Early blunder was as decisive as the late one for Peterborough United, a team that regularly induce pleasure and pain in the same game

This Posh team can be a joy to watch with their adventurous, brave passing through crowded areas and their exhilarating speed out wide. They continue to rack up as many plaudits as points which is lovely, but no guarantee of success.

Best team I’ve seen

But they are also capable of acts of pain-inducing dopiness. These moments have led to importants points dropped at poor sides like Northampton Town and now Carlisle United this season, while also throwing in a Carabao Cup exit at League Two draw specialists Mansfield Town.

Dopiness

All three of those matches saw Posh leap into action away from home, miss early chances, waste great attacking positions and then fail to manage the final moments in a professional manner.

This presumably is the inconsistency we were warned would come with such a young squad, but that in no way eases the frustration, especially conceding a 95th-minute goal to a deflected strike to a team with just one win all season and who until that fateful moment had failed to register a single shot on target.

No wonder Carlisle manager Paul Simpson appeared beside himself with joy after the game and thank goodness the recently combustible Posh boss Darren Ferguson missed his post-match media duties, although he had warned the press before the game he was feeling under the weather.

OTHER TALKING POINTS FROM CARLISE 1, POSH 1.

1) Most of the immediate post-match reaction centred around the daft decision-making at the end of the match by Posh.

Understandably so. Without being particularly convincing Posh had kept a side with little attacking threat at bay after taking their 73rd minute lead. This was far from the panic that set in in the final quarter at Mansfield, but as the match entered its final minute Posh gave away two daft free kicks, the second of which was conceded by substitute Kwame Poku who compounded his error of giving the ball away in the first place. Punishment was swift and costly.

But failing to score when so dominant in the first 25 minutes was just as expensive. Who knows what an early goal would have done to a team finding life in League One difficult?. It probably wouldn’t have been pretty given how sharp and speedy Posh looked in those opening stages. The second-minute sitter missed by Jonson Clarke-Harris after excellence from Ricky-Jade Jones and Ephron Mason-Clark was a shocker. Not just the miss, but the distance he missed the target by. I’ve seen more accurate VAR verdicts.

The early blunder was just as important as the late one.

2) Mason-Clark remains a pale imitation of the man who thrilled the club’s fans and management during his debut season last term. There’s no shortage of effort, but playing as a support striker/number 10 just isn’t working. He’s an explosive player rather than a technician. He played in three different positions last night and looked happiest out wide from where he won the free-kick which led to the Posh goal.

Joel Randall played the final half an hour in the ‘10’ role and was a vast improvement on what had gone before. He should stay there on Saturday.

3) If ever a player deserved to be on the winning side it was Ronnie Edwards last night. He exuded his usual class defensively and on the ball, but also popped up with what should have been the winning goal from a set-piece. It was strange to see Posh take regular set-piece taker Harrison Burrows off as soon as a free kick in a dangerous area was awarded, but it worked as Randall’s fine delivery received the finish it deserved. It was possibly the first time an initial contact from a set-piece had been won by a Posh player all night. Hector Kyprianou’s presence at attacking corners was missed as much as his passing ability,

4) Posh won with the help of a big deflection on Saturday so can hardly complain too loudly about the one that cost them two points last night. Jordan Gibson’s shot was going nowhere until Peter Kioso’s ill-fated attempt to block it added pace to a ball that whistled low past Posh ‘keeper Nicholas Bilokapic into the corner of the net. I did see Bilokapic get the blame on social media, but, as with so much on X, this was utter nonsense. Some of the regular whingers should notice Posh are in a play-off position and with a squad that should improve naturally with time and with experience gained, as long as they replace the imperious Edwards in January adequately.

5) A shame for the 296 Posh fans present at Brunton Park last night to have to face the 225-mile slog home after a nasty sting in the tale, especially as the support was loud and proud throughout. Fair play to all of them.