REPORT: Peterborough United 2 Fleetwood Town 1 - late drama as Posh nick it

Trailing to Callum Camps' 55th-minute volley going into stoppage time, Jack Taylor levelled the match with a 18-yard strike after the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box.

That looked to have rescued a point for Posh, but it got even better as with just seconds remaining, Sam Szmodics hit a snapshot volley from 15 yards and although goalkeeper Alex Cairney got a hand to the ball, he couldn't keep it out.

The two efforts in stoppage time were Posh's first real efforts on target in the whole match, but Darren Ferguson won't care about that.

Posh made two changes to the team that went down 2-0 to Accrington on the opening day.

Joe Ward and Ethan Hamilton were the men to drop to the bench, with summer signing from Cheltenham Ryan Broom and Louis Reed coming into the starting line-up.

Teenager Ricky-Jade Jones took his place on the bench having recovered from the ankle injury he picked up in pre-season, while Siriki Dembele was also named among the substitutes after he missed the trip north last weekend having been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Another coronavirus victim, Reece Brown, did not make the squad.

On a sun-soaked afternoon, the Posh players were keen to get going as they came out on to the pitch a full two minutes before the Fleetwood players and match officials.

After a cagey start, with both teams enjoying spells of good possession, it was the visitors who had the first shot in anger on 16 minutes, but Christy Pym was a match for Wes Burns' effort from a tight angle on the right side of the penalty, and parried the ball away.

The visitors were carrying more attacking threat, and Nathan Thompson had to be aware to track the run of Ched Evans and smother his shot from close range.

Posh were being pegged back, with both wing-backs Broom and Dan Butler struggling to get forward as the half wore on.

On 36 minutes Posh at last carved out an opening, with Jonson Clarke-Harris combining with Thomspson, who broke from the back and slid in Sam Szmodics in space on the edge of the penalty area, but the Posh man's first touch was poor and the chance was gone.

Clarke-Harris then got his first sniff of goal, but his left-foot shot was weak and easily saved by Alex Cairns.

It was goalless at the break, and of the two managers Joey Barton will certainly have been happier with his team's performance.

Ferguson was clearly not happy and took action at half-time as he threw Dembele into the action for the second half, with Mo Eisa getting the hook.

There was more urgency about both sides' play early in the second half, with the tempo rising markedly.

Fleetwood broke the deadlock on 55 minutes, and it was a poor one defensively for Posh.

A deep corner from the left by Josh Morris found its way to Camps, who was unmarked at the far post, and he volleyed past Pym and into the bottom corner.

Posh tried to hit back, and Frankie Kent was a whisker away from equalising on 63 minutes, but his header from a corner went the wrong side of the post.

On a hot day, the temperature continued to increase on the pitch, and a few hefty challenges were being put in by both sides.

Posh started to enjoy a bit more pressure without creating any clear chances, with Fleetwood happy to hold on to what they had.

The game got more and more niggly as time wore on, with Posh struggling to get any sort of threat into their attacking game.

With 10 minutes onb the clock, Reed's long-range strike was deflected just over the top, and on 85 minutes there was a half chance for Clarke-Harris, but he couldn't get any power into his right foot shot and it was easy for Cairns low to his left.

Then, with the 90 minutes up, Fleetwood thought they had dealt with a cross into the box from Dan Butler, but Johnson-Clarke nodded the ball to Taylor on the edge of the area and he hammered it home, the ball flying past a motionless Cairey and into the net.

Posh were at that point celebrating rescuing a point, but it got even better in the dying seconds as, following a sustained spell of pressure in the Fleetwood penalty area, the ball fell to Szmodics and his volley squeezed past Cairney to make it 2-1 and seal all three points.

Match facts

Peterborough United: Pym, Butler, Thompson (78m, Mason), Beevers, Kent, Eisa (46m, Dembele), Taylor, Clarke-Harris, Broom (58m, Ward) , Reed, Szmodics. Substitutes not used: Gyollai, Burrows, Jones, Hamilton.

Fleetwood Town: Cairns, Andrew, Whelan, Burns, Duffy (60m Madden), Evans (88m. Saunders), Camps, Morris, Coutts (74m, Matete), Stubbs, Hill. Substitutes: Leutwiler, Boyes, Garner, Holgate,

Bookings: Posh - 48 mins: Kent (foul); 63 mins: Thompson (foul)

Goals: Posh: 90+1 mins - Taylor, 90+5 mins - Szmodics. Fleetwood - 55 mins: Camps