Peterborough Sports’ thrilling run in the FA Trophy is over

City used their familiarity with their 3G pitch, a surface that has troubled Sports in the past, to ease home with a goal in each half.

Sports bowed out tamely, but that shouldn’t deflect from a cracking run through the competition.

The Turbines fielded an unchanged side yet again after Matty Miles was declared fit to start and opened brightly, with Lewis Hilliard wasting a decent free kick position in the second minute.

Slowly the hosts grew into the game and forced a series of corners. It was from one of these they took the lead in the 18th minute when the ball was only half cleared out to James Roberts, whose shot from the corner of the area flew across Lewis Moat and into the top corner.

City were now in the ascendency with the diminutive Alfie Potter, a former Posh player, adept at finding space between the lines in the first half, but the Sports rearguard were largely untroubled with little goalmouth action to report up to the half-time interval with neither keeper seriously worked

The hosts doubled their lead five minutes into the second-half after a surging run from Harvey Bradbury saw the ball fed to Reece Fleet who sidefooted from the home from the edge of the area despite Moat getting a hand to the effort.

The Turbines made a couple of changes, went to a back three and started to compete on equal terms with Dion Sembie-Ferris forcing a straightforward save out of Ben Dudzinski at the mid-point of the half, but the visitors were huffing and puffing, without convincing against a disciplined home defence marshalled by skipper Joe Oastler and in truth Sports barely laid a glove on their higher league opponents

Dan Lawlor dragged a free kick wide from a promising position and Paul Malone won a few headers when thrown up front late on. Home man-of-the-match Roberts saw Moat get down well as he looked to curl in a third, as the game drifted to its conclusion.

Sports could now have to wait six months for their next competitive action as the Southern League is likely to be abandoned for the second season running.

Peterborough Sports (with marks out of 10): Lewis Moat (6), Matty Miles (6), Jonny Herd (6), Brad McGowan (7), Richard Jones (8), Dan Lawlor, Dion Sembie-Ferris (6), Maniche Sani (6), Lewis Hilliard (5), Josh Moreman (5), Mark Jones (7). Subs: Josh McCammon (for Moreman, 57 mins) (6), Paul Malone (sub Hilliard, 57 mins) (6), Jordan Nicholson (sub M. Jones, 68 mins) (6). Unused: Lewis Elson, Jim Stevenson, Dan Jarvis, Mitch Griffiths.

Sports man-of-the-match - Richard Jones

Cautions: Paul Malone, Matty Miles

Oxford City: Ben Dudinski (7), Aaron Drewe (7), Josh Ashby (6), Dan Matsuzaka (6), Joe Oastler (C) (8), James Roberts (8), Reece Fleet (7), Michael Elechi (7), Harvey Bradbury (7), 1Alfie Potter (7), Luis Fernandez (6). Subs Used: Lewis Coyle (6), Elliot Benyon (6)

Referee: Jacob Miles (7)