A WEIRD FEELING

LOWE COMES OUT ON TOP AGAINST HIS OLD MATE SCHUEY

- CHRIS ERRINGTON

RYAN Lowe admitted 'it was weird' to have his good mate Steven Schumacher as the opposition manager when his Preston North End side beat Plymouth Argyle 2-1 at Deepdale.

Their friendship was put to one side during the 90-plus minutes of action in a highly-entertaining game of Championship football, which saw Preston clinch a fifth consecutive win and return to the top of the table.

However, there were hugs and handshakes before and after the match as Lowe and Schumacher showed the respect they have for each other.

Preston took a two-goal lead inside 25 minutes before Argyle worked their way back into the game. Ryan Hardie pulled one back in the 61st minute but despite applying plenty of pressure they could not come up with an equaliser.

Lowe said: "They were unlucky, they were good. They had some great moments. We were the better team first half, scoring two goals, they were the better team second half.

"He (Schumacher) was probably disappointed they couldn't get to 2-2, or maybe 3-2, but I thought both teams went for it. It could have been, on another day, 4-4 or 5-5. It was an entertaining game.