Preston North End 4-0 Swindon: Jermaine Beckford helps to finally end his side’s play-off curse after scoring hat-trick at Wembley Stadium to send Simon Grayson’s men to the Championship

Jermaine Beckford scored a first half double to help send Preston North End to the Championship
Paul Huntington prodded home the second to put Simon Grayson’s men two up after 13 minutes
Beckford completed a play-off final hat-trick after running through and finishing neatly past Wes Foderingham
David Moyes was in the stands at Wembley to see his former side run riot during the play-off final

Published:
18:26 GMT, 24 May 2015

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Updated:
19:34 GMT, 24 May 2015

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For the club weighed down by the cruel history of a 26-year curse, it took only three minutes to know this was going to be different.

That was the amount of time it took to realise this was going to be 10th time lucky for Preston North End, that famous name with the most infamous record in football for these kind of occasions.

Nine times they tried, going back to 1989 and a tie against Port Vale, and nine times they failed. They say this season-ending system is a lottery but such terminology implies the chance of success; for Preston no such luck seemed to exist.

Jermaine Beckford of Preston (left) celebrates scoring the opening goal at Wembley Stadium with team-mate Neil Kilkenny

Preston celebrate with the League One play-off trophy as they sealed their place in the Championship next campaign

Beckford and Grayson manager of Preston pose with Sky Bet League One play-off trophy after winning Sunday’s final

The Preston players celebrate their success of winning promotion after thrashing Swindon 4-0 at Wembley Stadium

The former Everton knocks in the opener past Wes Foderingham to send the North End fans into hysteria

But how their fortunes turned here in this fight for a Championship place. They will be able to point to Jermaine Beckford, whose career has gone from low to high to low to high again.

His hat-trick of excellent finishes ripped Swindon apart. But the damage was done before even the first of his goals, when Nathan Thompson, the Swindon captain, started a sequence of three quick-fire moments that surely made for one of the most galling play-off appearances a player has experienced in recent memory.

For a time, there appeared no prospect of him playing in this tie, having suffered a grade two hamstring tear against Sheffield United in the semi-final. But he was cleared healthy for this one – it was a gamble and one that backfired spectacularly.

Daniel Johnson, a former Aston Villa player, congratulates Beckford with manager Simon Grayson trying to keep his cool

Former Newcastle man Paul Huntington (centre right) doubled the lead after prodding home inside the Swindon six-yard box

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS

Preston (4-4-2): Johnstone 6; Clarke 6.5, Wright 6.5, Huntington 7, Woods 6.5; Kilkenny 6.5, Johnson 6.5 (Laird 82), Welsh 6.5, Gallagher 7.5 (Browne 36, 6); Beckford 8 (Davies 68, 6), Garner 6.5

Subs not used: Stuckmann, Humphrey, Reid, Hugill

Swindon (3-5-2): Foderingham 6; N Thompson 4 (Ricketts 5), Stephens 5.5, Turnbull 5; Byrne 5.5, Luongo 6.5, Kasim 5.5, Gladwin 5 (L Thompson 58, 6), Toffolo 6 (Williams 66, 6); Smith 5, Obika 5.5.

Subs not used: Belford, Branco, Rodgers, Hylton

Booked: Kasim

Ref: Andy Madley 7

Att: 48,236

MOM: Jermaine Beckford

Within three minutes he had fouled Beckford on the edge of Swindon’s area, lured into something rash by the striker’s gust of pace. Paul Gallagher’s delivery into the six-yard box was good, but then came the second strand of Thompson’s misfortune. He was marking Beckford yet was left scratching at the back of his shirt when the 31-year-old volleyed Preston in front.

As the crowd cleared, there was Thompson lying on the floor in pain. He stayed there for two more minutes until the stretcher took him away.

The tone was set. Swindon never recovered; Preston never looked back.

With 13 minutes played, they were already two up. John Welsh tangled with Nathan Byrne down Preston’s left wing and referee Andy Madley played advantage to the team that used to lose these ties. The ball fell to Gallagher, a Premier League player for Blackburn back in the day, who checked on to his right foot and put in a second excellent cross.

Paul Huntington was given too much space by Michael Smith and finished. In a nutshell, that was Swindon’s weakness. This team with an average age very low in the twenties plays delightful football; indeed for much of the first half they held 70 per cent of possession. But what vulnerabilities they have at the back.

It is perhaps telling that they had the worst record for conceding goals of any side in the top seven. Of course, that was balanced over the season by a good attack, but here they wasted their best chance in the 43rd minute, Smith heading wide, and it directly contributed to Preston scoring their third.

Sam Johnstone sent his goal-kick upfield, Joe Garner beat Yaser Kasim to the header and Beckford took possession. He went right of Jordan Turnbull before cutting back on to his left foot and finishing from the edge of the area.

The 27-year-old spins off in celebration as his opponents look on in disbelief in the first half at Wembley Stadium

Beckford makes it three, when he turns brilliantly and curls home his second past the despairing Foderingham

The ex-Leeds man completes his triple as he slips the ball into the net, before being replaced by Kevin Davies

Preston fans go beserk after Beckford sealed his hat-trick and their place in the Championship next season

The 31-year-old celebrates in front of the ecstatic Preston fans as they thrashed Swindon during the play-off final clash

That was that. Swindon looked pretty; Preston got their work done.

Beckford completed his hat-trick 20 minutes into the second half, another brilliantly calm finish after out-running Jack Stephens. For good measure, he had already by then been denied in a one-on-one duel with Wes Foderingham. Four goals would have to do.

Simon Grayson could not stop grinning. His club might have had a wretched past but this was his fifth play-off win, including two as a player.

Preston deserved this, the virtue of finishing third after 46 games and with a 10-point margin on the fourth-placed side, which happened to be Mark Cooper’s Swindon.

But the Football League calls for their campaigns to be settled in this particular way and for a while the routine extended to Preston blowing it at the last.

That curse appears to have been lifted.