Preston North End and Middlesbrough had starkly differing experiences at Wembley at the end of last season, but they shared the spoils in an entertaining goalless draw in their first game of the new Championship season.

Grant Leadbitter and Albert Adomah spurned the best chances of the game for the visitors in either half while Preston threatened mainly through the prolific Joe Garner, but neither side was able to put the finishing touch to a move with both defences holding firm.

Early opportunities for both sides

Preston dominated the first minutes of the game and could have opened the scoring when defender Bailey Wright failed to make a good connection with a free header from an early corner, but it was the visitors who should have opened the scoring with ten minutes played.

Middlesbrough skipper Leadbitter, whose passing had been uncharacteristically untidy to begin the match, exchanged passes with Spanish forward Kike at the edge of the area and drove forward but with a golden opportunity to find the net, he pulled his shot wide to the left.

Soon after, popular full-back George Friend made his way through with a mesmerising run from his own half, but he elected to pass rather than shoot when he reached the Preston penalty area and the ball was lost. Both sides were defending well in the opening exchanges and while the Lilywhites saw more of the ball, it was the travelling Teessiders who were forging the better chances.

Garner in the thick of the action

Garner was the top scorer in League One last season and while he may not be a tall forward, he was putting himself about in 50/50 challenges with the Middlesbrough centre-halves.

Challenging with Daniel Ayala and teenage debutant Dael Fry, Garner was knocked about somewhat and though there was no malice in the challenges, he was visibly unhappy with some of the physical treatment he was receiving.

It was Garner who had Preston's first clear-cut opportunity during an almighty scramble in the Middlesbrough penalty area. A fairly simple cross into the area was dealt with poorly by Dimi Konstantopoulos following a shot cleared off the line from Will Keane, but Garner fired his follow-up effort straight at the visiting 'keeper.

Scrappy end to the first half

The match was breaking up slightly as the half drew on towards the break, with Garner again in the middle of things as he was involved in a minor scuffle at the edge of the area, sandwiched between Ayala and Adam Clayton.

With the game descending into something of a battle, Preston were threatening from an increasing number of set-piece situations. While Ayala and Fry managed to deal with the majority, the earlier flapping at the ball from Konstantopoulos meant a degree of uneasiness every time the ball was whipped in towards the penalty spot. 

As the half-time whistle sounded, Preston had made the greater number of chances while Boro had forged the better ones, but with neither able to capitalise the game was scoreless.

Half-chances in the second period

The beginning of the second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with half chances coming for Preston through Keane and  Tom Clarke before Boro could perhaps have grabbed the opening goal.

A short spell of pressure from the home side broke up when a ball in from the right was headed away and the visitors broke down their right flank with Adomah. The Ghana international took on his defender and beat him with skill before delivering a whipped ball towards the near post but Paul Huntington beat Kike to the cross to nod it behind for a corner.

Just as Adam Reach was flagged marginally offside as he looked to latch on to a deft flick from Stewart DowningAitor Karankmade the first move by introducing on-loan Watford midfielder Diego Fabbrini into the fray in an effort to inject some energy into the game.

Downing, too, was called offside down the left moments later before Preston came back, goalscoring midfielder Daniel Johnson whipping a dangerous-looking ball in towards the near post but seeing it claimed by Konstantopoulos.

Middlesbrough turn the screw as the half continues

Fabbrini showed the first glimpse of his quality ten minutes after he was introduced, driving through the centre past two defenders and playing in Adomah. The winger cut in from the right and took the ball past the goalkeeper but his touch was heavy in a crowded penalty area and John Welsh was on hand to hook the ball away from danger.

The match threatened to turn ugly for a moment as players clashed on the halfway line by the two managers, Leadbitter and Greg Cunningham in the middle of the scuffle after a series of heavy challenges from both sides which resulted in a Preston free-kick, though both the tussle and the set piece came to nothing.

Karanka rolled the dice for the second time, introducing another new signing in Uruguay international forward Cristhian Stuani for Kike with Preston responding in kind, bringing on Chris Humphrey in place of Marnick Vermijl.

Action in the final minutes

Stuani was immediately flagged offside from a Leadbitter free kick but with Boro taking more of a hold on the game, he soon laid off Downing for the former West Ham man to fire over with his right foot from 25 yards.

With Middlesbrough making substitutions Simon Grayson followed suit, introducing 23-year-old forward Jordan Hugill to the action in an attempt to break the deadlock. Hugill had previously impressed on loan with Hartlepool United and also found employment in a Middlesbrough bar, scoring against the Teessiders in a Capital One Cup game last season.

In the final seconds of the game Hugill, Adomah and Garner each had chances to snatch the win but found themselves denied by stoic defending at the last.

A fair, satisfactory result

With both sides having chances but the defenders on top, a draw was a fair result with neither side doing anything to deserve walking away with nothing.

Grayson will be pleased with a well-earned point against a side who almost found themselves in the Premier League last season, and will be buoyed in coming matches by the return from injury of forward Jermaine Beckford.

Karanka, meanwhile, will be delighted to see 17-year-old Fry impress at the back in the enforced absence of Ben Gibson, but while he will be satisfied with his side's enduring defensive stability, a lack of firepower will do nothing to slow his continuing pursuit of Blackburn Rovers hitman Jordan Rhodes.

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About the author
Sam France
Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Features Editor at VAVEL UK, part of the VAVEL team 2014-2018.