Peterborough United talking points from defeat at Derby County: 'ref rage, panic replacing poise, naivety, substitutions that didn't work, but plenty to be positive about also'

If Posh had shown their usual poise and composure in front of goal, if they hadn’t been so naive at 1-1, if they hadn’t retreated into their own penalty area for the final 10 minutes and if they hadn’t made substitutions which simply didn’t help (the last two points are connected), Madden’s hopeless performance could have been a more footnote to a terrific win, or maybe a battling draw.

But who really knows if Posh would have gone on to win if Madden hadn’t been so comprehensively fooled by Derby winger Tom Barkhuizen’s dramatic drop to the floor and issued a second yellow card to Nathan Thompson 10 minutes into the second-half?

The way Madden refereed up to that point made a red card inevitable. In the first-half alone Thompson’s first caution was as mysterious as why home player Louie Sibley didn’t receive a sanction for shoving the Posh defender over in the same incident and why James Collins walked away scot free after two barging offences in a matter of minutes. After the break a crude hack on Ronnie Edwards by Craig Forsyth was punished by a mere free kick just moments before Thompson was despatched for something far less sinister.

It was remarkably inept even by lower league standards.

Derby boss, the impressive Liam Rosenoir, said after the game the home crowd got his side over the line.

He didn’t mean because they intimidated a weak official as Madden has officiated Old Firm games so he couldn’t possibly be influenced by partisan noise.

It just looked that way.

OTHER TALKING POINTS from Pride Park...

1) Posh had one shot on target in 96 minutes of play and that was Josh Knight’s close-range finish after Frankie Kent had flicked on a fine cross from Harrison Burrows to give Posh the lead. But they had so many other excellent shooting opportunities it was frustrating to see none of them threaten a goal. Posh have been deadly in front of goal this season, but Jack Marriott, Jonson Clarke-Harris and Ben Thompson all lacked precision when it mattered. Marriott’s opportunity came after Derby goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith passed the ball straight to him in the early stage, Clarke-Harris screwed wide after receiving a fine Jack Taylor pass beyond the home defence and Wildsmith wasn’t even in his goal when Thompson ignored his skipper stood alongsde him to blast high and wide from outside the area. Panic appeared to have replaced poise for the day and it was most disappointing.

2) Posh initially reacted well to Nathan Thompson’s red card. Manager Grant McCann stayed positive, kept his two forwards on, replaced a midfielder in Taylor with centre-back Knight, and was rewarded with the opening goal of the game from his substitute. But later substitutions were less successful. McCann said Clarke-Harris, who had held the ball up well after the break and won several pressure-relieving free kicks, and Marriott were exhausted but they were replaced by relative rookies in debutant Ephron Mason-Clark and Kwame Poku who looked unsure of what their roles actually were. With no obvious out ball Posh were penned in by Derby who ultimately scored twice, the first from a corner which Posh defended without Clarke-Harris, a strong header of the ball.

3) Posh won a corner after Derby’s equaliser and pleasingly went for a goal rather the opportunity to waste time in the corner of the pitch. It was cleared and Derby broke after substitute Hector Kyprianou (who didn’t cover himself in glory as Derby equalised) spurned the opportunity to make a tactical foul and kill the game. Derby promptly won their own set-piece and kept the ball alive in the Posh penalty area to claim an unlikely winning goal. Naivety as well as poor defence of the set-piece cost Posh a point.

4) The final quarter of the game proved that attack will always be the best form of defence for this Posh team. Derby didn’t play well, but they saw so much uncontested ball in the final stages it was difficult not to create chances against defenders who don’t always track runners well. Losing two goals in quick succession was a worrying throwback to last season’s ailments as well.

5) Not every defeat is because of a negative display. Posh passed the ball pretty well through the thirds on occasion and the commitment was excellent. After a spell of home pressure early in the game Posh more than matched one of the division’s big guns until those fateful final moments. This was a big step up on the two previous League One away performances and if repeated will surely put to be bed early-season alarms about away form.

6) Quite interesting that after so much discussion about their ability to perform consistently at League One level, neither Joe Taylor nor Ricky-Jade Jones made the matchday squad, although Jones was absent because of a knock. Ironically the pace of the pair might have made them better substitutions that Mason-Clark or Poku. Longer balls out of defence would at least have been pursued with the result of home defenders having something to worry about other than assisting attacks.

7) Those wondering why Posh have recruited from non-league football again to sign Mason-Clark should remember Jack Taylor and Ronnie Edwards were also found at Barnet. They should also forget that Liam Hatch also came to Posh from Underhill.