LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Preston North End, haunted by nine successive playoff failures, took a tentative step towards reaching England's Championship with a 1-0 semi-final first-leg win at Chesterfield on Thursday.
Former Everton striker Jermaine Beckford grabbed a first-half winner for Preston to give them hope of improving on a dismal record of having exited at the playoff semi-final stage six times since 1989.
Beckford raced on to a through ball and slotted in a calm finish for his 10th goal in his last 16 appearances.
Preston fell into the playoffs on the final day of the season when an 18-game unbeaten run ended at Colchester and MK Dons snatched second place in League One.