets supporters.

Preston came forward looking to add to the scoreline but the Burnley keeper was equal to their efforts.

In the closing stages, Burnley rallied and put the Preston goal under sustained pressure but David Lucas and his fellow defenders remained calm add North End held on to take the three valuable points.

Preston deserved the win with a finer performance and that league table is looking very encouraging as we move into the Christmas and New Year fixtures.

Preston face the long trip to Gillingham on Saturday for a match which is always difficult but they go there with confidence on the back of this all Lancashire classic.

Goal hero and man of the match Graham Alexander said that he was "delighted with the goal", saying "the feeling was great as the ball went into the net."

Alexander added: "The move was something that David Eyres and I worked out when David was here. This time Rob Edwards and I tried it and it worked. Great!"

Preston skipper Sean Gregan said: "I thought we deserved to win, we played very well."