Posh 3, Scunthorpe 0 - Footballing Gods are smiling
THE footballing Gods sure were smiling on London Road.
THE footballing Gods sure were smiling on London Road.Craig Mackail-Smith scoring in a one-on-one situation, Toumani Diagouraga pulling off a 'Cruyff turn' and a defence that has looked rockier than the Labour government of late keeping a clean sheet.
Surely there would be more chance of referee Mike Jones spotting an alien object than any of the above occurring. In fact the 'beach ball' official was switched on enough to order some early balloon stomping before a hot home team ensured he wouldn't take centre stage.
That was largely down to the fact that Posh's own God, the almighty George Boyd, was well and truly shining.
And Posh manager Darren Ferguson's decision to publicly lambast his players for their derisory midweek efforts at Doncaster sparked a splendid response. The manager reckoned he had been let down and was owed a reaction.
Boy, did he get one. He got a best performance of the season from his side as they left the Championship relegation zone behind. Maybe nice guy Ferguson should be nasty more often if it has this effect.
Admittedly Posh may be dispatched back into the bottom three by Reading's result tonight, but on this evidence they should be as concerned about relegation as Nobby The Tramp is about fashion.
They might have appeared more mixed up than a cross-dressing cage fighter lately, but on Saturday Posh came out of the closet and let everyone know what they are really about – that's a hungry and capable young football team determined to ensure their stay in the second tier of English football is not a short one.
Charlie Lee returned with an excellent display at right-back, Tommy Rowe combined goal-line clearances with galloping forward runs from left-back and the central defensive pair of Gaby Zakuani and Craig Morgan looked far more solid.
Chris Whelpdale had looked like a rabbit caught in headlights at right-back recently but was more advanced in terms of both position and performance while Boyd was back where he belongs, drifting inside and out from the left.
There were clear signs of edginess early on despite midfield man Diagouraga's desire to spray eye-catching passes around the park with both confidence and accuracy.
Hitting the front was always going to be the only way to settle any nerves on the pitch and in the stands – and Boyd ensured that happened in style when he ingeniously hooked a half-volley over his shoulder and past Scunthorpe keeper Joe Murphy.
Scunthorpe might have been without ace sharpshooter Gary Hooper, but the handy Paul Hayes and flying machine Jonathan Forte still posed problems.
Hayes wriggled away when his side were just one goal down to beat Joe Lewis, only for the sliding Rowe to clear off the line. The Posh man then picked himself up to also divert a headed Hayes follow-up away.
How Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins must have craved such excellent defending in his side when Jordan Spence fluffed his attempt to cut out a Lee Frecklington pass, leaving Mackail-Smith with time aplenty to pick his spot and slot past Murphy.
But all feet remained firmly on the ground given Posh's recent penchant for conceding poor goals and a failure to win football matches.
A Zakuani mistake early in the second period was almost costly as he misjudged a high-ball which Forte acrobatically slammed against the crossbar.
Hayes failed to get hold of another decent chance in that half and substitute Martyn Woolford (who was rewarded for gunning down mighty Newcastle in midweek with a place on the Scunthorpe bench) flashed an effort across the face of goal.
But serious alarms were few and far between even after the visitors sent on two wingers as substitutes. That's probably because neither of those players were a patch on Boyd, but few are when he is in the mood.
Boyd had been starved of service either side of his stunning opening goal but he received plenty of the ball after the interval and used it excellently.
A succession of fine deliveries should have led to more than a near miss and a fine save before Mackail-Smith smashed against the base of the post. Only a perfectly-timed tackle from Woolford prevented the same player from striking after a Boyd-led breakaway but the wait for a third goal would soon be over.
An assistant referee was convinced Michael O'Connor had clumsily tripped Lee, a referee keen to avoid controversy agreed and Boyd duly dispatched the spot-kick past Murphy. Job done.
The brilliant Boyd is clearly back on song. His team are back on track.
Match details:
POSH 3
SCUNTHORPE 0
GOALS: Posh – Boyd (25 mins), Mackail-Smith (45+1 mins), Boyd (pen, 79 mins).
Attendance: 8,051.
Referee: Mike Jones 7
Bookings: Posh - Mclean (foul). Scunthorpe – Woolford (foul), Murphy (unsportsmanlike conduct), Hayes (unsportsmanlike conduct).
Player ratings:
Peterborough
JOE LEWIS 6
Comfortable, assured kicking and catching, bailed out by Rowe when beaten
CHARLIE LEE 7
Defended well, always willing to get forward and won penalty
TOMMY ROWE 7
Two vital clearances off the line in the first half and always a handy outlet
CRAIG MORGAN 7
Won most of his challenges and did well against speedy opponent
GABY ZAKUANI 6
Competent display but his one major mistake almost cost a goal
CHRIS WHELPDALE 7
Enterprising and high-energy display back in his natural position
TOUMANI DIAGOURAGA 7
Fine passing and some eye-catching skill in best Posh display yet
LEE FRECKLINGTON 7
Got stuck in to the midfield battle and chipped in with two assists
GEORGE BOYD 9
A magnificent opener, cool penalty and a stream of excellent crosses.
CRAIG MACKAIL-SMITH 8
Hardest-working footballer in the country. Immense shift despite injury troubles
AARON MCLEAN 6
Quiet but not down to a lack effort, might have done better with second-half header
Substitutes:
Shaun Batt (for Whelpdale 73mins).
Danny Rose (for Mackail-Smith 79mins).
Dean Keates (for Frecklington 80mins).
Russell Martin (unused)
Ryan Bennett (unused)
Scott Griffiths (unused)
James McKeown (unused)
Scunthorpe
Joe Murphy 6
Cliff Byrne 5
Marcus Williams 6
Jordan Spence 5
Rob Jones 5
Michael O'Connor 6
Sam Togwell 6
Josh Wright 5
Grant McCann 6
Paul Hayes 6
Jonathan Forte 7
Subs:
Andrew Wright (for Spence 70mins).
Garry Thompson (for J. Wright 56mins).
Martyn Woolford (for Togwell 56mins).
Matt Sparrow (unused).
Sam Slocombe (unused).
Niall Canavan (unused).
Ian Morris (unused).
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Thursday 18 March 2010
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