Revitalised Richard Cresswell claimed a first-half hat-trick to steer Preston
to a 3-2 win at Deepdale and deny Sunderland the chance to go top of the
Coca-Cola Championship.
The former England Under-21 striker broke his five-game scoring drought in
stunning style to leave Sunderland shellshocked.
Cresswell struck his 13th goal of the season in the 13th minute, converting
Eddie Lewis' free-kick to hand Preston a deserved lead.
The home side doubled their advantage on the half-hour mark, with Cresswell
latching onto a long ball by Youl Mawene - after a Sunderland corner had been
cleared - to steer home his 50th goal for the club.
Cresswell then claimed his treble two minutes before the break, stabbing home
another delivery from Lewis.
Sunderland, who went into the game having won their previous four games on
their travels and unbeaten against Preston in seven games in all competitions,
failed to muster a shot on goal in the first half.
Although Stephen Elliott pulled a goal back with 18 minutes left and Sean
Thornton added a second nine minutes from time to set up a thrilling finish,
Preston held on for victory as Wigan moved back into second place thanks to
their 2-0 win at Sheffield United.
Preston, on a three-game unbeaten run, made a fine start and could have gone
ahead inside four minutes.
Lewis swung over a cross but Patrick Agyemang - having scored his first goal
for three months against Reading last time out - headed wide from six yards.
It was not long before the home side went ahead.
Jeff Whitley was penalised for handball and from the resulting free-kick from
Lewis, Preston's leading goalscorer slid in to steer the ball home.
With his confidence restored, Cresswell twice went close to adding to his
tally when initially a dangerous shot was superbly blocked by Black Cats
defender Gary Breen and then another shot from the edge of the area went just
wide.
Sunderland were rocking and Chris Sedgwick also came close to putting Preston
2-0 up, but he too shot wide.
But Preston did finally manage to add a second as they produced a stunning
counter-attack, turning a Sunderland corner in their favour by breaking away and
handing Cresswell the chance to grab his second of the match.
Black Cats goalkeeper Thomas Myhre was called upon to save his team-mates when
he kept out Paul McKenna's drive 10 minutes before the break, but he was beaten
for a third time by home hero Cresswell.
Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy made a double substitution at the break,
bringing on Chris Brown and Thornton for Julio Arca and Matthew Piper and it at
least sparked their first effort at goal, Dean Whitehead's shot from a
partially-cleared corner failing to hit the target.
Northern Ireland striker Elliott curled home from close-range to claim his
11th goal of the campaign and Thornton grabbed another but Sunderland's comeback
was in vain.
Teams:
Preston: Lonergan, Mawene, Lucketti, Davis, Alexander,
Sedgwick (Oliveira 67), O'Neil (Etuhu 77), McKenna, Lewis,
Cresswell, Agyemang (Daley 83).
Subs Not Used: Ward, O'Neill.
Booked: Sedgwick, Davis.
Goals: Cresswell 13, 30, 43.
Sunderland: Myhre, Wright, Breen, Caldwell, McCartney,
Piper (Thornton 45), Whitehead, Whitley, Arca (Brown 45),
Elliott, Stewart (Welsh 68).
Subs Not Used: Neill Collins, Alnwick.
Booked: Wright.
Goals: Elliott 72, Thornton 81.
Att: 16,940
Ref: M Pike (Cumbria).
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