Peterborough United 2  Leeds United 0

It was a bit of a nostalgia trip back to the eighties yesterday, with the chance to watch a Leeds game from a packed terrace and enjoy some splendidly old-fashioned facilities. I’m told that the bogs were particularly primitive, the good old-fashioned piss-against-the wall type, though I managed to avoid using these particular facilities. And I loved every minute of it, none of your sanitised modern all-seater nonsense.

So it’s a shame that a promising day out was spoilt as soon as a game of football broke out on the pitch in front of us. Leeds had just once change from the starting line-up that took to the field against Hereford last week, and that was enforced when Lucas broke a finger in the pre-match warm-up and Casper had to be recalled.

Peterborough started brightly and troubled our defence with some decent passing moves, playing the ball along the ground. I thought Boyd was at the heart of everything, or maybe he was just more noticeable as he was the one with the big headband on. Casper was soon called into action to make a good save from Mackail-Smith, and Rui was nearly embarrassed as the rebound hit him, but thankfully the ball bounced just past the post.

At least we managed to make some of our own entertainment, with a few chants aimed at Peterborough boss Fergie junior, as well as “we’ve got Mc.Allister, you’ve got Chlamidia”, a reference to the testing that was going on before the game. As the half went on, it looked as though Leeds were going to start to take control, but for all our possession, we didn’t managed to create any decent chances.

Yet again, Beckford was wasted wide on the left, leaving Becchio isolated in the middle, where he was often manhandled by the Peterborough defence. The best we had to offer were a couple of long distance shots that were off target, and a free kick that Robinson chipped over the wall but straight into the hands of the keeper.

And towards half-time, the Posh carved out a few more opportunites of their own, with Casper having to make another save from Mackail-Smith, and Telfer and Rui having to scamble the ball clear after Batt had gone round Casper. We thought that Macca would get the team sorted out at half-time, but in fact Peterborough were to take the lead within 90 seconds of the re-start.

After a well-worked move down their right, the ball was crossed to an unmarked  Green beyond the far post, but the Leeds defence thought he’d handled before knocking the ball back into the six yard box, where Boyd pounced to put the home side one up. We could have gone further behind a moment later, but Casper made yet another fine save from that man Mackail-Smith, after the Peterborough man had been put clean through.

We created our best chance so far with a fierce shot from Delph from outside the box, but the keeper managed to push it away. Then Macca made his first change, with Howson being replaced by Snodgrass. Howson hadn’t had his best game for Leeds, and perhaps our midfield is a bit lightweight with the two teenagers together, and Macca probably thought we needed a bit more up front to get back into the game. I thought that with two wingers on the field we would at least get Beckford playing down the middle, but for most of the time Beckford stayed on the left while Robinson stayed in the centre. Work that one out!

Kilkenny replaced Delph for the second substitution in the 67^th. minute as Leeds continued to press for the equaliser, but for all our possession our attacks still didn’t carry as much threat as Posh’s efforts at the other end. Our crosses were generally poor and easily dealt with by Lewis in the Peterborough goal, while Beckford was having a definite off-day, looking grumpy and lazy, as well as missing whatever chances came his way.

Despite all this, we thought we’d salvaged a point eight minutes from time when Becchio had the ball in the net. The keeper could only parry Kilkenny’s deflected shot from 25 yards, and Bechhio scrambled the ball across the line after his first shot had been smothered by the keeper. But the linesman had put his flag up as soon as the Argentinian had touched the ball, as he’d been in an offside position when Kilkenny had hit the original shot.

After a couple of injuries there were four minutes added on at the end, but we failed to take advantage, and some more disorganised defending allowed Peterborough to seal their win in the 92^nd. minute. Boyd tripped over the ball twelve yards out, but somehow managed to keep possession despite the best efforts of Frazer and Rui, and there were no defenders left to take care of Mackail-Smith when Boyd eventually rolled the ball to his left. Mackail-Smith calmly side-footed the ball past Casper, to kill off the game as a contest.

So the run of four league wins came to a juddering halt, and we need to bounce back from this. The other results were fairly kind to us, but Leicester have pulled away at the top, leaving us in the middle of a clutch of chasing clubs. Maybe this was down to Peteborough finding their feet after an indifferent start to the season, and certainly they appear to be better than the average side you get at this level. But we need to find a way of beating determined opposition who are up for their ‘cup final’, starting next week against Brighton.

Photo: Action Images

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