Peterborough United 1 Stockport County 1 ( Football League 1) Saturday 18 April 2025

 

 

County battled their way to what may turn out to be a vital point in the promotion race they are engaged in currently.

By no stretch of anyone`s  imagination could the game be described as a classic, indeed from the off proceedings were severely  scarred by a surfeit of theatricals as Darren Ferguson`s boys went to ground as a matter of routine .

A strong Referee might have coped better and allowed a proper match to ensue but ,sadly, today`s custodian of the ritual whistle Mr Chris Breakspear  was anything but- buying the prolonged repeated Posh theatricals wholesale , totally mullering any plan on County`s part to impose themselves on their opponents- constantly having their rhythm disrupted as another white shirted  Hatter went into the Referee`s book.

It was a sad exhibition  of all that`s bad about football and the officials in charge of same.

The upshot of all this must have looked very much cut and dried to Posh supporters as the teams went in at half time because the home side had taken the lead on 43 minutes – a poor goal to concede from County`s view point , having come directly from a County corner.

For all the reasons previously mentioned above, County`s game was not of its best in the first 45 minutes , but the re-start and a couple of personnel changes injected new life in the County effort as well as fresh legs.

But, despite an almighty effort , the dark arts  of County`s opponents looked about to triumph as the game went into 6 minutes added time- enter Jack Diamond and another  stunning goal squared the circle for County,

It remains to be seen just how vital this point and Diamonds goal are in the larger picture, but from my seat on the Flyer heading down the A1 both look like pure gold!

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Jed Steer in the home goal was a busy boy in the opening minutes – keeping Tanto from reaching Diamond`s through ball one moment…..claiming the ball under pressure from Tanto as a cross by Touray headed his way the next.

Posh eventually sought to reply, but Motherskille`s cross    flew straight out of play to the disappointment of the locals.

Over 10 minutes delay followed as Archie Collins received treatment for an injury prior to being replaced by Ryan De Havilland , having to leave the field on a stretcher.

Straight from the re-start County won a corner  , but we saw for the first time  how County needed to improve with their set pieces- Norwood`s kick nestling comfortably in keeper Steer`s arms.

We then saw the hugely negative element in Posh`s game next as Jones successfully duped Mr Breakspear into giving his side a free kick on the edge of the box.

It was well placed and a notional chance , but Mills` kick was poor enabling Touray to clear with little difficulty.

The long delay had adversely affected County’s game, whereas Posh were seemingly getting livelier and livelier as the minutes passed -Kwame Poku looking the part with a tasty run down the right , where space opened up before him as he surged through the Blue`s cover.

Poku`s work won a corner, but again this offered more in the way of promise than actual finished product- County able to clear their lines without undue alarm.

We were now beyond halfway in the first half and already I saw myself scribbling ` we`ll get little from this ref today` on the back of a raft of poor decisions from the official.

From 30 minutes onward , County at last began to get back into the game- Steers doing well for Posh to keep Diamond from a Hills lob in the box………Norwood unable to pick Wootton out in the box with his free kick- the sequence ending with a searing run from Diamond , but having thoroughly stretched the home back line, the final ball on the end of it flew out.

Posh replied but Addai had no difficulty in keeping Jones` shot out  , and it was not long before County came back at their opponents again via Diamond- the move fizzled out but indicated a need to put United under consistent pressure.

For a moment or so I thought we might be about to do this as a pass from Norwood to Tanto won County a corner and a volley of encouragement from the large County following under the Kings Power Solutions Stand roof .

But…..and if I`d thought about it for more than the proverbial nano second I would have realised that sometimes (in fact  by tradition often in County`s case)the moments of greatest danger to ones self comes when you are committing all to attacking and that`s what looked to be how it was as the ball drifted out of the box following the corner to where Jones lurked just inside the Posh half.

He was away and having shrugged off the attentions of Ethan Pye on halfway  made  short work of beating Addai thus giving Posh a lead they would hold onto through 11 minutes of added time- 11 minutes simply littered with theatricals from Posh as Mills went down and stayed down multiple times with County pressing- winning free kicks for our opponents and thoroughly disrupting the progress of DC`s team.

At the other end of the park there was Fernandez, and his ritual collapse sought out a penalty , but even Mr B would not buy that one, so the Posh lead remained at 1-0 as the teams went in at half time.

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Jay Mingi and Jayden Fevrier were on for County in place of Horsfall and Bailey when the game re-started after the break with County attacking- Norwood and Tanto seeing shots saved by Steer.

For 10 minutes County piled the pressure on the home side with Fevrier and Diamond to the fore- a real chance emerging on 52 minutes with a free kick following a foul on Diamond. The kick was scoreable-on the edge of the box and nicely central but having eyed the chance gleefully Norwood then lifted a disappointing effort over the bar.

Fernandez then emphasised his value to his team with 2 neat pieces of work- firstly to block a dangerous run by Tanto….and then heading just over from a Posh corner.

We were beyond the hour mark now and wincing as Hayes and Kyprianous ran through their repertoire of dubious vaudevillian stunts.

Having pointed a finger Posh`s way , I feel  bound to say that the sight of Collar going down somewhat `optimistically ` in the box next looked an outside bet at best and it was no surprise when Mr B did not oblige County`s number 14.

Mostly though County held the upper hand although a goal continued to remain elusive.

As the game raced towards its end, so DC continued to shuffle his pack- Tanto disappointed to be replaced by Andresson …Touray swapped for Moxon  with just 7 minutes of normal time remaining to play.

It began to look like County`s huge effort would be unsuccessful as time eventually ran out, and we were into the first minute of added time before this down beat outlook took a royal beating….

It started with a late County free kick – Posh had 11 twixt the ball and their goal and somehow managed to keep County`s initial thrust out. But eventually the ball reached Diamond who was stationed just outside the box .

Jack`s thirst for a goal took over and in very little time at all he had fired the trigger and leathered the ball low and hard beyond Steers best efforts to thwart him, into the net.

The large County following let rip saluting the County team , very soon urging them on to ever more efforts to make 1 point into 3!

I certainly thought the moment was upon us a couple of minutes later when , with the sound of almost 1500 County voices in his ears Andresson burst clear from halfway – only for his progress to be halted abruptly by a crude assault from Oscar Wallin.

Wallin got a yellow which hardly seemed to cover the situation – the foul certainly scuppered County- the subsequent free kick coming to nothing with the home defence then back and assembled in numbers they just weren`t able to muster when Andresson broke clear!

The remainder of the game  presented a severe challenge with Posh upping the dark arts and Mr B rewarding them richly with a raft of free kicks that set them up nicely to threaten County.

 

County defended heroically midst all this nonsense, but I could not   stop myself wondering if Mr B would up and emulate the referee in Jack Rosenthall`s `Another Saturday and Sweet FA` by heading one of Posh`s set pieces home.

Eventually the game ended , County `s effort had not been fully rewarded but to some extent Posh`s tactics  had been to some degree thwarted.

We go to Edgeley Park on Monday and a visit from Huddersfield Town- hoping for a game a whole lot better than the one we had watched today.

Peterborough United line up :-

 Steer, Collins (De Havilland 14), Wallin, Mothersille ( Hayes 59/ Lindgren 69), Odoh, Poku, Jones, Kyprianou, Dornelly ( Johnston69), Mills, Fernandez.

Subs unused : Bilokapic, Nevett, Conn-Clarke. 

Stockport Countyline up :- 

Addai, Touray ( Moxon 84), Horsfall (Mingi 46), Diamond, Olaofe ( Andresson 74), Collar, Pye, Wootton, Norwood, Bailey ( Fevrier 46) Hills.

Subs unused : Wogan, Connolly, Cosgrove.

Attendance: 11241 ( 1473)

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