Daryl Horgan made the most of his chance to impress Preston North End boss Simon Grayson, as he assisted Callum Robinson on his first start for the Championship side.
Preston beat league leaders Brighton and Hove Albion at Deepdale and sit ninth in the table, six points outside the play-off spots.
"The second half began with the visitors coming straight back at the home side, but Irishman Horgan on full debut found a superb ball to send Robinson through on goal," the club reported on their official website.
"Horgan almost marked his full debut with a stunning goal with 13 minutes to go as his quick feet created space on the right hand corner of the box and he curled an effort that had Stockdale beaten, but it was inches wide of the left hand post."
Daryl Horgan assist for #pnefc today. What a ball, Scholes-esque. pic.twitter.com/LqtiemI5Xa
— Cian Carroll (@CianByNature) January 14, 2017
Paul Huntington gave the home side the lead after he headed home from Paul Gallagher's freekick.
Horgan's ball to Robinson put him through for the goal and caught the attention of Grayson after the game.
"I was very impressed with Daryl," he said. "I had no hesitation putting him into the team today given how he has trained and how he played last week for us.
"When you see the pass from Daryl [for the second goal], it was a left footed pass and a great ball into Callum’s stride."
Greg Cunningham, Aidan McGeady, Alan Browne and DARYL HORGAN all start for Preston against Brighton
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) January 14, 2017
Four Irish players got a run out for Preston, while fans will still wait for another former Dundalk player, Andy Boyle, to get a look in.
