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Orient 2, Posh 3 - Never mind the quality... just enjoy the result
MUCH more of this and Darragh MacAnthony might need to spend his next £150,000 cheque on extra medical staff.
MUCH more of this and Darragh MacAnthony might need to spend his next 150,000 cheque on extra medical staff.Palpitations and nervous twitches were the order of the day as Posh did their best to turn a position of total strength into a dismal away-day in the pouring rain at Brisbane Road.
Indeed it took an instinctive save in the final seconds of the match from Posh keeper Joe Lewis to preserve the three points which ironically took his team into the automatic promotion places. Rarely can the rewards have been higher for such a mediocre display.
In fact Lewis was actually recovering from his own blunder as Jason Demetrieu's weak free-kick was spilled by the keeper straight to substitute Wayne Gray six yards from goal. The invitation was golden, but Lewis stood up tall to block and referee Simon Hooper immediately blew the final whistle.
And that one incident just about summed up this Posh effort. There was much to admire, most notably in the opening stages, and plenty to worry about, mainly the final half an hour, but as ever the result was all-important, especially given the circumstances.
The Posh team sheet surprised everyone, including top scorer Craig Mackail-Smith, who was axed, and Chris Westwood, who was asked to cover at centre-back after Gaby Zakuani dashed home in a taxi, but the manager's gamble and late reshuffle paid off with two goals inside 13 minutes.
Posh have developed a pleasing habit of exploding into early action and Chris Whelpdale's close range header from a sublime Paul Coutts' cross was followed by a first Posh goal from one Sergio Torres, a man who had previously contributed less than the kit man to this promotion push.
Torres started on the left wing with George Boyd deployed alongside Aaron Mclean. With the wind howling and the rain lashing down, conditions weren't ideal for a mop-headed Argentinian ball-player, but this one played with great spirit and determination, even his goal owed much to poor goalkeeping.
Mclean was the architect with a bull-dozing run and neat pass, but Torres' shot slipped under the body of Jamie Jones before nestling in the net. The joyous celebrations after the goal and Oscar-style speech after it (only his agent appeared to be left out of his list of thank-yous) confirmed massive personal relief.
Indeed it was a good night for former Wycombe players as Posh skipper Russell Martin nodded home a Coutts corner in first-half stoppage time and Scott McGleish claimed both Orient goals. One fact was considerably more surprising than the other.
McGleish scoring against this particular old club is one of football's biggest certainties, right up there with ITV cock-ups and Man Utd clean sheets, and his first opportunity arrived from the penalty spot seven minutes before the break after a sliding Charlie Lee was adjudged to have handled a cross.
McGleish also slammed home a second 10 minutes after the re-start to initiate a quite unnerving final period as ball after ball was launched towards the Posh goal by desperate opposition.
Torres had missed a great opportunity in the opening minute of the second half after a fine move involving Mclean and Boyd, but Posh never threatened again thanks to a failure to hold the ball up, pass well enough or use some common sense.
This could have been a problem given the absence of 50 per cent of the preferred back four, but Lee and Westwood, although never really gelling as a pair, both played strongly as individuals. They won many headers, cut out numerous crosses and were generally backed up well by the handling of Lewis.
Westwood twice cleared off the line in the same second-minute attack to thwart Simon Church and Demetriou and Lewis also used his entire length midway through the first half to reach a shot from Adam Chambers which had taken a wicked deflection off Westwood.
Posh were pinned back into their own half for much of the last quarter by a home side who can count themselves unfortunate to get nothing from an entertaining match.
"We were dreadful in the second half," Posh boss Darren Ferguson admitted. "Some of the things we did nearly gave me a heart attack."
It's quite possible he wasn't alone, even though an impressive number of travelling fans hid their anxiety behind a barrage of noisy support.
NEXT PAGE: Match facts and the ratingsMatch facts
ORIENT 2
McGleish (42 mins, pen, 56 mins).
POSH 3
Whelpdale (6 mins), Torres (13 mins), Martin (45 mins).
REFEREE: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire) 6.
ATTENDANCE: 3,381 (688 Posh).
Yellow cards:
Posh – Lee (deliberate handball), Boyd (foul), Williams (foul).
The ratings
Joe Lewis 7
Survived a problem of his own making thanks to fine save at the death
Russell Martin 7
His first Posh goal was celebrated wildly, played well throughout
Charlie Lee 7
Fantastic attitude, battled gamely at centre-back
Chris Westwood 7
Very good comeback to the club, very composed
Tom Williams 6
The odd dodgy moment, but good commitment
Chris Whelpdale 6
Got side off to a perfect start, put in a decent cross now and again
Paul Coutts 8 (Star man)
Some terrific bursts with the ball at his feet, two quality crosses led to goals
Dean Keates 6
Not the heights of recent weeks, but never stopped working
George Boyd 6
Played off the central striker, good first-half, dreadful after break
Sergio Torres 6
Fortunate finish will hopefully inspire his best form, promising effort
Aaron Mclean 6
A threat before the break, nothing went well for him second half
Substitutes
Craig Mackail-Smith: (for Whelpdale, 75 mins).
Shaun Batt: (for Boyd, 90 mins).
Dominic Green: (not used).
James McKeown: (not used)
Shane Blackett: (not used).
Orient ratings
Jamie Jones: 6
Steven Purches: 6
Jordan Spence: 6
Andrew Cave-Brown: 6
Tamika Mkandawire: 6
Adam Chambers: 7
Sean Thornton: 6
Jason Demetriou: 8
Jimmy Smith: 6
Scott McGleish: 7
Simon Church: 6
Dean Morgan: (for Smith, 46 mins) 6
Wayne Gray: (for Church, 71 mins).
Glen Morris: (not used).
Brian Saah: (not used).
Paul Terry: (not used).
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