Don't let mystifying decisions became too big a distraction from the more avoidable reasons for defeat and the real League One fairytale is not taking place in North Wales

Many of us in Posh colours were guilty of it during and after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Reading. We will never know whether or not Adam Herczeg’s sudden departure from awarding free kicks for any sort of contact in Berkshire when Ricky-Jade Jones was knocked over while bearing down on goal denied Posh some reward from the game at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

It was 2-0 to the hosts at the time and Reading had looked the more likely goalscorers for the 15 minutes that preceded the incident, but goals do change games and Herczeg’s blunder was followed instantly by a third home strike. The chance of a huge lift – a red card would presumably have followed the award of a penalty – was replaced by a hammer blow from which there was no recovery.

But Posh would also have received a boost had Abraham Odoh not missed a glaring open goal on 13 minutes and they wouldn’t have received so many damaging blows of their own if they hadn’t passed the ball sloppily out from the back or failed to track midfield runners.

I’m confident in private those are things that manager Darren Ferguson concentrated on with his players. They are the things he can control and improve. Sadly refereeing consistency is a forlorn hope, unless you are Wrexham.

TALKING POINTS FROM READING 3, POSH 1….

1) Posh usually have a ‘goal of the season’ competition. This time around they already have enough material for a ‘miss of the season’ competition. They have racked up a staggering number of remarkable failures in front of goal with Odoh missing the target from close range following Malik Mothersille’s precise cross yesterday merely the latest exhibit. Nothing will top the last minute gaffe from Rickly-Jade Jones against Wycombe and the Academy graduate was also guilty of a horror miss at Northampton Town. There were some terrible misses in last weekend’s win over Charlton and yesterday Posh scored through Kwame Poku only after Mothersille had made a right hash of Odoh’s cutback. Luckily the ball landed at the feet of a forward capable of showing composure when it mattered.

2) It all makes recent opposition talk of ‘the most complete forward unit in League One’ look more hype than substance. Of course Posh are capable of thrilling football courtesy of a style of play that remains easy on the eye. They are always quick, often incisive and usually positive, but until they can start finishing like Aaron Mclean or Jonson Clarke-Harris they will remain a work in progress, Poku aside. Posh will have to replace him and Jones in the summer so let’s hope they can find skilled speedsters who can actually hit the target regularly. Reading fielded a makeshift back four yesterday and yet they were breached just once.

3) Posh earn plaudits from opponents because they always try and play rather than rely on hoofball and the tedium of long throws. It’s rarity in League One this season and the ugly nature of the division could be exposed to the nation in the play-offs if say, Wrexham, Huddersfield, Charlton and Stockport, were all involved. Reading sneaked back into the play-off places yesterday and I hope they stay there. Their football was excellent at times yesterday. They kept possession in tight areas much better than Posh. They looked a vibrant young team well led on the pitch by experienced midfielder Lewis Wing. Given what’s gone on at the club in the last couple of seasons they are the real fairytale story of League One this season rather than the club in North Wales.

4) Some styles suit opponents more than others. Reading are now unbeaten in 11 League One games, but they’ve drawn six of them, often when struggling to break down teams who play with a low block and man mark Wing according to a local expert. I’d never advocate Posh trying those tactics and they never would under the current regime, but Reading enjoyed the challenge of pressing a team that constantly played out from the back and who aren’t afraid of throwing men forward and leaving gaps to exploit.

5) Manny Fernandez could well have played himself out of the Posh Wembley team. The centre-back was given a rare chance to shine in Oscar Wallin’s absence yesterday, but he fluffed it with careless passing and some walkabout defending. A Posh defence that has looked so secure with Wallin and Sam Hughes at its heart suddenly wasn’t secure at all. After the game Ferguson made a point of praising on-loan Manchester City defender Jadel Katongo for his performance after replacing Fernandez. If Wallin doesn’t return at Crawley on Tuesday I’d start Katongo against another team who will press, pass and try and play good football. Resting young right-back James Dornelly in favour of Carl Johnston’s superior defending skills might also be a good idea against a fluent attacking team.

6) And finally refereeing standards are as low as I can ever remember, and I go back a long way. Referees appear wired to punish the slightest contact by forwards on defenders, but not to punish far stronger pushes by defenders on attackers. It happened in Posh’s favour against Shrewsbury Town earlier this month. Herczeg was the man who waved play on when Posh ‘keeper Nicholas Bilokapic was kicked out of the game against Barnsley last season before denying Posh a most blatant penalty later in the same match so yesterday should not have come as a surprise, even from a referee who has spent time recently in the Championship. Officials these days are hot on punishing dissent, usually after they’ve missed obvious fouls, but yesterday after Herczog failed to get out of the way of a pass that started off 25 yards from him. Cian Hayes chirped, Herczeg showed him yellow as he did to Ferguson after four officials failed to identify someone had thrown a water bottle down in anger. It’s all so frustrating. The priorities are misplaced.