County crash out of Carling Cup at first hurdle
Wednesday, 11th Aug 2010 10:25

County's adventure in the League Cup is over for another season after they slipped to a 5-0 defeat against Championship side Preston North End. The Hatters young side collapsed in the second half after conceding four goals which gave the scoreline a flattering tinge in the visitors favour.

Paul Simpson, facing his former employers for the first time since being dismissed back in November 2007, saw County put in a decent first half performance as they played some nice football on a lush playing surface. Granted Owain Fon Williams was the busier of the two keepers in the opening 45 minutes and pulled off some very smart saves although the visitors were fortuitous to go into the break 1-0 up following a dubious penalty decision.

Makeshift left back Andy Halls was adjudged to have brought down Danny Mayor which the referee awarded a penalty based on the information provided by the linesman even though he was closer to the action. Sir Alex Ferguson, watching his son's side from the stands, would have gone ballistic had he seen a similar decision given against Man United. Centre back Callum Davison made no mistake with the spot kick from 12 yards to make it 1-0.

County found that they had a mountain to climb in the 58th minute after slack play allowed North End to double their advantage. A quickly taken throw was flicked on by Davidson to Matty James and he knocked the ball past a Hatters defender before firing a nice left foot volley past Fon Williams in the County goal. The Hatters were now in damage limitation mode although a third, fourth and fifth goal followed as Darren Ferguson freshened things up by using all his available substitutions in the final 25 minutes of the match.

The second penalty of the evening was conceded in the 67th minute and once again it was a decision which went to the visitors although this time it was a clear cut decision for referee Mark Heywood. Danny Swailes made an attempt to win the ball after losing his footing but took the man out and the referee had no hesitation to pointing to the spot in front of the Railway End. Callum Davidson, scorer of the first spot kick, left the set piece duties to Paul Hayes and he sent County's keeper the wrong way to make it 3-0.

On loan Manchester United player Josh King entered the fray in the 71st minute and two minutes later he had set up North End's fourth. He received the ball on the right wing, knocked the ball past Andy Halls before sprinting round him, and then he played the ball into the middle towards Paul Hayes. Hayes first time shot went in via a deflection off right back Mark Lynch, which saw the County player credited with scoring an own goal.

King himself scored the fifth and final goal of the night in the 88th minute as he latched on to a long punt downfield from keeper Lonergan, before slotting the ball under the exposed Owain Fon Williams with a nice sidefooted finish. Mark Lynch could have cut out the ball before it reached King, but he made a mistake with a header which allowed the young Man United player a free run on goal.

The scoreline was harsh on County although the capitulation in the second half won't have pleased manager Simpson after a decent first half showing. Hopefully the players won't have suffered too much of a dent to their confidence as they host Wycombe on Saturday at Edgeley Park in a more important game.