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Posh 3, Leyton Orient 0 - Boyd dazzles in easy Posh win
REPORTS of the death of Posh as a promotion force appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
REPORTS of the death of Posh as a promotion force appear to have been greatly exaggerated.Defeats against title contenders in League One and the Championship in the first week of the season were enough to convince some sceptics (and Peterborough has more than its fair share) that this team had gone as far as it could.
The strikers weren't scoring, the midfielders weren't creating and defensively the team was more vulnerable at corners than a boy racer hurtling around in the rain.
Well, Leyton Orient must have had a dozen corners and didn't threaten to score from any of them, but that fact will be lost as most fans in a healthy crowd went away dazzled by a breath-taking display of attacking football, particularly in the second-half of a one-sided contest.
Led by their 'Mac Attack' of Craig Mackail-Smith and Aaron Mclean and the ball-juggling brilliance of George Boyd, Posh romped to a 3-0 win, a scoreline that flattered only the visitors.
Mackail-Smith, who bizarrely was described as in a goal drought by one local radio station this week, will doubtless battle with Mclean, who produced a quality finish to avenge his release from Brisbane Road, for the headlines, but if Posh manage to hang on to Boyd for the duration of the season there is something very wrong with the talent-spotting abilities of top flight clubs.
The common opinion is that Boyd can't run fast enough to play at the highest level, yet his feet are so fast and his brain, on a football pitch at least, so alert it would be unfair if he could sprint like a Jamaican giant as well.
Boyd's role in the third Posh goal midway through the second half was a moment of magic which will live long in the memory as he dumped two Orient players on their back-sides, not for the first time in the match, with one trick before delivering a fierce cross which Mackail-Smith eventually bundled over the line.
This match had been billed as the battle of the Boyds, but in reality it was a non-contest as Orient's top scorer Adam Boyd gave the impression that he was conserving energy for something else.
Mackail-Smith's first goal two minutes before the interval was a much classier finish as he pounced on a loose ball on the half-way line before surging forward and curling a shot into the corner of the net.
That finish came as a relief to the player and to Posh fans. Mackail-Smith had spurned three opportunities of varying degrees of difficulty in the opening 10 minutes, misses that appeared to affect the confidence of the team who allowed Orient to dictate the play for much of the half.
The visitors though threatened only once when Wayne Gray muscled his way past Chris Westwood before firing a shot which went out for a throw-in, a moment which summed up Orient's day.
Once ahead Posh were outstanding. Both managers agreed that the tempo of the Posh play and their fitness levels were far too great – a second goal four minutes after the break also helped.
Mclean was the scorer after accepting a Dean Keates free-kick on the edge of the area before working his way into a shooting position and sending a low strike into the bottom corner of the net.
Mclean should have had a second after Boyd and Mackail-Smith opened up the defence quite superbly, but he missed the ball completely from six yards.And there could have been other goals as Posh ran riot in the final quarter of the match. Boyd struck a couple of 25 yarders narrowly wide, impressive new full-back Russell Martin shaved the crossbar from the edge of the area and Mackail-Smith side-footed wide on the volley from eight yards.
Posh were also rock solid at the back with Shane Blackett playing well.
Keates enjoyed some fine moments in midfield, but as Ferguson said it would be wrong to pick out individuals after a stunning all-round display.
For him maybe, the rest of us were too busy raving about Boyd to notice.
Match facts
POSH 3 LEYTON ORIENT 0
Mackail-Smith (43 mins & 67 mins), Mclean (49 mins)
Referee: M. Thorpe (Suffolk) 6.
Attendance: 6,643.
ORIENT RATINGS
Glenn Morris: 7
Stephen Purches: 6
Danny Granville: 6
Tamika Mkandawire: 6
Brian Saah: 5
Adam Chambers: 6
Sean Thornton: 7
Jason Demetriou: 6
John Melligan: 6
Adam Boyd: 5
Wayne Gray: 6
Aiden Palmer: (for Granville, 50 mins).
Simon Dawkins: (for Gray, 71 mins).
Ryan Jarvis: (for Melligan, 73 mins),
Alton Thelwell: (not used).
Paul Terry: (not used).
Yellow cards: Orient – Purches (foul).
The ratings
Joe Lewis 6
Very little to do, but did it safely
Russell Martin 7
A fine addition to the squad, smooth runner with the ball
Craig Morgan 7
Won his aerial challenges, spotted danger and snuffed it out
Chris Westwood 7
Caught out once in 90 minutes, very effective partnership with skipper
Shane Blackett 7
Excellent effort defensively and joined in attack successfully
Sergio Torres 6
Still finding his feet, but can obviously play
Charlie Lee 7
Powerful runner with the ball, hardly lost a challenge
Dean Keates 7
Industrious and creative, kept things ticking over nicely, tackled well
George Boyd 9 (Star man)
Worth the admission fee alone, great exhibition of skill
Aaron Mclean 7
Great finish and never let opponents settle
Craig Mackail-Smith 8
Immense appetite for hard work, goals were a just reward
Substitutes
Micah Hyde: (for Lee, 76 mins).
Chris Whelpdale: (for Torres, 79 mins).
Tom Williams: (for Blackett, 79 mins).
Mark Tyler: (not used).
Scott Rendell: (not used).
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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