City of Peterborough outclassed by Southgate after a bright start

Southgate, who have never finished lower than third in this division, arrived on the back of a five-game unbeaten run, but the scale and manner of an 8-1 defeat for City left a lot to be desired.

City started brightly enough, having the better of the early play, creating a number of chances and taking the lead through a Joe Finding penalty corner in the 10th minute. However, this was as good as it got, as Southgate replied through a field goal only two minutes later, and rushed into a 3-1 lead with two further field goals in the 15th and 18th minutes.

For the rest of the half City were competitive without being at their best, but failed to reduce the deficit.

The second half remained fairly balanced for the first 15 minutes. City battled gamely, but Southgate eventually scored in the 50th minute, and converted four further strikes within the closing 15 minutes of the game, assisted by poor City discipline meaning that for much of the second half they played with only 10 players.

Finding and Nathan Foad were among those sent to the sin bin.

The measure of Southgate’s domination was a man-of-the-match award for City goalkeeper Cam Goodey.