IT WAS A successful first pre-season friendly of the summer for the Irish contingent at Preston North End, with Graham Burke finding the back of the net early on his debut and Sean Maguire notching a hat-trick.
📸 Graham Burke is congratulated by fellow Irishmen @Seani_Maguire_ and Daryl Horgan after netting his first PNE goal! 🇮🇪
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) July 7, 2018
0-1 #pnefc pic.twitter.com/WB03Rh0SMg
Bamber Bridge were the opposition and it was a convincing victory for Alex Neil’s side, who ran out 7-0 winners at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium.
It took former Shamrock Rovers star Burke just five minutes to open his Preston account and cooly slot home, while Maguire soon followed his lead.
“That was important for me,” 24-year-old Burke told iFollow PNE. “It’s brilliant to come on and play and [to] get a goal is fantastic.
“It came early into the game, so obviously I was a bit nervous coming in and getting to play with everybody, but getting the goal early into the game was able to relax me and go and play the game.
“It was brilliant to get out there with the boys and get into a position and get an understanding of everybody.”
By 36 minutes, Ex-Cork City striker Maguire had completed his hat-trick, changing the scoreline from 2-0 to 5-0.
36' GOAL PNE!
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) July 7, 2018
It's a hattrick for Sean Maguire who starts pre-season in fine form as he fires home from the middle of the box! 🔥
0-5 #pnefc pic.twitter.com/EVJbYfZGRb
The 16th minute saw him capitalise on a defensive error and fire home to add to Burke and Billy Bodin’s previous goals. Fellow Irishman Daryl Horgan supplied the cross for his second and he made it three by the 36th minute.
The duo linked up nicely, with Burke full of praise for Maguire afterwards:
“Seani has great movement so for me playing in that position, to have someone like that is brilliant. It makes my job a little bit easier knowing where he’s going to be and the runs he’s going to make.
“He’ll feel like, having that break, he can come back in sharp, feel fresh and get ready to go again. You can see his movement with the goals he scored so for him it’s fantastic.”
Louis Moult and Josh Harrop chipped in with second-half goals as the game finished 7-0.
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