MATCH REPORT: Southend 1 Peterborough United 1; Maddison goes from villain to hero to rescue a point

Little had gone right for Maddison until he accepted substitute Nathan Oduwa’s short pass on the edge of the penalty area, turned and fired a precise left-foot drive into the bottom corner.

Posh failed to win a soilitary game in September and it was almost a horrible start to October. A draw was probably a fair result from a desperately poor contest at Roots Hall.

Anthony Wordsworth shot Southend ahead 13 minutes from time when he was on hand to lash into the roof of the net after a left-wing cross fell kindly into his path.

Twelve minutes earlier Wordsworth had seen a penalty saved by Luke McGee after a handball offence against Maddison. It was a second successive game in which McGee had saved a spot-kick.

Conceding the penalty rather summed up Maddison’s day up to that point as he struck the crossbar on the stroke of half-time and missed a simple one-on-one chance early in the second-half after a fine pass from Chris Forrester.

Posh recalled teenager Leo Da Silva Lopes in place of George Moncur to stiffen up midfield. It worked as far as securing possession was concerned, but team creativity suffered without the on loan man.

Paul Taylor found it easy to run past players in midfield, but finding the right pass or a shot that combined accuracy and power was far more difficult for him.

Not until the 45th minute did he manage to bypass three huge centre-backs and locate Maddison whose shot was well-struck, but an inch too high and rattled the crossbar.

Stephen McLaughlin also hit the crossbar at the other end with a looping header from a Jermaine McGlashan cross, but close shaves couldn’t disguise what had been a poor half of football with neither goalkeeper called into difficult action.

Home ‘keeper Mark Oxley saved Maddison’s tame effort without even diving as the Posh star bore down on goal in the 55th minute.

The substitution of Tom Nichols for Moncur seemed to have an adverse effect on Posh who hardly constructed a worthwhile attack in the final quarter of the game.

Until that is Maddison decided to sprinkle some stardust on the game.

Posh: Luke McGee, Michael Smith, Andrew Hughes, Michael Bostwick, Jack Baldwin, Chris Forrester, Gwion Edwards, Leo Da Silva Lopes (sub Deon Moore, 81 mins), Marcus Maddison, Paul Taylor, Tom Nichols (sub George Moncur, 65 mins). Unused substitutes: Callum Chettle, Nathan Oduwa, Ricardo Santos, Hayden White, Mark Tyler.

Southend: Mark Oxley, Jason Demetriou, Ben Coker, Adam Barrett, Anton Ferdinand, Ryan Innis, Anthony Wordsworth, Jermain McGlashan (sub Luke O’Neill, 88 mins), Marc Antione-Fortune, 70 mins), Ryan Leonard, David Mooney (sub Simon Cox, 69 mins). Unused substitutes: Ted Smith, John White, Adam Thompson, Will Atkinson.

Goals: Posh - Maddison (90 + 2 mins)

Southend - Wordsworth (77 mins).

Cautions: Posh - Hughes (foul), Forrester (foul).

Southend - Innis (dissent), Wordsworth (foul).

Referee: James Adcock 5

Attendance: 6,417 (495 Posh).