Preston North End scored twice in the opening 15 minutes to help them to a 3-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra in the first round of the League Cup this evening.
The visitors came up from League One last season and quickly set about showing the new-found gulf in class between themselves and the third tier, taking the lead within five minutes when Jordan Hugill fired home from the spot after being brought down by Ben Garratt.
One soon became two for the visitors, with Will Keane converting to double his side's lead after a defensive mix-up saw Crewe fail to clear their lines from a free kick.
The hosts finally began to gain a foothold in the match with a couple of their own set pieces, although the closest they came was from a Bradden Inman effort that flew past the post.
Garratt denied Hugill on the half-hour mark, but the Preston man should have doubled his personal tally shortly afterwards, only to somehow scuff wide with an open goal gaping.
Simon Grayson's side were duly punished for that miss when Crewe pulled a goal back with just under 10 minutes to go until the break, Adam King picking out the bottom corner with a driven effort.
The two-goal margin was inches away from being restored less than five minutes into the second half when Alan Browne played the ball back to Josh Brownhill, who saw his long-range effort come back off the upright.
Crewe quickly broke up the other end of the field and almost levelled things up within a minute of the woodwork being hit, but Jordan Pickford was on hand to deny Marcus Haber by clawing his header around the post.
It was Preston's turn to come close next, with the width of the crossbar all that denied Paul Huntington a goal after he connected with Neil Kilkenny's free kick.
Both sides traded chances in the final 20 minutes or so, with Chris Humphrey and Joe Garner coming close for the visitors and George Cooper threatening on a couple of occasions for Crewe, but it was Preston who put the game to bed with four minutes remaining.
Humphrey was the creator for Grayson's side, swinging a cross past Garner to Brownhill, who made no mistake with his finish past Garratt.
That proved to be the killer blow for the hosts, and they failed to muster up a response in the closing stages as Preston eased into the second round, becoming the only Lancashire club to do so.
Barney Corkhill
