Lowe’s on a high

THE master got the better of his apprentice as Ryan Lowe’s Preston stayed top of the Championship thanks to a victory over Steven Schumacher’s Plymouth Argyle. Duane Holmes’ strike after just 38 seconds gave the league leaders the perfect start at Deepdale, with debutant Liam Millar doubling that advantage after 25 minutes. However Schumacher, who succeeded Lowe at Home Park after working as his assistant, changed things around at half-time with Ryan Hardie pulling one back for the visitors on the hour. KIERAN McKENNA was delighted with the performance and result after Conor Chaplin’s first-half goal gave Ipswich a win at Sheffield Wednesday to keep up the pressure at the top of the table. McKenna said: ‘I loved the game, the performance and, of course, the result. I thought this was a big one for us today.’ Sheffield Wednesday manager Xisco Munoz said: ‘All I can say is sorry because I’m disappointed about the first 45 minutes.’ BLACKBURN boss Jon Dahl Tomasson said he was pleased to lay on the entertainment in front of a gathering of Ewood Park legends for the club’s 5,000th league game. Sammie Szmodics’ double secured the win, with Matt Crooks in reply. Tomasson said: ‘I hope they enjoyed it and all the fans did, too. It was great to see the amount of chances.’ CARLOS CORBERAN insisted his West Brom side should have had at least one penalty to show for an improved second-half showing. More than 2,500 travelling fans yelled for spot-kicks, first when Zak Vyner blocked a 77th-minute shot from Josh Maja and when Kal Naismith slid in with a goal-saving challenge on Maja in injury time. Corberan said: ‘The ball was cut back to Maja for the finish and the only way the defender could block it was by using a hand.’ VALERIEN ISMAEL believes Watford’s dramatic late win over 10-man Birmingham will give his side a big ‘mental’ lift. The hosts were frustrated before the visitors lost Lee Buchanan to a second yellow card in the 88th minute. Watford took full advantage, scoring twice in added time through Mileta Rajovic and Ryan Andrews. As delighted as Lowe was with the win, he admitted that his side had been pushed to the limit. ‘The lads put everything on the line to make sure they came away with the three points,’ he said. Schumacher added: ‘If we can continue to play in this way, then our first win away from home won’t be far away.’ DAVID WAGNER was happy his Norwich side finally got the ‘reward’ their display merited. A scrappy game with few highlights was settled by a 44th-minute goal from Jack Stacey, his first for the club since signing in the summer from Bournemouth. Wagner said: ‘We played a lot of good stuff in the first half, kept going and got our reward.’ OLLIE TANNER scored his first Cardiff goal within a minute of coming on and then won a penalty. It was the 21-year-old’s first professional goal and ended 70 minutes of tense action. Then he conjured up some more magic to allow Aaron Ramsey to stroke home an 86th-minute penalty. A long crossfield pass from Jamalu Collins was controlled superbly by Tanner on the edge of the Swansea penalty area. He then rifled the ball into the net. TONY MOWBRAY insisted his Sunderland side looked good enough to beat QPR even without the early sending-off of Jack Colback for the hosts. Kenneth Paal gave QPR the lead, before Colback saw red, the visitors then turning the game with Jack Clarke, Dan Ballard and Abdullah Ba goals. Mowbray said: ‘It was a matter of time before we scored.’ NEIL WARNOCK was delighted as Huddersfield sealed a win in an entertaining Yorkshire derby. Josh Koroma notched his first goal of the season as he converted an early opener from Sorba Thomas’ cross. And roles were reversed in the second period when Koroma teed up Thomas as the latter also opened his account for the campaign. Warnock said: ‘It was nice to see two great balls in and two finishes like that in a great atmosphere too.’