Preston 1, Bradford City 0: As Gordon Gibb might say, there is a stirring in the undergrowth.

The City chairman has already set his sights towards next season and the emergence of the new generation of Danny Forrests and Simon Francises.

And away fans at Deepdale were given a glimpse of the raw talent that lies just below the surface.

Tom Penford was the latest young gun to be unleashed on the big stage as Nicky Law threw him on for the final quarter of an hour in a typically end-of-season encounter.

It was the perfect opportunity for the 18-year-old midfielder to show a few tricks and he certainly did that.

His impudent flick through the legs of Scottish international Graham Alexander would have graced Soccer AM's "nutmeg files" and another well-timed pass nearly slipped in Andy Myers as City tried to turn their second-half rally into an equaliser.

Penford, a neighbour of City managing-director Shaun Harvey, certainly gave an early indication that he may not look out of place in Division One company. Law finished the game with three 18-year-olds on the pitch although it is hard to look on Francis still as a rookie having nailed down a shirt with more than 20 first-team appearances.

Francis operated for most of the game in centre midfield, where he took all the set-pieces, before switching to right back when Gus Uhlenbeek was wisely substituted.

The bubbling feud between Uhlenbeek and Preston striker Richard Cresswell provided a spiky edge to an otherwise pretty average game as the constant booing of the home fans towards the Dutchman showed they had not forgotten what happened at Valley Parade six months earlier.

The incident when Cresswell suffered nasty facial wounds after being propelled into an advertising board by Uhlenbeek may have been fresh in Lancashire memories. But Law admitted that he had forgotten about it and had certainly not mentioned it beforehand in the dressing room.

Opposite number Craig Brown, though, was well aware of the simmering feeling with Cresswell - who needed eight stitches - and warned him that the best "retribution" was a home win.

Brown said: "It was a rash challenge but what upset Cressie is that having committed the offence, Uhlenbeek didn't show any concern. When a player is injured like that, you would think he would have checked his welfare."

But the advice to Cresswell to keep cool went in one ear and out the other as the Preston hitman scythed through Uhlenbeek at the first chance he got. Ridiculously, he was not shown a yellow card by referee Paul Rejer.

Uhlenbeek was not so fortunate when he got his own back right before half-time with a lunge just as badly timed which sent Cresswell rolling over four or five times. With the baying crowd goading the situation, Rejer was surrounded by a mob of players from both sides before restoring order with the game's only booking.

Fearing it could get further out of hand after the break, Brown even switched his strikers to different sides so that Uhlenbeek was confronted with goal-scorer Pawel Abbott instead. Law, for his part, sensibly took off the City man as much for his own safety as giving Penford a brief opening to impress.

Preston centre-halves Chris Lucketti and Michael Jackson did their job by nullifying Andy Gray and that proved the cornerstone of Preston's victory. He got little change from either marker, who were just as miserly against Laurens Ten Heuvel and substitute Danny Forrest, fresh from his England under-19 debut.

Ten Heuvel had City's best chance at the end of the first half with a close-range volley that was superbly pushed away by goalkeeper Jonathan Gould, one of only two real saves he had to make.

The visitors were much sharper after the break as Ben Muirhead's arrival for Frazer McHugh provided an added edge. But disappointingly for all the possession - and there was a spell when Preston could not get out their half - City did not pressure the former Bantams keeper.

They had more corners and more shots than the home team but the closest sight of a goal came at the other end when Aidan Davison's acrobatic block from Alexander made up for failing to hold on to Cresswell's 12th-minute effort which slithered under his body for York-born Polish striker Abbott to tap home.

"We were lacking someone who could stand up to them like Ashley Ward," Law said. "If we had a natural finisher we might have got something out of the game but that's been lacking."