After a goalless first 45 minutes that created few chances, Preston took the lead in a far more exciting second period. With 52 minutes on the clock, USA international John Lewis went on a mazy run through the City defence and fired a shot towards Neil Alexander that the Scotsman could only parry, and the excellent Ricardo Fuller was on hand to simply stroke the ball home from close-range.

Jamaican winger Richard Langley netted the equaliser for the Bluebirds just after the hour mark. London-born Langley picked up the ball on the right flank, cut inside and sent a screaming drive past the Preston 'keeper, leaving him with no chance. It was a very good goal, however it was another mixed performance from Langley who showed little bottle on the heavy Ninian Park pitch. His best two performances at Ninian Park were both in a Queens Park Rangers shirt!

The goal came as a real boost to the team and the City looked the more likely to get the next goal. Lawrence through on Andy Campbell as City finished the game with a 3-man attack, but it was Preston who stunned the home supporters, restoring their lead six minutes from time.

Former Manchester United forward David Healy was on target for the visitors following a fantastic piece of individual work from Ricardo Fuller. The ball looked as if it was trickling out for a goal kick, but Ricardo Fuller showed tremendous pace in reaching the ball and found himself in acres of space. He then sent an accurate cross in to the feet of super subtitute Healy, who calmly slotted the ball past Neil Alexander.

The small band of travelling supporters jumped around the Grangend in delight, as Craig Brown's side looked set to return to Lancashire with 3 unlikely points. However, there was one more twist in the game. For the second consecutive home game Peter Thorne netted a last minute header, which this time resulted in City earning a point. With only about 70% of home fans left in the ground, Chris Barker sent in a floating cross to the man with the magic hat who powerfully headed the ball home. Thorne's fantastic form continues in a game where yet again, Robert Earnshaw proved ineffective.

For a side that finished 6th in the Second Division last season, scraping into the play-offs by a single point, I'm amazed to see this but we looked very complacent on the night. Following an impressive win at the Britannia Stadium, we seemed to take a good Preston outfit far to lightly and were lucky to end the night with a point. The Bluebirds are still yet to beat any side in the top 10 this Saturday, will this change after Saturday's visit to Carrow Road?

Only 13,703 were in attendance at Ninian Park, the lowest league crowd of the campaign. For a team that is apparently, according to our chairman, bigger than Barcelona a crowd of this size for a game that saw us return to the top 6 is really very poor. Where were the extra 4,000 fans that attended the Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion games?

Full Time - Cardiff City 2-2 Preston North End
Attendance - 13,703

Bluebird to the Bone Man of the Match - Peter Thorne
Another strong performance from Thorney, who has really shown some good form since returning from injury. With Robert Earnshaw looking very tired recently, City's record signing has taken the limelight and has now netted 5 of City's last 6 goals.

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