LIVE: FULL-TIME: PETERBOROUGH UNITED 0, GILLINGHAM 0: Posh missed a great late chance, but a win would have flattered them greatly

Brandon Hanlan of Gillingham sees his header hit the crossbar in the 0-0 draw with Posh. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

In fact ‘held’ is misleading, Gillingham dominated a lot of the ball and territory, but lacked punch up front.

Posh were awful for the most part, but had some good scoring chances, most notably in the 95th and final minute when Ivan Toney found himself clear behind the visiting defence only to poke his shot badly wide under heavry pressure.

Toney wanted a foul and a penalty, but referee Kevin Johnson, who has dismissed Posh centre-back Mark Beevers seven minutes earlier for the softest of second yellow card offences, showed no interest.

Midway through the second-half Toney had earlier forced a fine save from Gills keeper Jack Bonham with a flying header from a Dan Butler cross, while visiting full-back Barry Fuller made a miraculous save to divert Mo Eisa’s close-range strike onto the crossbar after Bonham had spilled Toney’s shot.

But it would have been a travesty if Posh had won, even against limited opponents.

Gillingham’s lack of any firepower cost them as Posh ‘keeper Christy Pym, who handled the ball well in difficult conditions, was forced into just one save all game.

The Posh threat fizzled out once Beevers had been despatched for two fouls on Brandon Hanlon, the second of which was ludicrously soft.

Posh have now seen a player sent off in three successive League One matches.

Posh had survived a rocky end to the first-half. The visitors battered Posh in the final 10 minutes and struck the crossbar with two close range headers in quick succession.

A free kick needlessly conceded by Niall Mason led to debutant loanee Jordan Roberts, a former Posh Academy player, hitting the woodwork and from the rebound Hanlon nodded against the crossbar from close range when he should have scored.

Hanlon then missed another sitter with his head and Stuart O’Keefe then fizzed a shot just wide from 20 yards before the half-time whistle blew to the relief of the home camp.

Gillingham had the benefit of a strong wind at the back and kept Posh pinned back while winning plenty of corners and free kicks most of which were defended well.

Posh, who fielded new £500k signing Jack Taylor in place of Marcus Maddison at the tip of a midfield diamond, did string some passes together in the middle of half. Eisa saw a shot blocked from a clever corner routine, but otherwise the Posh forwards lived on scraps despite the promptings of Taylor who saw a 10-yard header palmed away by Bonham.

Posh: Christy Pym, Niall Mason, Dan Butler, Frankie Kent, Mark Beevers, Louis Reed, Reece Brown (sub Joe Ward, 90 + 1 mins), Jack Taylor, George Boyd (sub Marcus Maddison, 65 mins), Ivan Toney, Mo Eisa (sub Rhys Bennett, 88 mins).

Unused substitutes: Conor O’Malley, Frazer Blake-Tracy, Kyle Barker, Harrison Burrows.

Gillingham: Jack Bonham, Max Ehmer, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Barry Fuller, Alfie Jones, Stuart O’Keefe, Thomas O’Connor, Oliver Lee, Brandon Hanlon, Jordan Roberts (sub , Alex Jakubiak, 80 mins).

Unused substitutes: Joe Walsh, Matty Willock, Mikael Mandron, Regan Charles-Cook, Ben Pringle, Mark Marshall

MATCH STATS

Sending-off: Posh - Beevers (second yellow card, foul).

Cautions: Posh - Beevers (foul).

Gillingham - O’Connor (foul).

Referee: Kevin Johnson 5

Attendance: 6,696 (397 Gillingham).