A Peterborough United player to set pulses racing, a goalkeeper to challenge the best in club history and praise from a couple of old Welsh pros
Goalkeeper Alex Bass quite rightly walked away with Peterborough United’s man-of-the-match honours, but I doubt he was the player on the lips of most fans.
Posh boss Luke Williams had already shown he wasn’t not afraid to thrust young players into League One action, but starting 17 year-old Bolu Shofowoke, out of position on the wing don’t forget, against a powerful Cardiff City side seemed optimistic.
But, boy it was a justified selection. Shofowoke is searingly speedy and impressively intelligent which, allied to the fearlessness of youth, makes him a formidable opponent even this early in his career. Just ask former Arsenal defender Callum Chambers who was twice embarrassed into submission by the pace of a player almost half his age and taken off at half-time, possibly as an act of mercy by visiting boss Brian Barry-Murphy.
It’s entirely sensible to start Shofowoke on the wing rather than his specialist position of centre forward to avoid the close attentions of League One hard nuts, much as Posh did in the early stage of Ricky-Jade Jones’ career.
He made two blistering bursts on the outside which were spoilt only by the failure to spot better-placed teammates in the penalty area. Shofowoke also showed the value of playing right footed players on the right wing, something some of us have been banging on about all season.
That will come, but he has also now lost the advantage of being an unknown quantity so it will be interesting to see how he copes.
OTHER TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 1, CARDIFF 1...
1) Shofowoke’s emergence could worry Cian Hayes, a late substitute yesterday, and Declan Frith who wasn’t even in the matchday squad. Both have had chances to impress this season and they’ve usually been found wanting. But having a 17 year-old as a positional rival should also spur them on. It will be interesting to see how they react as I doubt Shofowoke won’t play in all the remaining matches.
2) Bass is rapidly becoming a top five all-time goalkeeper at London Road. He has a way to go to get past David Seaman, Ian Bennett and Eric Steele, but he’s making strides and closing on the likes of Ian Feuer and Joe Lewis, two others with beanpole frames. Bass used every inch available to make brilliant saves in each half yesterday. There has been justifiable criticism of recent Posh transfer window work, but Bass, Kyrell Lisbie and Harry Leonard are excellent permanent recruits, while JJ Morgan has been a fine loan signing from Chelsea.
3) Sadly Morgan’s run of successive scoring games came to an end at five, but 14 goals with six games to go is an excellent return from a player who had to become familiar with a different position just off a main striker.
4) The Cardiff media men, including a couple of old pros in Iwan Roberts and Danny Gabbidon, enjoyed the game. They had become accustomed to seeing teams adopt a very deep low block to thwart a team with great attacking potential so were pleased to see Posh have a go themselves. Obviously the sheer quality of the visitors pushed Posh back for periods, but there was a sense the home side would bomb forward in numbers whenever they could. It was certainly a decent game compared to some of the stodge served up in League One this season.
5) Cardiff were guilty of over-playing before taking on high-tariff shots, but they have a deep squad who will certainly finish second to Lincoln City. The Imps clinched promotion with five games to spare yesterday, an astonishing achievement for a team who could easily reach 100 points, but I suspect Cardiff will finish above them at Championship level next season.
6) I've seen no clear shot of the tackle that ended Tom Lees’ game yesterday, but the position of his gaping wound suggests it was a nasty one. Referee Thomas Parsons was right on top of the incident and I suspect he blundered by hastily issuing a yellow rather than red card. His overall performance suggested he was capable of getting a big decision wrong. Posh boss Luke Williams is such a decent bloke he accepted the yellow card as long as there was no intent to injure. That’s irrelevant though. If it was dangerous by going in high on an opponent it’s a red card for serious foul play, even if there was no malice aforethought.