Andy Boyle says he was delighted to make his Preston North End debut in Tuesday night's 1-1 draw with Derby, three months after joining the club along with Daryl Horgan from Dundalk.
“I’ve waited a while but I can’t have any complaints as the lads have been doing really well and it’s difficult to get into the team,” said the defender who turned 26 yesterday said after last night’s game. ”I’ve been looking forward to this moment since I signed,” he continued. “I thought I did okay - it would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but a point is the main thing and that keeps us going.”
Boyle said he only found out that he would starting 90 minutes before the game with the news prompting a scramble on his girlfriend’s part to get a ticket and along to the ground. “I don’t even know if she made it,” he said immediately afterwards. “It would be nice if she was here but the important thing was to make my debut.”
Boyle won praise from the local media for his performance in what his first ever Championship game.
Ger Cunningham and Aiden McGeady also started while Horgan came on 62 minutes in with his team trailing.
Cyrus Christie kept Derby in front with a goal-line clearance from Paul Huntington in the closing stages byt the home side ultimately salvaged a point with an equaliser from Tom Barkhuizen five minutes into added time.
