Preston North End 3-0 Chesterfield (4-0 agg)

Jermaine Beckford has now scored 15 goals for Preston since joining on loan from Bolton

Jermaine Beckford scored from the halfway line to help Preston North End beat Chesterfield and book their spot in the League One play-off final.

Leading 1-0 from the first leg, Beckford fired the Lilywhites ahead at Deepdale after Joe Garner's flick on.

A second-half penalty from Garner and a stunning long-range finish from Beckford secured their spot at Wembley.

They will face either Sheffield United or Swindon Town on Sunday, 24 May for a place in the Championship.

Preston will be hoping to end an astonishingly poor play-off record, having not won promotion in their previous nine attempts.

Before the two matches against the Spireites, the Lilywhites had only been victorious in three of their 21 play-off matches.

The second leg mirrored the tight affair of the first, with the tension obvious between the two teams in the niggling challenges throughout.

The visitors started brightly, dominating possession, and Clucas fired just wide in the opening minute after John Welsh's slip.

It took until the midway point of the first-half for Preston to test on-loan debutant goalkeeper Joe Murphy, when Paul Gallagher's long-range curler was easily gathered.

After Preston keeper Sam Johnstone brilliantly saved from Clucas, 140 seconds later, Beckford, scorer in the first leg, broke the deadlock with a smart finish as he rolled the defender.

The hosts saw little of the ball just after the break, but earned themselves a penalty when Chesterfield keeper Murphy inexplicably brought down midfielder Daniel Johnson on the edge of the area - and Garner powered home from the spot, his goal 27th of the season.

Chesterfield, who were promoted from League Two last year, created chances throughout with Ian Evatt and Sam Hird headers going close, while Jay O'Shea stuck the post late on.

On-loan Bolton striker Beckford sealed a 4-0 aggregate win when he spotted Murphy off his line and drilled the ball over him from long range.

Speaking about his second goal, Preston striker Jermaine Beckford told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I had a word with Joe Garner five minutes prior to that and he said 'the keeper comes off his line quite far, so if you get half a chance have a look and hit it as hard as you can.'

"Fortunately for me it flew in and the rest is history

"The most important thing now is we apply ourselves right in a couple of weeks' time. In the next couple of days we'll let our hair down as it's been a long, stressful season - obviously with what happened last weekend - and we'll be ready to work in a couple of days' time."

Chesterfield assistant manager Leam Richardson: "Although we were down, we never out and we kept going so it was just disappointing we didn't get anything.

"They've got Joe Garner, Jermaine Beckford as well as Callum Robinson and Kevin Davies - it's always about strikers, no matter what level it is.

"I'm sure they'll be many discussions regarding players' futures first and foremost - I'm sure we'll have conversations over the next few days."

Joe Garner's goal against Chesterfield was his 27th of the season

Paul Cook and Simon Grayson spent the majority of the game at the edge of their technical areas

Preston North End fans flooded onto the field in celebration at full-time

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Preston

• 34Johnstone
• 5ClarkeBooked at 66mins
• 6Wright
• 23Huntington
• 15WoodsSubstituted forHumphreyat 76'minutes
• 8Kilkenny
• 19Welsh
• 24JohnsonSubstituted forLairdat 71'minutes
• 10BeckfordBooked at 43mins
• 14GarnerBooked at 24mins
• 12GallagherSubstituted forBrowneat 53'minutes

Substitutes

• 3Laird
• 7Humphrey
• 9Davies
• 21Stuckmann
• 25Hugill
• 27Robinson
• 31Browne

Chesterfield

• 33Murphy
• 2Darikwa
• 4Hird
• 23EvattBooked at 29mins
• 3JonesSubstituted forAriyibiat 67'minutes
• 8Ryan
• 5Morsy
• 10O'Shea
• 11RobertsSubstituted forGardnerat 82'minutes
• 12Clucas
• 24BanksSubstituted forGnanduilletat 64'minutes

Substitutes

• 6Carter
• 7Gardner
• 9Gnanduillet
• 15Humphreys
• 16Raglan
• 18Harrison
• 28Ariyibi

Referee:

Andy D'Urso

Attendance:

15,641

Match Stats

Home TeamPrestonAway TeamChesterfield

Possession

Home38%

Away62%

Shots

Home9

Away8

Shots on Target

Home6

Away3

Corners

Home2

Away9

Fouls

Home14

Away9

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Preston North End 3, Chesterfield 0.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+5'

Second Half ends, Preston North End 3, Chesterfield 0.

Posted at 90'+5'

Corner, Chesterfield. Conceded by Tom Clarke.

Posted at 90'+5'

Attempt blocked. Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Armand Gnanduillet with a headed pass.

Posted at 90'+4'

Jay O'Shea (Chesterfield) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 90'+4'

Foul by John Welsh (Preston North End).

Posted at 90'+3'

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

Posted at 90'+2'

Delay in match Jermaine Beckford (Preston North End) because of an injury.

Posted at 90'

Attempt saved. Jay O'Shea (Chesterfield) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

Posted at 89'

Gboly Ariyibi (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 89'

Foul by Alan Browne (Preston North End).

Posted at 88'

Jimmy Ryan (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 88'

Foul by Jermaine Beckford (Preston North End).

Goal!

Posted at 87'

Goal! Preston North End 3, Chesterfield 0. Jermaine Beckford (Preston North End) right footed shot from more than 35 yards to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Bailey Wright.

Posted at 87'

Dan Gardner (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 87'

Foul by Scott Laird (Preston North End).

Posted at 86'

Foul by Sam Hird (Chesterfield).

Posted at 86'

Jermaine Beckford (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 85'

Attempt blocked. Sam Morsy (Chesterfield) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Sam Clucas.

Posted at 84'

Attempt missed. Joe Garner (Preston North End) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Neil Kilkenny with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 83'

Corner, Preston North End. Conceded by Sam Hird.

Substitution

Posted at 82'

Substitution, Chesterfield. Dan Gardner replaces Gary Roberts because of an injury.

Posted at 82'

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

Posted at 81'

Delay in match Gary Roberts (Chesterfield) because of an injury.

Posted at 80'

Attempt missed. Joe Garner (Preston North End) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Alan Browne.

Posted at 79'

Corner, Chesterfield. Conceded by Scott Laird.

Substitution

Posted at 76'

Substitution, Preston North End. Chris Humphrey replaces Calum Woods because of an injury.

Posted at 74'

Jay O'Shea (Chesterfield) hits the left post with a right footed shot from the left side of the box. Assisted by Sam Clucas following a corner.

Posted at 74'

Corner, Chesterfield. Conceded by Sam Johnstone.

Posted at 74'

Attempt blocked. Jimmy Ryan (Chesterfield) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jay O'Shea.

Substitution

Posted at 71'

Substitution, Preston North End. Scott Laird replaces Daniel Johnson.

Posted at 70'

Attempt saved. Joe Garner (Preston North End) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by John Welsh.

Posted at 68'

Corner, Chesterfield. Conceded by Tom Clarke.

Substitution

Posted at 67'

Substitution, Chesterfield. Gboly Ariyibi replaces Daniel Jones.

Booking

Posted at 66'

Tom Clarke (Preston North End) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 66'

Daniel Jones (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 66'

Foul by Tom Clarke (Preston North End).

Posted at 65'

Ian Evatt (Chesterfield) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 65'

Dangerous play by Joe Garner (Preston North End).

Substitution

Posted at 64'

Substitution, Chesterfield. Armand Gnanduillet replaces Oliver Banks.

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