TALKING POINTS: Welcome harmony at London Road, a predatory striker, speed kills and a glimmer of hope

Whatever you opinion on the recent, frankly tedious and at times embarrassing, back and forth between people on the inside and outside of London Road operations, we can surely all agree a successful side will cheer everyone up and hostilities will cease.

Posh are far from that point just now. They remain just an injury to Harry Leonard and the failure to bolster central defensive areas from a serious struggle to survive in League One, but the form has been so poor a glimmer of hope will satisfy many for now. That arrived yesterday with a 2-1 victory over Mansfield Town at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday, one that was only confirmed late into the game, but was well deserved all the same.

MATCH TALKING POINTS…...

1) Leonard’s 16 goals in 35 League One starts last season was a fine effort in a poor Posh season. Posh will doubtless rely on him for the majority of their goals again this term so the good news is he looks sharp and strong and his predatory instincts are intact. Leonard didn’t panic when failing to convert his injury-time scoring opportunity at the first attempt yesterday. He didn’t thrash at the rebound, he merely guided the ball past a beaten goalkeeper. Feed Harry and he will score will be a truism this season, but getting a rest into him every now and again will be crucial. His most natural understudy David Kamara wasn’t in the Posh matchday squad yesterday which presumably means the powers that be are scouting for alternatives elsewhere.

2) Pace terrifies defenders and Posh have plenty of it despite the departure of Kyrell Lisbie. Whether or not Owura Edwards, Vernon Masara and Bolu Shofowoke can deliver an end product as often as Lisbie remains to be seen, but nothing terrifies defenders more than sheer speed. Edwards was excellent in his 70 minutes on the pitch and Shofowoke’s burst of pace between defenders to set up the winning goal for Leonard will have made League One full-backs sit-up, take notice and plan to stop him before he gets into his stride. Shofowoke is not 18 until the middle of October. His potential is scary.

3) It took a while for Posh to get going yesterday, but from the final 10 minutes of the first-half until the final whistle they were impressive. They passed the ball quickly and mostly accurately, but also showed great patience. They responded to the shock of conceding a poor goal by staying positive and calm and they received their rewards at the death. A key cog in the performance was new midfielder Liam Kelly who was busy and effective, not unlike Archie Collins. The athletic energy of Brandon Khela and the power of Ben Woods complemented Kelly perfectly. Chris Conn-Clarke also played his part after a late arrival off the substitutes bench. The ability to create scoring chances through vision and a killer pass is still a concern, but they could wear teams down with their speed and energy.

4) The chairman’s light roasting of young-ish full-backs James Dornelly and Harley Mills on a now infamous edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast last week was rather lost amongst the general mayhem, but he had a point which was rather backed up by the performance of Carl Johnston in particular yesterday. Johnston offers far more attacking menace, defensive strength, natural pace and knowhow than James Dornelly and he shouldn’t now move from the right-back slot. Versatility can be a curse in a professional footballer, while players put in the right positions is an obvious blessing. Evan Weir’s superiority to Mills is less obvious, but that was also a change that eventually paid off after a tricky first-half for the summer signing.

5) George Nevett lost his way in the second-half yesterday, but as it was his first start since February 14 he understandably tired. He also occupied a right central defensive position which he won’t have done many times before. His first-half display was excellent in the circumstances, although the lack of pace in the Mansfield team helped him.