ON the final whistle some 150 Preston North End supporters staged a sit-in at the Town End, demanding the dismissal of boss Gary Peters.

This was sad to see but it came after Saturday's match (January 10), one of the worst performances by any Preston team in years on which ended North End1: Gillingham 3.

Quite simply, North End just never got going and it was no real surprise when Gillingham skipper Guy Butters put the visitors in front after just seven minutes.

Preston went from bad to worse, struggling to even put together a couple of passes. Gillingham coped easily with anything that North End offered and Macken and Holt just didn't get any service to create goal chances.

Then, on the stroke of half-time, poor defending let in Mick Galloway, powder puff tackling allowed him a clear sight of goal and he calmly placed the ball wide of Lucas for number two and Preston went off to a tirade of abuse.

Preston rallied in the early minutes of the second half and Rankine put over a neat cross which drifted across goal but Eyres couldn't get to it.

Then the roof came in for Preston as Iffy Onoura was left completely unmarked six minutes into the second half and although his shot was parried by Lucas the ball found its way into the bottom corner of the net. The Preston fans stood in silence.

Had it not been for the excellence of David Lucas in the Preston goal it could have turned into an avalanche of goals.

Preston just couldn't find a way to dislodge the Gillingham defence until a brief piece of individual skill lifted the gloom.

Sean Gregan, the Preston man of the match, hit a scorching 30-yard drive that ripped into the net - but by then it was all too late.

It was difficult to imagine or understand just how a team with so much obvious talent and ability could produce a performance as bad as this.

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