Preston finally picked up their first away win in the Sky Bet Championship at the 10th attempt as they won 2-0 at Cardiff City Stadium.
An own goal by Cardiff City defender Calum Chambers two minutes into the second half gave them the lead before Montenegrin Milutin Osmajic rounded things off in the third minute of added time.
In a game involving two teams down on their luck – Cardiff had not won in their last five games and Preston their last nine – it was always going to be a cagey affair and it was Josh Bowler who injected some life into the game out on the right wing for the visitors.
After Yakou Meite had fired in a shot in the second minute, former Cardiff star Bowler tested former team-mate Jak Alnwick into a fifth-minute save after cutting in from his wing.
From the corner, Liam Lindsay headed back across goal from the far post and it only required a touch to open the scoring, which did not come.
If that was a near-miss for Preston, they had another chance when Bowler brought another save out of Alnwick.
At the other end, Meite’s shot just past the near post after running into the box and then thought he had broken the deadlock in the 36th minute when he was set free in front of goal from a neat pass from Callum Robinson.
Meite weaved his way into the box and guided the ball past Freddie Woodman in the Preston goal, but Jordan Storey was back on the line to scoop the ball away from the goal and into the arms of a relieved Woodman.
Preston conjured up two more chances just before the break, but both Mads Frokjaer-Jensen and Sam Greenwood fired wide.
The second half got off to a flying start with Frokjaer-Jensen threading his way into the box and getting off a shot that took a double deflection before beating Alnwick off the unfortunate Chambers.
The goal gave Preston the lead two minutes into the second half, although they had to thank Jack Whatmough for hanging on to it six minutes later when he headed a Perry Ng back post header off the line after a deep cross by Callum O’Dowda.
That was as good as it got for the Bluebirds, who were hoping to celebrate the announcement last week that interim boss Omer Riza had had his role extended to the rest of the season.
As they went all out to try to find an equaliser, they were caught out at the back.
Osmajic picked the pocket of the final defender, rounded Alnwick and then found the back of the net from the narrowest of angles to seal a much-needed victory.
