Preston North End 2-1 Barnsley: Lilywhites win Ryan Lowe's first game as boss
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Barnsley have never kept a clean sheet in an away league fixture at Preston North End
Preston North End's new boss Ryan Lowe started his reign with three points as his side beat Barnsley in the Championship.
Alan Browne's close-range strike opened the scoring for the Lilywhites, before Cauley Woodrow levelled the match with a header.
Daniel Johnson's neat finish restored the lead to delight the home crowd at Deepdale.
Victory saw Preston move up to 14th in the table, while Barnsley remain next to bottom, eight points from safety, and without a win since Poya Asbaghi took over as head coach.
Lowe's players looked keen to impress their manager from the start as striker Emil Riis Jakobsen fired in a dangerous effort from the edge of the box which drifted narrowly wide.
The Tykes replied with a great chance of their own as Carlton Morris' header struck the crossbar from Woodrow's excellent cross.
Preston's Andrew Hughes and Sean Maguire then sent headers wide in quick succession, before team-mate Ben Whiteman saw his shot bounce into the ground and off target.
Barnsley pressed well after the break, with winger Clarke Oduor's shot saved when through on goal, and Woodrow's curling strike going wide.
Both sides were pushing for a winner and when Johnson supplied Browne from a Preston break, the Irishman burst forward with determination, and tucked the ball past keeper Brad Collins.
Eight minutes later, Woodrow nodded in from six yards to bring Barnsley level when he was first to react following Callum Brittain's volley.
It was Preston, though, who had the final word when Ryan Ledson rolled the ball into the area following a free-kick and Johnson was there to slot in.
Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"I thought the performance was fantastic, the way we played.
"It's always tough when a new manager comes into the building. The style of how I want to play, the lads have bought into straight away.
"We have shown them lots of clips over the past few days of how we go about our business.
"We could have done better in certain areas. I thought we defended fantastic, the counter-press was unbelievable."
Barnsley head coach Poya Asbaghi told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"Even though we had a good start, we hit the crossbar, I think Preston made their way into the game.
"We got back in and created chances as well so coming into half-time, we knew that if we could improve things, we could win this game.
"We conceded a goal - still early - but our reaction from that was still brilliant.
"Them getting the free-kick and using that in a good way was a massive blow for us."
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