football rambles

 On Saturday we went to Posh v Barnsley in the second round of the FA Cup. I am afraid there was very little cup magic on display. A poor performance from two weakened sides saw us being put out of our misery by Patrick Skelly who scored for the visitors in the 73rd minute. To be honest, I'll remember this day more for what was a final visit to the Blind Tiger as they concentrate on their Tap House in Nene Park and shut up shop in the town centre. There was also the small matter of a game at Villa Park where a last gasp Emi Buendia goal saw Villa defeat league leaders Arsenal and go third in the table. Unfortunately though the game at London Road was a real disappointment.

 Posh have had a less than ideal start to the season, but for the most part this was a good display from a team who have been struggling for late, although they did make it hard for themselves later on against a Wycombe team who will be aiming for promotion. Posh dominated the first half and goals from Matt Garbett on 21 minutes and Jimmy Jay Morgan just before halftime gave Posh the cushion and the goals that they dererved. The second half wasn't quite as dynamic from Posh and Wycombe came out with the bit between their teeth. On 49 minutes Sam Bell scored for the visitors to half the deficit. However, Posh were able to hang on for the win in what was an entertaining game and will hopefully be a springboard to better things.

 Preseason continued on Friday with an exciting game between King's Lynn and Peterborough United. A hot summer night saw Psoh take on the Linnets and after what happened last week, I was just hoping not to see a nonleague team on the end of a battering again against League One opponents. However, from the get go it looked like if anyone was going to be on the end of a thumping it was Posh. Lynn started off brightly with Michael Gyasi, who had signed for Lynn from Peterborough Sports just two days before forcing an early save from Nick Bilokapic and a goal line clearance from defender Noah Freeman. Lynn had the lead after 9 minutes and it was Gyasi who gave them the advantage. Lynn created more chances but after about half an hour it turned into a stalemate. Lynn definitely had the bit between their teeth and Posh looked a bit shocked by some of the more robust challenges, so at that point it looked like Lynn might add a second if anyone would. Unfortunately, for them just as the ha...

 I went to this game on Saturday expecting an away win, so I was pleasantly surprised when Posh registered an emphatic victory. It's been a tough season for Posh who up until a couple of weeks ago were flirting with the relegation places. Charlton on the other hand are more or less definitely in the playoffs, but before Saturday were more hopeful of getting automatic promotion. Peterborough also have a cup final in the Football League Trophy against Birmingham coming up and they have been distracted leading to these cup finals before. Charlton looked keen to get off to a fast start and Luke Berry came close to scoring for the visitors after just three minutes. However, after that it felt like it was all Posh. Sam Hughes opened the scoring for Posh after 38 minutes when a Kwame Poku pull back lead to him scoring his first goal in a Posh shirt from a header.  A few minutes later and it was 2-0 to the home team when Ricky Jade Jones broke down the wing to feed Abraham Odoh to mak...

 This was a really poor performance from Peterborough yesterday in a period that can best be called one of rebuilding. In the past Posh have sold loads of players, but have always had a conveyor belt that has meant that they can usually compete at the top of League One, even though  their forays in to the Championship it never seems to end too well. League One is probably tougher than ever this season and this time they don't seem to have the talented players coming through to replace those that have been sold. The crowd seemed to be blaming Darren Ferguson, the manager but for me the blame lies at Darragh Mc.Anthony's door and the constant selling of talent. Anyway, the first half proved that it was going to be a struggle for Posh who were up against it and didn't really get into the Barnsley half until the half hour mark. However, there was still hope for them at the break as both sides went in having not been able to score. At this point Posh could be thankful that they ...

 In this Good Friday coming together, I don't think that anybody would have expected this result and I am sure that a fair few accas were ruined with this result.  Posh went into the game in good form and despite the recent loss to runaway leaders, Portsmouth that I recently went to have been on good form. They still look good for the play-offs and have a Wembley final to look forward to next week, but nobody would have expected a loss, never mind and emphatic loss to bottom of the league Carlisle.  I think that part of the problem was that Wembley final, as Posh didn't really look like they wanted to put a tackle in and the starting 11 yesterday probably expect to be the starting 11 next week. This was coupled with Poku and Mason-Clark uncharacteristically looking off form and being unable to get the ball to Malik Mothersille, who cut a lonely figure up front for the Posh. That said, nothing should be taken away from a great performance by the visitors who battled for ev...

 Peterborough are still in the play-offs and have a trip to Wembley to look forward to in a few weeks time. Portsmouth are top of League 1 and look a shoe-in for promotion.  In this game Pompey showed the type of luck or maybe just persistence that is needed to get promotion. It was an entertaining and evenly matched game, although personally I felt that Posh had the better chances. However, the game was settled on 77 minutes by a goal from Kusini Yengi

 So my run of unimpressive home performances continued for another wee. With next week being Villa, I sincerely hope that comes to an end very soon. Posh have been  having a few dodgy results of late despite still being in the play-off positions. The opponents on Saturday, Blackpool, sit just below them. Both of these teams have struggled for form of late and also meet each other in the semifinal of the Football League Trophy on Tuesday. The first half was a fairly dull affair, but it was Posh who struck first when Hector Kyprianou gave the home team the lead 5 minutes before the break. Strangely, Posh seemed to be the better team in the second half after what was a fairly evenly matched first half. However, Blackpool were awarded a penalty on 56 minutes and Shane Lavery converted for the equaliser. For long periods it looked like Posh would be the team to find the winner, but in stoppage time Karamoko Dembele, once seen as the saviour of Scottish football, came on as sub and ...

  Yesterday was a very frosty day and Posh were one of the few teams in the are who managed to keep their game on and that was after two pitch inspections. In fact when I got on the train to go there, there was no guarantee that the game was on, but fortunately it was, so I was able to buy tickets on the phone while I was on the train and pop into the Blind Tiger for a pre-match pint. Peterborough are currently second in the league and this has been mainly down to their attacking play. They have sured up the defence too by signing Jed Steer in goals. He surely should already be playing in the Championship! Shrewsbury on the other hand are lower mid-table and are known for their spoiling tactics to stay in games. This game started off as expected with wave after wave of Peterborough attack and resolute and tenacious defending from Shrewsbury. However, it was the visitors who went in ahead at the break. Jordan Shipley scoring a well taken goal after a poor clearance on 41 minutes. Po...

 On Saturday we travelled up to London Road to see Posh take on Derby and although it started off looking good for Posh, things quickly went downhill.  Posh definitely started the game the brighter of the two and it was Johnson Clarke Harris who put the home team ahead on 23 minutes. At this point it looked like Posh would be comfortable and Derby who would be on the end of a beating. However, that was not to be the case and the trio of ex-Posh boy Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, ex-Villa man Conor Hourihane and Martyn Waghorn who set to put the home team to the cosh. Just before the half hour mark Waghorn struck. On 37 minutes the game was turned on its head when Hourihane and Mendez-Laing put together a move straight off the training ground with Mendez-Laing putting the ball on Cashin's head to give the Rams the lead.  By the 40th minute, it really did feel a long time since Posh had been in the lead and this goal really did sum up how the day was going for the home team. Mende...