Scunthorpe United v Peterborough United

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Football League Championship

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Williams, Milne (Canavan 90), Mirfin, A.Wright, Togwell, Sparrow (O'Connor 75), McCann, Thompson, Woolford (McDermott 53), Hayes.
Subs not used:
Lillis, McNulty, Forte, May.

Peterborough United :
Lewis, Zakuani, Little (Simpson 26), Geohaghan, Lee, Frecklington, Rowe, Whelpdale, Torres (Green 61), Mackail-Smith, Reid (Day 46).
Subs not used:
McKeown, Griffiths, Crook, Korentang.

SULSESC REPORT

by Peterborough Evening Telegraph at Glanford Park

IN a complete role reversal from Saturday, the Posh team bus turned up, but the players didn't.

For the first time under Jim Gannon, Posh looked like a bottom-of- the-table side.

Gannon is not the sort of man to make a knee-jerk reaction on his future based on one performance, but if he was, he'd have left at 9.45pm last night.

Scunthorpe, the only club smaller than Posh in this division, were outstanding, but they probably couldn't believe how tame the opposition were.

The home side played with great determination and sprayed the ball about positively. Posh were never allowed to settle on the ball despite using three different formations in the first half alone and as a result were under constant pressure.

Lee Frecklington (and it's a comment on how things have changed at the club in the last eight months that he has gone from a fringe player to a key player) lost the ball to gift Paul Hayes the opener in the 15th minute, Garry Thompson burst through a huge gap in the centre of the Posh defence to make it 2-0 on 27 minutes and Sam Togwell hammered home from 25 yards a minute before the break.

And 3-0 at the interval flattered Posh. Lewis had to win one-on-one duels with Hayes and Thompson to keep the score down, while at the other end it was anyone's guess who touched the ball the least between Craig Mackail-Smith and home keeper Joe Murphy.

Mackail-Smith started up front on his own, was then joined by Reuben Reid and at half-time Reid went off and Exodus Geohaghon was sent up front. A more blatant act of desperation it's hard to imagine.

The second-half scoreline suggested it worked although that had more to do with Scunthorpe easing off in readiness for their tougher battles ahead.

Hayes played Thompson through for a fourth goal midway through the half and Scunthorpe were refused an obvious penalty when Chris Whelpdale barged Thompson in the back. Thompson also missed an absolute sitter from inside the six-yard box in the final minute, but Posh generally enjoyed a similar amount of possession.

But it still took Posh 80 minutes to force Murphy into action for the first time, a poor effort considering Scunthorpe boast statistically the worst defence in the division, and the keeper responded with a brilliant save from Mackail-Smith's header following Tommy Rowe's cross.

To be fair Posh have usually been competitive despite losing on a regular basis. Before last night they had not lost by more than two goals in a Championship match this season, so this was a sobering evening.

There are mitigating circumstances of course. Injuries have bitten hard into a squad that has always lacked depth.

Posh even lost Mark Little in the first half of this game and from then on Gaby Zakuani was fighting a losing battle to keep the impressive Hayes and Thompson at bay.

Quite the best Posh performers on the night were the 333 fans who made the journey, the ones that didn't leave with 20 minutes to go at least.

They danced a conga in the rain and sang self-depracting songs. It's best to keep a sense humour on nights like this.