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Posh 4, Huddersfield 0 - Posh leave Terriers in turmoil
THIS was so good Victor Meldrew would have left London Road with a smile on his face.
THIS was so good Victor Meldrew would have left London Road with a smile on his face.There is very little more satisfying than an excellent footballing side playing excellent football and that description was pure Posh on Saturday.
Pacy and clinical up front, inventive and industrious in midfield and solid and disciplined in defence are all templates for success, even against better sides than Huddersfield who appeared to be a club in turmoil.
Veteran manager Stan Ternent – who at 63 could well be the Meldrew of League One – was given a verbal kicking by his fans for most of the afternoon. Even they had spotted that coming to Posh to play an open game was more a suicide note than a tactical plan.
Boring Brighton had enjoyed great success by forming a human barricade in front of their goal a few days earlier, but presumably the Huddersfield scout wasn't at the game. If he was he should now be seeking alternative employment along with the visiting defenders.
Posh revelled in the time and space they were offered. They tortured two full-backs who were more tortoise than hare and they took full advantage of a goalkeeper who would have looked less shaky in front of a firing squad.
Which is pretty much what he faced, led by Posh's own smiling assassin Aaron Mclean. Mclean returned to the starting line-up for the first time in seven weeks and immediately confirmed he is the deadliest finisher at this club.
Mclean saw two on-target shots blocked by defenders even before he opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a fierce finish following typical skills and an accurate pull-back by George Boyd.
To be fair the goal galvanised Huddersfield more than the home side and until Boyd was allowed to streak 60 yards after collecting Charlie Lee's neat pass to fire a second goal under the body of keeper Matt Glennon, they looked the more dangerous side.
They did possess decent attacking weapons. Liam Dickinson is a difficult centre-forward to contain, Nathan Clarke has a Delap-like throw and the set-pieces of Gary Roberts are usually pinpoint accurate.
Credit then to the Posh defenders, ably led by an impressive centre-back pairing, for allowing Joe Lewis just one chance to make a good save and that arrived in the final minute from a Dickinson header.
Russell Martin and Craig Morgan did have to make goal-saving interventions at 1-0 as Posh started to give the ball away too frequently, but once the second goal arrived it was largely one-way traffic against dispirited opposition.
Boyd and Chris Whelpdale came close to scoring a third before the break, but the pair combined to break all resistance 10 minutes after the re-start.
Classy Paul Coutts and Craig Mackail-Smith were in at the start of the move before Boyd's brilliant cross was headed home by Whelpdale.
Mclean's weak shot which Glennon somehow let through his legs made it 4-0 25 minutes from time giving manager Darren Ferguson the luxury of removing some key men ahead of the tougher battles to come.
They still found it easy to dominate, but only a desperate lunge from Huddersfield captain Chris Lucketti which felled Mackail-Smith in full flow and earned him a red card made the day even more miserable for the visitors.
Presumably Lucketti wasn't aware of Mackail-Smith's finishing woes – at the start of the second half the striker was played through by Lee, but allowed Glennon to kick away his shot.
Not every team will roll over and die like Huddersfield, but there is a determined, ruthless look about this Posh side which should stand them in good stead for the greater challenges ahead.
Huddersfield's future and that of their manager looks less rosy, although Ternent appeared relaxed about his own position, if a little masochistic.
He said: "I want to spend Christmas Day in Carlisle with the team, but if I'm at home having dinner with the family instead that will be fine."
NEXT PAGE: Match facts and the ratingsMatch facts
POSH 4
Mclean (12 mins & 63 mins), Boyd (24 mins), Whelpdale (55 mins).
HUDDERSFIELD 0
Attendance: 7,064 (935 Huddersfield).
Referee: Andy Penn (West Midlands) 7.
HUDDERSFIELD RATINGS
Matt Glennon: 4
Jim Goodwin: 5
Robbie Williams: 5
Chris Lucketti: 4
Nathan Clarke: 5
Jon Worthington: 5
Gary Roberts: 7
Michael Flynn: 6
Andy Holdsworth: 5
Ian Craney: 5
Liam Dickinson: 6
Phil Jevons: (for Worthington, 62 mins).
Andy Butler: (not used).
Joe Skarz: (not used).
Michael Collins: (not used).
Dan Broadbent: (not used).
Red cards:
Huddersfield – Lucketti (denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity).
Yellow cards:
Huddersfield – Worthington (foul), Goodwin (foul).
The ratings
Joe Lewis 7
Excellent save at death to preserve clean sheet, good handling in windy conditions
Russell Martin 7
Another fine all-round display from the silky-skilled full-back
Craig Morgan 8
Outstanding display, won his headers, saw and snuffed out danger early
Gaby Zakuani 8
Excellent defender, hard to get past because he has strength and speed
Tommy Williams 7
Whips in gorgeous crosses, but defending well also
Chris Whelpdale 8
One his best games for the club capped by fine headed finish
Paul Coutts 7
Supremely confident young man, passes the ball superbly
Charlie Lee 8
Aggressive as always, but also played some killer passes
George Boyd 9 (Star man)
Two goals, one assist, bags of tricks, a joy to watch
Aaron Mclean 8
Always hits the target, contributed well apart from his goals
Craig Mackail-Smith 7
Dashed about to great effect, still working on his finishing
Substitutes
Shaun Batt: (for Mclean, 65 mins).
Micah Hyde: (for Coutts, 68 mins).
Sergio Torres: (for Boyd, 68 mins).
James McKeown: (not used).
Dominic Green: (not used).
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