Sponsored by
Posh 2, Swindon 2 - Boyd puts on a super show
It is quite possible that George Boyd, or McBoyd as we must surely now call him, could become as popular in Scotland as deep fried mars bars.
It is quite possible that George Boyd, or McBoyd as we must surely now call him, could become as popular in Scotland as deep fried mars bars.Certainly the Posh winger has the skills, and most definitely the hairstyle, that will capture the attention of fans north of the border now that he's opted to play in the third division of international football.
Those skills were much in evidence at London Road on Saturday once another fantastic promotion party was interrupted by a football match.
Heroes were honoured and stars were saluted before Posh finished their campaign with an exciting 2-2 draw with Swindon courtesy of Dean Keates' spectacular free-kick in the 92nd minute.
Keates, a man celebrating his sixth promotion, deserved the plaudits that inevitably flew his way, but for the previous 91 minutes he, like every other Posh player, was in Boyd's Scottish shadow.
Boyd created the opening Posh goal, won a penalty that was missed by a selfish striker, won another spot-kick that was ignored by the referee and generally caused mayhem whenever he was in possession of the ball on either flank.
It was a virtuoso display that made a mockery of his failure to win any of six end of season awards on offer. Charlie Lee, who to be fair has been awesome, won them all, but proceeded to play like he was carrying them on his back.
Match Facts:
Posh 2
Mackail-Smith (40 mins), Keates (90 mins).
Swindon 2
Cox (17 mins & 42 mins).
Referee: M. Haywood 6
Attendance: 10,886 (863 Swindon).
Yellow card: Swindon – Ifil (foul).
Player ratings: on next page
Not that poor form or a home draw mattered on this day of celebration. The atmosphere crackled in and around London Road and all that was missing from a perfect performance was a victory and an appearance by long-serving goalkeeper Mark Tyler.
Posh certainly had enough possession and chances to win several games, but Swindon's two-man team of excellent goal-grabber Simon Cox and inspired goalkeeper Phil Smith were good enough to thwart them on this day.
Cox supplied two quality first-half finishes after being set up first by the Posh player of the season and then by Michael Timlin, while Smith not only saved a penalty from Aaron Mclean midway through the second half, but surpassed that stop with flying leaps to deny substitutes Shaun Batt and Lee Frecklington.
It took a high class set-piece from Keates in the 92nd minute to defeat Smith and grab a point for Posh. The little midfielder probably felt aggrieved that he was denied the opportunity to score from the spot thanks to Mclean's greedy instincts.
Posh played pretty well in spurts after twice falling behind. Craig Mackail-Smith supplied the first equaliser five minutes before the break when volleying home Boyd's precise cross following a short corner.
Boyd won the penalty after falling over Kevin Amankwaah's outstretched leg just minutes after he might have won another when the man with the backwards name Lescinel Jean-Francois brought him to the ground.
Swindon had formed a friendly guard of honour for the Posh players before the match, but spent the entire second half getting in their way. They regularly pulled 11 men behind the ball, enabling Posh to exert heavy pressure.
In the final 10 minutes Lee, the winner of a staggering six end of season awards, headed over from a Keates free-kick, Russell Martin saw a shot hacked off the line by Jerel Ifil and Gaby Zakuani's late header from a corner was diverted onto the crossbar by Timlin.
Keates' quality ensured the party didn't turn totally flat, but just for once the result was rather an irrelevance.
The Posh are going up. Nothing else matters for the next few months other than the continued interest of the most popular chairman in football history.Player ratings:
Peterborough United
Joe Lewis 6
No chance with the goals, substituted to a morale-boosting ovation
Russell Martin 7
Almost grabbed an equaliser, can be happy with his season
Charlie Lee 5
Played like he had all his player of the year awards stuffed down his shorts
Gaby Zakuani 6
Not as commanding as normal, hit the bar late on
Craig Morgan 6
Found Cox a handful all match
Paul Coutts 7
Lovely runner with the ball, could turn out to be one of club's best signings
Dominic Green 6
Showed some neat touches, one for the future
Dean Keates 7
Finished the season in style with a quality free-kick goal
George Boyd 8
A class apart, created a goal and other opportunities which were missed
Aaron Mclean 6
Greedily took a penalty and missed it, but worked hard, often let down by touch
Craig Mackail-Smith 6
Smart finish, some strong running and, remarkably, no off-sides
Substitutes
Lee Frecklington: (for Mackail-Smith, 71 mins).
James McKeown: (for Lewis, 76 mins).
Shaun Batt: (for Green, 76 mins).
Not used: Sergio Torres, Chris Westwood.
Swindon Town
Phil Smith: 9
Jamie Vincent: 7
Jerel Ifil: 7
Lescinel Jean-Francois: 7
Michael Timlin: 6
Lilian Nalis: 5
Craig Easton: 6
Owain Tudor-Jones: 6
Jon-Paul McGovern: 6
Simon Cox: 8
Billy Paynter: 6
Subs:
Kevin Amankwaah: (for Nalis, 60 mins)
Mark Marshall: (for Easton, 76 mins).
Anthony McNamee: (for Cox, 90 mins).
Jack Smith: (not used).
Hamdi Razak: (not used).
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Peterborough
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: West
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.