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July update: The pre-season Hokey-Cokey In: Russell (Doc) Martin Out: Newton Shaking it all about: Aaron McLean v DMac Doing the Hokey Cokey: The early kick-offs v Leeds, Le*cester and Millwall Is 21 players enough for the first team squad? Who should replace McLean if/when he goes which has gone? From the hopeful (Freddy Eastwood) to the hopeless (Leon Knight) and all stops inbetween Posh v Brizzie Rovers is live on Sky – 6th Sept Loads of Man United fans have bought tickets to see their team play at London Road – or maybe they just want to see England's third choice keeper in action... Pre-seasons, like the police seem to be getting shorter with every passing year... Special guest editor: millhouse
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26th April 2008 - Grimsby Town 1 Posh 4 The League Two Championship might well have gone to MK but that didn't stop Posh turning on the style against a very poor Grimsby side to conclude their travels for this season. Posh's share of the possession was so great that the rare moments in which The Mariners had the ball seemed a bit like the guest getting a word in edgeways during a Jonathan Ross interview. Posh took the lead on 32 minutes when Aaron McLean neatly finished from a low Tom Williams cross and shortly after half time, McLean made it 29 league goals for the season with a half volley from a superb Craig Mackail-Smith pass. Grimsby capitalised on a poor back-header from Dean Keates to pull one back through Martin Butler but it wasn't long before Posh restored their two goal advantage. McLean turned provider for Mackail-Smith who smashed the ball beneath Phil Barnes for his 19th goal of the campaign. But the fun wasn't over - a swift break on the left led to George Boyd playing Williams through with the freedom of Cleethorpes on the wing and his deft cross was controlled and volleyed home by substitute Scott Rendell for arguably the pick of the four flowing goals, one of which was Posh's 100th of the season even if I couldn't tell you which one. The game concluded with a pitch invasion and word has reached us that Peterborough United Football Club will not tolerate similar next Saturday (3rd May) at London Road after the Darlington match. The club are expected to make an announcement very shortly about what will happen (or maybe more to the point, won't happen) in the event of unauthorised entry to the pitch and we at posh.net wholly endorse them in what they will set out in the media. It's been a fantastic season. Let's not tarnish it at the last gasp. mylo 19th April 2008 - Hereford 0 Posh 1 POSH WIN PROMOTION TO LEAGUE ONE It was a long time coming, but we got there in the end. Dean Keates headed in the crucial goal to send Posh up in Darren ferguson's first full season at the helm. Praise and credit must go not only to Darren and the players, but also to Darragh Macanthony for bringing the good times back to London Road after such a drought. Obviously posh.net is going to be very busy over the next 48 hours, so we apologise in advance is our server buckles under the weight of it all and falls over. Now go out and get yourselves very, very drunk. We'll see you all at London Road on May 3 for the promotion party - and maybe even have a celebratory posh.net drink in Charters. We'll also be at Ebeneezers before the match to collect any prizes pledged in our Fantasy League competition. TMitC
12th April 2008 - Posh 0 Stockport County 1 Well, something had to give in the end. After being denied a crucial win at Wycombe last week with a dubious penalty, Posh last their first match in 18 against Stockport, who in all honesty look a good bet to snatch an automatic promotion place or go up through the play-offs (assuming they don't bottle them as they have done before). A mega-tight first half in which Stockport outnumbered Posh in midfield led to a more adventurous approach from Posh early in the second half but Stockport kept catching Posh on the break, particularly Chris Westwood. Jason Taylor squandered a cast-iron opening for the visitors before an unsavoury incident with Aaron McLean in which the Posh man can count himself lucky that the officials didn't really see his lunge. Tommy Rowe made no mistake on 59 minutes when he received a pass from just inside the penalty area and stroked the ball past Adam Newton, who didn't exactly throw himself into a last ditch block, and the unsighted Joe Lewis. Posh lost their composure and resorted too often to Route One despite the occasional flash of inspiration on the deck from George Boyd. Charlie Lee, Craig Morgan and Chris Whelpdale all threatened with headers that either hit the bar or just went over and former Cambridge United keeper John Ruddy was forced into a couple of saves which he may have showboated slightly. So the chance to both guarantee promotion and set a new club record unbeaten run was spurned but it should be pointed out that Stockport played as well as anybody who has visited London Road this season. Four points are now required to guarantee promotion - unless Stockport drop points in their final four fixtures. So it's looking like any promotion parties may have to wait at least until we've played Grimsby on the 26th. Chicken counting beforehand will be frowned upon. mylo 29th March 2008 - Posh 4 Lincoln City 0 In front of over 8000 fans, Posh totally dominated an entertaining match in which the final score flattered the visitors. Aaron McLean and Scott Rendell both grabbed braces and both could have had hat tricks along with George Boyd as Lincoln were overwhelmed whilst visiting substitute midfielder Lee Frecklington was reminded of his remarks about moving to Posh being a 'sideways move'. To a man Posh played very well but the returning Adam Newton deserves particular praise for a great display both in defence and further up the pitch. More of the same and he won't be out of favour for much longer. The win returns Posh to the top of League 2 with MK Dons playing Grimsby in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final on Sunday 30th March. Elsewhwere, Bradford City overturned a half-time deficit at Darlington to win 3-1. It really is now only a matter of time before Posh's promotion is confirmed. It might be best to go to as many games as you can between now and the end of the season in order to savour the moment when it happens. It's what I'll be doing. mylo 22nd March 2008 - Still unbeaten... Sorry for the lack of updates, only mylo was on holiday and I'm an idle sod. Anyways, as you know, since the last update Posh have won at Brentford, drawn a blank against Notts County and tied 1-1 at MK Dons. Still, that's a heck of an unbeaten run - and the teams below us seems to be doing us a few favours. Seven games to play, 21 points up for grabs, we're five points clear of third placed Hereford, who have a game in hand. It's still tight, but Posh are showing all the signs of a team destined for promotion. Easter Saturday saw the annual open day at Posh, and the launch of next season's new kits and season tickets. Hundred of hardy souls queued up in the hail, snow, rain and wind to get their hands on a season ticket. Didn't anyone tell them they've got until May 4 to get one at the discounted rate? TMitC 8th March 2008 - Dagenham & Redbridge 2 Posh 3 Not even two late goals from the combined might of Dagenham & Redbridge could prevent Posh extending their winning streak to seven matches and creating a new club record of six consecutive away wins whilst confirming their top-of-the-league status. The first half wasn't much to write about so I won't but Posh stepped it up as they played into the wind in the second half and flowing moves saw George Boyd notch his fourteenth goal of the season and Craig Mackail-Smith tap home his seventeenth to end a personal barren run. Mackail-Smith almost scored again moments later with a finish that crawled towards the goal line but Dagenham pulled a goal back from a dubious penalty. Aaron McLean then put the result beyond doubt with his twenty-eighth goal of this campaign but there was just enough time for Redbridge to score their first goal of the match when a player who may have started the match for Dagenham raced through and kneed in his deflected shot off Joe Lewis. Both sets of home supporters must have gone away knowing that their teams weren't quite worthy of a one goal deficit but nevertheless, their players have highlighted a need for Posh to concentrate for the full duration, regardless of how far ahead they are or think they should be. Next up Brentford. There will be many Beer Expresses leaving Peterborough Station on Tuesday afternoon. mylo 4th March - Barnet 0 Posh 2 Say we are top of the league, say we are top of the league! Goals from Dean Keates and lookylikey Jamie Day gave Posh a deserved 2-0 win at Underhill, on the back of a scrappy 1-0 home win against Bury. Six wins in a row, seven clean sheets out of the last eight games - and players other than the fabulous threesome chiping in with goals - and Posh move to the top of League Two. All this and there has been some positive talk about a new stadium, some tasteful new kit colours, and a player of the month award for Joe Lewis. Excuse us if we get a little bit excited... Don't forget, you can join in the recording of the Free Kicks Foundation's charity version of Posh We Are next Thursday (March 13) at the Voyager School. Click here for details . TMitC 26th February - Wrexham 0 Posh 2 Posh made it four league wins in a row for the first time since Eldorado was on telly on a day in which they climbed to second place and exorcised the demons of the corresponding bruising fixture at London Road earlier this month. Two second half free kicks from the returning Jamie Day secured Posh the points to make the five day stay in Cheshire money very well spent. Elsewhere on this day, Dagenham and Redbridge did us the greatest of favours by beating Hereford. Sometimes you can't help but have the luck go your way and today was one such day for Posh. Look, that's the only Day pun you are getting from me so you punophiles will have to wait another day for Swanny's efforts. mylo 23rd February - Macclesfield 0 Posh 3 Second half goals from Gorgeous Georgie Boyd, Chris 'Whelpers' Whelpdale and Aaron 'Alan' McLean were enough to see off relegation-battlers Macclesfield at Moss Rose. New signing Scott Rendell made his debt as a sub and, by all accounts, looked lively. The win puts Posh four points behind faltering leaders MK Dons, in fourth place, five points ahead of Rotherham in fifth, and an comfortable-sounding 11 points clear of the non-pay-off positions. That's 19 points from the last 21 available – and if that's not promotion form then I don't know what is. Next up, Wrexham on Tuesday night – wouldn't it be nice if Joe Lewis got some sweet revenge over Brian Little's brick out-house thug XI? TMitC 16th February - Posh 1 Barnet 0 Posh made it sixteen points from the last eighteen with a ground-out win which owed everything to the 'something different' offered by substitute and former Barnet striker Liam Hatch. Before his introduction, Posh had failed to create anymore than a handful of clear-cut chances from their superior possession. In the first half Craig Mackail-Smith did the hard work to get one-on-one with the Barnet 'keeper Rob Beckwith but applied no more than a toe-nail to the ball with the goal at his mercy and early in the second half, Beckwith saved impressively from a Dean Keates header at his right hand post. So on came Hatch and off went Barnet's composure. They really did not fancy facing their former team mate and he played to their expectations with some meaty challenges whilst receiving a few himself. But the big fellow is not just about leading with his arm or his large transfer fee. He has a bit of skill on the deck which he displayed on 73 minutes when receiving the ball at the half way line, turning his marker, laying it off for a one-two with Aaron McLean, shooting from 25 yards and celebrating gleefully after the ball deflected off a defender and over Beckwith. The Football League's Elite Think Tank For Denying Goal Bonuses (next pod up from the miserable sods on the Pools Panel) may yet decree that it was an own goal but they cannot take it away from the final score. The win keeps Posh in fourth but level on points and matches played with third-place Darlington, who surprisingly lost to Mansfield. It really is shaping up to be an exciting end to the season. mylo 13th February - Chesterfield 1 Posh 2 Posh clung on despite a late Chesterfield goal, a later sending off and an even later penalty to claim a priceless win at Saltergate this evening. Right at the end of a tight first half, Aaron McLean capitalised on a Barry Roche spill to register his 26th goal of the season. Within a minute of the restart, George Boyd doubled Posh's advantage with a volley from a Craig Mackail-Smith cross. It was end-to-end stuff until the 87th minute when Peter Leven headed home substitute Steve Fletchers' flick from a corner. Posh threw on rarely-seen substitutes Liam Hatch and Tommy 'Boomerang' Williams at the start of stoppage time and within three minutes, the Boomerang came back to the bench after a rash challenge on hot-shot Jack Lester to concede a last-gasp penalty. Joe Lewis showed no ill-effects from his weekend battering with a superb save from Leven's spot kick and he was on hand to catch a couple of high crosses as the Spireites fought hard (but fairly, Wrexham) for a point. The win lifts Posh to fourth on 56 points, two points behind third place Hereford. With fixtures still to play against the top three teams, Posh's promotion destiny is firmly in their hands as we enter the final third of the season. mylo
9th February - Posh 0 Wrexham 0 No goals, but plenty of incident. The visit of in-form Wrexham was always going to be a tough game, and credit must go to Brian Little for forming a decent side despite it containing such names as Phil Bolland, Drewe Broughton and Danny Sonner – who now earns a bit of cash on the side as a Marti Pellow impersonator. Wrexham came to London Road to stop us playing by any means possible – and they were helped in their cause by a referee who bottled it when it came to making big decisions - well, apart from an injury time Posh goal disallowed for a shove by Craig Morgan. The big story of the day though was a painful looking injury to Joe Lewis, who has a suspected broken jaw after being pole-axed twice in quick succession. The gangly keeper had already been walloped by Claude Gnakpa before Wrexham's Steve Evans – determined to be just as loathed as his bloated namesake – caught him with a vicious elbow. The injury led to a lengthy spell of treatment and brought an end to Lewis's match. He was stretchered off, but not before being attended to by a doctor who was on his way to a fancy dress party as a 1970s travelling salesman. From there the ref completely lost the plot - issuing a yellow to Evans and just two yellow cards – to captain Chris Westwood and Broughton – following a 20-man melee. This leniency gave Wrexham a licence to push, hack, elbow and generally be unpleasant for the rest of the game. There still have to be concerns about the lack of depth to our squad – with a bench that hardly inspires confidence. And three questions are bugging me: 1. Why did we buy Liam Hatch if he's just going to sit on the bench? 2. Why does Darren keep bringing on Scott Mitchell rather than a more attacking player? 3. Is Joe Lewis actually that good? Still, a clean sheet's a clean sheet and hopefully some good will come of it and the referee will be struck off for being about as competent as an Anglia TV presenter. TMitC 2nd February - Rochdale 0 Posh 2 Posh brushed aside narrowly-held misgivings about their lack of deadline day signings with a second win of the week against another of the division's form teams. After a goalless first half, George Boyd opened the scoring with an absolute pearler from almost 30 yards and later provided the deft pass which put Aaron McLean clear for Posh's second. Who said that we can only perform with Micah Hyde in the line-up? The six points lift POsh to fourth and point off the automatic promotion places with a game in hand. Wrexham visit London Road next Saturday. Before we get carried away with thoughts about four wins in a row, bear in mind the struggling Robins impressively turned over Darlington. This can only be a good thing for our promotion push, of course, but it suggests they might be in better shape than when we mullahed them in the FA Cup in November. mylo 29th January - Posh 3 Rotherham 1 What was the panic all about? Can anyone remember? We scored eight, count 'em, eight goals in our last league match yet many fans are still getting a bit twitchy. It's probably understandable given the last 10 years, but another fine win at a drizzly London Road sees Posh up to fourth place, nine points behind 'uncatchable' leaders MK Dons and with two games in hand. The 3-1 victory over fellow promotion hopefuls Rotherham was by no means a walkover – and that elusive clean sheet for Joe Lewis remains elusive – but you can't argue with three goals and another three points. Charlie Lee got the first, rattling a low drive in off the bottom of the post, Aaron McLean made it two with an inch perfect drive into 57-year-old visiting goalkeeper Warrington's bottom left hand corner and Craig Mackail-Smith wrapped it up with a close-range finish following good work from Dean Keates. A matter of seconds before CMS's goal, Rotherham had pulled one back, but we never panicked. Did we? Keates put in a good performance as a substitute for Micah Hyde, who was withdrawn very early on, still feeling the effects of the injury that kept him out of the FA Cup game against West Brom. But we don't want to talk about that. The fitness of Hyde and fresh injuries to in-form Chris Whelpdale and sturdy lad Kieran Charnock must surely have Ferguson looking for back-up before the transfer window closes – especially as he was forced to field hen-pecked Tommy Williams as an emergency centre back – but the return of Chris Westwood, who put in a man of the match performance, is very encouraging. TMitC 17th January - Mark Tyler loaned out to Hull City Well, the rumours were true. Mark Tyler has taken the plunge and gone on loan to Hull City of The Championship for a month, with a view to a permanent transfer, which would have to happen in two weeks time at the latest because of this transfer window malarkey. If he does sign for The Tigers permanently - and as it stands we have no reason to think he won't - we will publish a tribute to a very fine and loyal club servant, one of the best that Posh have ever had. In the meantime, we at posh.net wish Mark all the best at the KC Stadium. mylo 15th January - Posh 8 (eight!) Accrington Stanley 2 Well, if we were expecting a reaction to Saturday's debacle, we sure got one. Before the ET get the chance to say it, posh.net can confirm that it rained goals and err.. rain at London Road in the sort of match that only comes around once every few years, or every couple of months if you are a Posh fans. I couldn't keep up with all the goals thanks to the modern day distraction which is texting people who aren't at the match, but DorsetPosh certainly did with his texts. Here is his summary of the ten goals. It certainly jogged my memory! 1st
Half And who could possibly disagree with him? Full credit to the ground staff for providing a pitch which withstood ninety minutes of heavy rain and Posh in rampant form. mylo
12th January - Posh 0 Macclesfield 1 Not that many people would have been too surprised that Posh went in 1-0 down after a poor first half performance, but instead of the accustomed spirited fight back, the score stayed the same and the boos rang out. Record signing Joe Lewis had two saves to make - one he tipped over and one ballooned over him to seal the three points for the visitors. Hopefully we can just put it down to a bad day at the office. CMS (who was subbed at half time), Boyd and McLean all seemed off the pace, with only Charlie Lee and Tommy Williams really putting in anything close to a decent performance. Macclesfield came to play for a point and ended up with all three. They stuck men behind the ball and always had a man handy to block every shot or scrape it off the line. Posh couldn't even make the extra man count - opposition striker Gareth Evans having been sent off early in the second half for a blatant elbow into the ribcage of Lewis. Tuesday night brings Accrington to London Road - for everyone's sake, we'd better get a win. TMitC 5th January - FA Cup 3rd Round. Colchester United 1 Posh 3 Posh romped through to the fourth round with a very impressive victory against Championship strugglers Colchester United. It only took four minutes for Posh to strike through an Aaron McLean header from a corner and a further three goals for the supposed underdogs in the first half wouldn't have flattered them. However, as the interval neared, the referee seized on the opportunity to redress the balance with a rather controversial penalty which Teddy Sheringham tucked away. Within seconds of the restart, Posh restored their lead thanks to George Boyd volleying home a Chris Whelpdale cross. The match continued in an end-to-end fashion, but mostly with Posh taking it from their end to Colchester's end and on 76 minutes, the newly-shaven Charles Lee celebrated his 21st birthday with a headed goal that confirmed Posh's presence in Monday's fourth round draw. Fengate Power Station are expecting a bit of a surge in demand when the BBC start their broadcast at 1.30pm. mylo 1st January 2008 - Posh 2 Shrewsbury Town 1 Posh doubled their points tally for the festive programme with a win at London Road after falling behind for the fifth time in six matches. Posh's possession in the first half failed to produce chances and it seemed almost inevitable that Shrewsbury would score with their first attempt on goal, courtesy of Andy Cooke on 27 minutes. Half time arrived, triggering boos from the Posh faithful and presumably an almighty rollicking from the increasingly beleaguered Darren Ferguson. Whatever he said did the trick because Posh spent the first twenty minutes of the second period penning The Shrews further and further back towards the London Road End goal and when the ball broke to Charlie Lee from a poorly taken Craig Morgan free kick on the half way line, the young midfielder ran straight towards the penalty area and smacked the ball home. Barely two minutes later on 57 minutes, Lee headed a Jamie Day corner down to Morgan and the hirsute defender netted with a close range volley. Shrewsbury almost clawed a goal back when Steven Leslie was allowed as much time and space as he wanted to run into Posh's penalty area but Mark Tyler reacted smartly to keep out a deflected header. Posh grafted numerous openings in the latter stages and but for a bit more vision from Aaron McLean and George Boyd when snatching at their chances, the scoreline would have been more in fitting with the comfortable win that this eventually became. Liam Hatch came on for a cameo substitute appearance to make his Posh debut and it would seem that he could be as remarkable a player as his £150k fee suggests. Whether or not the remarks will be favourable will owe everything to the success of his somewhat idiosyncratic playing style. Tommy 'Boomerang' Williams didn't resume his Posh career for the third time today, but looks a certainty to start at Colchester in the FA Cup, what with Jamie Day being suspended after receiving his fifth caution of the season. The win lifts Posh to fifth place and mitigates a lot of the gloom which invariably falls on London Road at this time of the year. Happy New Year from all of us at posh.net. mylo 29 December 2007 - Merry Bloody Christmas Just when it looked like Posh would get over the MK Dons defeat and continue their charge towards promotion, along came Christmas and ballsed everything up. Darren Ferguson had given the players Christmas Day off and they repaid his festive goodwill by rolling over like mylo after six pints of brandy butter at Mansfield and Morecambe - the latter after having been 2-0 up (headers from Craig Morgan and Charlie Lee) and playing against 10 men. New Year's Day brings Shrewsbury to London Road and - if the reaction on our forums is anything to go by, Ferguson had better hope his players get off to a good start - and keep it up - if he doesn't want to start 2008 on the wrong end of a barrage of abuse. TMitC 22 December 2007 - Posh 2 Bradford City 1 Well, we all wanted to see how Posh would react to a disheartening defeat to MK Dons last week - and after 45 minutes of this match, it looked like 2008 might be a long, frustrating year. But Darren Ferguson must have picked up some of his dad's 'hairdryer' skills, because Posh came out like a different team in the second half, exploiting Craig Mackail-Smith's pace and encouraging full-backs Jamie Day and the recalled Adam Newton to get forward and test their Bradford counterparts. The pressure paid off as Aaron McLean showed the goal poaching instincts that have captured the interest of Charlton Athletic, pouncing on a ball spilt by Donovan Ricketts to cancel out Kyle Nix's first half opener. Bradford's 10th minute goal had exposed Posh's weakness from set-pieces, as Nix was left unmarked from a free kick to head into the top corner. But the leveller stirred the Posh fans and the players reacted, eventually nabbing the win courtesy of a deflected shot from Craig Morgan, which the impressive Jeff Hughes claimed. Not a pretty match, especially in the first half, but a crucial three points, which lift Posh into second in the table going into the all-important Christmas period. And let's just remind ourselves of Bradford manager Stuart McCall's finest hour. TMitC 15 December 2007 - Posh 1 MK Dons 2 After a week of hype, a 10,000 strong crowd turned up at London Road to witness Posh falling to a better team in a pulsating top of the table clash. Posh had the better of the first half but a lack of composure in the penalty area let them down. Within 15 minutes of the restart, the visitors all but won the game, firstly thanks to a well taken goal on the break from Kevin Gallen and then an energetic burst into the area from Keith Andrews after defensive dithering from Posh. Aaron McLean clawed a goal back when following in a Charlie Shot which hit the cross bar but clear-cut chances weren't forthcoming and a referee who was equally inept for both teams hardly helped matters. Posh fall to third place with Chesterfield and Rotherham both having games in hand. It's fairly safe to say we won't play as good a team as today's visitors again this season, but Posh need to ensure that they can rise to the big occasions that challenging for promotion will present them. mylo 8 December 2007 - Chester City 1 Posh 2 Posh made it
four wins in a row with a second-half fightback at the Deva Stadium that lifts
them to second in the League Two table. Chester opened the scoring
through Mark Hughes (you can imagine the fun he's had as a footballer) in
first half stoppage time and personally speaking, I decided it might be best
not to listen to the second half on Radio Cambs. So finding out that we
had won thanks to late goals from Aaron McLean and Craig Mackail-Smith was
rather a surprise and might well have lost the BBC a listener on alternate
Saturday afternoons. Our man on the scene, the somewhat geographically
challenged Poshtrev had this to say - 4 December 2007 - Notts County 0 Posh 1 After the goal rush,. Posh ground out a highly valuable win at Meadow Lane to return to third place in League Two. Craig Mackail-Smith scored the only goal of the night when following up a Claude Gnakpa shot on 52 minutes and it was maybe inevitable after Posh's recent form in front of goal that a fair number of chances went begging. Results elsewhere were not all that kind to Posh so it's just as well that CMS found the net. Saturday's trip to Chester City is likely to be another test of Posh's tenacity, determination, resilience and any other dog-like quality you can think of. Three points from that fixture could set us up for a rather eventful festive season. mylo 24 November 2007 - Posh 7 Brentford 0 Wallop. Seven goals, one missed penalty, one disallowed goal, woodwork struck... It could easily have been 10. Brentford, who had their keeper sent off after about 40 seconds as he conceded a penalty while bringing down Craig Mackail-Smith, were lucky to get nil. Aaron McLean tucked away the penalty and went on to complete a first half hat-trick (and miss a second penalty) as Posh completely dominated Terry Butcher's very poor team. Chris Whelpdale, who had a tremendous game, made it four and George Boyd, CMS and Rene Howe completed the rout. This was 90 minutes that gave Posh fans an insight into what it must be like to support Arsenal when they're in full flow. A truly magnificent performance from start to finish. Pace, guts, skill, teamwork – Posh had it all today and the rest of the division must surely now sit up and take notice. The best possible way to bounce back from a lifeless display in the 2-0 defeat at Bury the previous weekend. But we'll gloss over that. If you missed this game you really missed out. FA Cup second round opponents Staines had better start worrying... TMitC 10 November 2007 - FA Cup Round 1 - Posh 4 Wrexham 1 Following on from the late, late show to finally turn over Dagenham & Redbridge 3-1, Posh made it three wins out of three for November with a consummate display of attacking football against lowly Wrexham. Barely moments after a minute's applause for Posh stalwart Ellis Stafford, George Boyd hooked a cross into the penalty area for Craig Mackail-Smith to head home. Forty minutes later, Mackail-Smith capitalised on a collision between the Wrexham keeper and a defender to walk home his second. A hat-trick seemed almost guaranteed and barely seven minutes into the second half, Mackail-Smith was put clear by George Boyd to finish with ease and put the tie beyond doubt. Only a miscue from an Aaron McLean pass with the keeper beaten at his near post prevented Mackail-Smith from registering a fourth and it seemed that similar leniency was shown by Chris Westwood and Mark Tyler when they misread each other to allow Gareth Roberts in to notch a consolation for Wrexham. The excellent Micah Hyde provided McLean with the opportunity to score a very similar goal to Mackail-Smith's third on 81 minutes and Posh can now look forward to the Second Round draw, which will be on BBC1 at 5.15. We will update this page immediately afterwards. ****Stop Press**** Courtesy of Steve Hodge and Cyrille Regis, we are drawn away either to Stockport County or Staines. They replay their match on Tuesday 20th November and the winner will host Posh over the weekend of 1st December. mylo 3rd November 2007 - Stockport 1 Posh 2 Goals from strike pair Craig Mackail-Smith and Aaron McLean gave Posh the win at Edgeley Park. Posh.net's man at the match, Mcposh, had this to say on our forums: "Pretty good performance today. Solid at the back, combative in midfield and damned good up front. CMS was awesome - had the Stockport goalie crapping himself by the end every time he had the ball.Good performances from Morgan and Day at the back. Keates battled well in midfield though should have scored. Whelpdale had his best game in a Posh shirt today - ran with the ball well, won lots of header out wide and generally looked up for it. Great goal by McLean - may 'have been speculative' but if you don't try, you don't succeed, and not many strikers could have pulled that off (good job he wasn't dropped really, wasn't it?). All-in-all a good day out." Those three points lift Posh to fourth in the table going into Tuesday night's home match against CMS's former club, Dagenham and Redbridge, which is expected to be preceded by a minute's silence for Posh hero Ellis Stafford, who died this week. On behalf of all its members, Posh.net sends its condolences to Ellis's family. TMitC
27th October 2007 - Posh 1 Hereford United 1 In common with every other team in the top seven, Posh dropped points and finished the day where they started in the table. Things looked rather promising after a first half in which Posh genuinely impressed. George Boyd's direct run at the heart of Hereford's defence just before half panicked the visitors and his pass to Adam Newton gave the captain for the day the opportunity for a simple cross for Craig Mackail Smith to open the scoring with an even simpler finish. It was a move that Posh had tried a couple of times already and it was expected that Posh would tear into Hereford early in the second half to double their advantage and kill the game off. Alas this was not to be. Hereford cut off Boyd's supply, marked him tightly and commenced their own runs from deep through substitute Lionel Ainsworth on the right and the fabulously named Clint Easton on the left. A moment's hesitation by Newton when he had the chance to welly the ball clear proved costly as Easton surged into the box and finished neatly to level the score on 72 minutes. The Bulls looked very happy with their point for the remainder of the match whilst Posh simply didn't look like restoring their lead. A win would have lifted Posh to fourth but as it is, they are currently three points away from properly being in the top three, bearing in mind Darlington's rather impressive goal difference for this stage of the season. Posh might be in a strong position but the way in which the points were dropped today possibly makes some of the regular grumbling somewhat less risible than it sometimes seem. But only some of it. mylo 6th October 2007 - Posh 2 Grimsby Town 1 For the first time in a league match under Darren Ferguson, Posh came from behind to claim all three points today. After a first half in which both teams paid tribute to the intricate passing but lack of penetration pioneered by Columbia's 1994 World Cup squad, the second period saw the introduction of George Boyd in place of Adam Newton and a spell in which Grimsby threatened frequently whilst Posh adapted to their new shape. On the hour Kieron Charnock handled a cross and Ciaran Toner (who it has to be said looks nothing like the player who played for us on loan in 2002) coolly stroked the penalty home to open the scoring. For once, Posh's heads did not go down and having the ball on the centre spot before Grimsby had finished celebrating signaled the home team's determination to get back into the match. Chris Whelpdale replaced Dean Keates and a more conventional 4-4-2 formation was adopted with Boyd being given license to roam on the left. On 65 minutes, Boyd either showed sublime inspiration or extremely good fortune when he shaped to cross the ball from the left only for the ball to perfectly lob Phil Barnes to even the scoreline. From then on, it was end to end stuff and Whelpdale was somewhat unlucky with a header which Barnes clearly plucked out of his goal from behind the goal line only for the referee and linesman to both be looking at something else at that very moment. Christ knows what it was and the feeling that Mr. Dean owed us one may well have been on Jamie Day's mind on 80 minutes when he ran from the half way line with the ball and fell under a fairly innocuous challenge to win a penalty just as it seemed the ball was running away from him. Aaron McLean dispatched the spot kick with aplomb and Posh seemed content with the win despite Grimsby continuing to press gamely. The three points keep Posh in seventh place. Next Sunday's home fixture against eighth place Wycombe will definitely be what Ron Atkinson used to call a six pointer when he was allowed to speak on live telly. mylo 2nd October - Shrewsbury Town 0 - Posh 2 Following on from the valuable point gained at Darlington, Posh recorded their second away win in the league this season at New Gay Meadow. Goals in each half from Charlie Lee and George Boyd earned Posh the points and the win lifts Posh to 7th in the table whilst Shrewsbury fall from 2nd to 8th in the space of three days. A couple more wins and who knows where Posh might be? Well, somebody with a league table and a calculator might but after the hassle we've had getting this place almost back into order lately we haven't got the time. In other news, left back Sol Davis arrived on loan last week, promptly got injured in training and Fergie changed the formation to one not requiring a traditional full back and Posh have taken four points from the two tough-looking away tests in which it was deployed. mylo 1st October - Thanks for your patience Thanks to your Swindle contributions and other generous donations, posh.net has now moved to a more reliable server, hopefully meaning you'll get a better service.. We've also upgraded to the latest version of the messageboard software we use, which has many new features, including the ability to multi-quote in posts. We're still experiencing a few teething troubles with the new format, so please bear with us. If you're experiencing any problems, let us know, or check this thread to find a cure. You can also enter our competition to design a new logo for posh.net - details here Posh.net team 9th
September - Posh 2 Mansfield Town 1 1st September - Accrington Stanley 0 Posh 2 Phew. Just when it was looking like this season may start resembling a box of squibs left out on the patio during the summer we've just had, Posh win their first away match since Life On Mars was on telly and lift themselves to a far more enthusing sixth place in the early season league table. Mark Tyler was restored to the starting XI but it sounded like more of the recent same when Aaron McLean missed an early penalty and Posh spent the first half fastened to the Accrington penalty area without opening the scoring. Come the second half and come Charlie Lee. He belted in a twenty yard shot on 55 minutes to open the scoring and 40 minutes later, after a few more misses, Aaron McLean became the first ever Posh player to score in seven consecutive league fixtures (ignoring his lengthy spell out injured) when he found the net with a shot from just inside the penalty area. McLean has snatched the record from Posh legends Terry Bly, Jim Hall and err... Martin Carruthers and there really cannot be a Posh fan who will not celebrate such a hard-working and honest player setting a new Posh benchmark. We now face the JPT trophy tie at Nottingham Forest with an altogether healthier sense of optimism than we had when we were wondering whether Fergie would sign a full back on the August transfer deadline day. mylo 28th August - Posh 0 - West Brom 2 OK, we give in. We thought that maybe if we ignored the defeats to Rotherham and Chesterfield then they'd go away - a mere blip on the promotion radar. At least there was a cup run to look forward to and... oh, bugger. There's no shame in losing to one of the sides fancied for promotion to the Premiership, but it's gutting nonetheless. Darren Ferguson made five changes to the team that leaked three goals and wasted umpteen chances against Chesterfield, with the biggest casualties being captain Micah Hyde and George Boyd. With the League Cup out of the way, Ferguson needs to produce a result at Accrington on Saturday if he is to get the hecklers off his back. They've started early this year. If you were at the game, don't forget you can now leave your player ratings at the excellent www.uptheposh.com. In other news, PUHL issued PUFC with a warning that the ground could be closed over health and safety fears, but that soon faltered when Posh pointed out that everything was fine, thank you very much. Then planning permission was granted for PUHL to build their new flats, but no-one can move in until the attached Moys End stand is built and fully-kitted out. Posh won't pay the £1m PUHL wants them to pay to do the kitting out, and DMac wants to move to a new ground anyway. If any of this makes any sense to you, you're either very clever or completely unhinged. TMitC. 13th
August - Posh 2 - Southampton 1 11th
August - Posh 3 - Rochdale 0 5th
August - Roll on Rochdale 21st July -
Over 9,000 attend Mark Tyler's testimonial 11th
July - Youthful Posh start pre-season campaign with win 13th
May - Posh sign Walsall pair 5th
May - Posh 3 Rochdale 3 21st April - Chester 1 Posh 1 That's it then. Another season in the basement. A Chester City own goal after former Posh man Simon Yeo's opener wasn't enough to keep us in the play-off hunt. Many people accuse Posh fans - and posh.netters in particular - of being negative, but the sense of disappointment seems far outweighed by the massive surge of optimism welling up among our ranks. Surely any team with an attacking force of Boyd, Mackail-Smith and McLean will walk this tin-pot division next year. Then again, we said that when we signed Trevor Banjoman. Naturally, you can't please everyone, and some posh.netters are declaring Darren Ferguson a failure, despite the fact he inherited a team depleted of morale that lost eight league games on the trot. Let us know what you think on our forums. And keep checking back for news of ticket prices for Mark Tyler's testimonial v a Liverpool XI on July 21. TMitC 21st
April - Posh 3 Hereford United 0 14th April - Torquay 1 Posh 1 9th
April - Posh 2 Mansfield Town 0 7th April - Accrington Stanley 3 Posh 2 31st March - Posh 3 Wycombe 3 If Posh are going to contend the first ever play-off final at the new Wembley they're going to have to do it the hard way. They were five minutes away from a crucial three points against play-off rivals Wycombe, but took their foot off the gas and conceded a penalty to give the visitors a deserved draw. A win would have seen Posh in ninth, just a point behind Wycombe and Shrewsbury. As it is they sit in tenth, four points shy of the play-off positions. It had all started so brightly for Posh on a windy spring day. Craig Mackail-Smith opened the scoring in the eighth minute, latching on to a quickly taken George Boyd free-kick, which made the Wycombe defence look like chumps. Darren Ferguson's team dominated the opening 15 minutes and perhaps should have extended their lead, but Wycombe soon realised the wind was in their favour and took the initiative. On 23 minutes Matt Bloomfield's head met a Wycombe corner and Adam Newton's attempted clearance from the line ricocheted off Craig Morgan and into the net. Seven minutes later, Posh made the fatal error of leaving Sam Stockley free in the area, and he lashed in Bloomfield's cushioned header from another wind-assisted corner. Posh came out for the second half with renewed energy and after just 30 seconds Mackail-Smith broke clear, but his shot was blocked by Wycombe keeper Jamie Young. On 57 minutes, a run from the dangerous-looking Josh Low was blocked. The ball ran out to Micah Hyde, who pinged a perfect ball across the field for Adam Newton, who ran into the box and neatly slotted in an equaliser to claim his first goal of the season. The momentum was well and truly with Posh now, and every time CMS or Low ran with intent you could almost hear the Wycombe back four's bums squeaking. But it was Wycombe who found the net next, though Tommy Mooney's tap-in was disallowed when he was harshly - and he says incorrectly - adjudged to have blocked Tyler's clearance with his arm. Mooney claimed after the match that the ball had hit his chest - and he looks to have a valid complaint. It was just one of several bizarre decisions from the officials, who also disallowed a goal from George Boyd, despite it being Mackail-Smith who was the only player in an offside position. Posh took the lead once more on 75 minutes through man of the match Mackail-Smith. The pacey striker picked up Richard Butcher's long ball and held off Stockley to calmly slot the ball under Young. Four minutes later came Boyd's disallowed goal, which must have affected his confidence, as 60 seconds later he skewed a shot well wide when the goal was gaping. Then came the inevitable. Wycombe's impressive Tommy Doherty robbed Hyde of the ball and his forceful run into the Posh area was ended by the outstretched leg of Ben Futcher. It was Wycombe's first penalty in the league this season and Mooney made no mistake. The only chance to win the game came in injury time from substitute Danny Crow, who turned and fired well over. After the game, Newton told posh.net he was pleased to score (he celebrated by running over and signalling to his young son, Micah) but that the team felt disappointed to have lost two points late on. He said: "I don't get many, but I'd rather the team got three points than be happy about the goal. We think we did enough to win, but credit to Wycombe, I'm sure they had as big an incentive to win as we did." Manager Darren Ferguson was clearly unhappy not to win and after the match spent several minutes in his office with chairman Darragh MacAnthony. Ferguson said: "If someone had said to me before the game 'you're going to score three goals' then I'd have expected us to win. But we've got to remain positive. We've got six games left and other results went for us. We've got to win the next six games and we're capable of doing that." If you were at London Road, you can leave your player ratings here. And you can read our members' thoughts on the result, the referee and the rest of the season, or add your own comments, here. TMitC 24th March -
Grimsby Town 0 Posh 2 1 Hartlepool
38 75 Looks like Saturday's match at home to Wycombe really is a must-win... TMitC 16th March
- Shrewsbury Town 2 Posh 1 10th March - Posh 4 MK Dons 0 3rd March - Posh 2 Notts County 0 24th
February - Bury 0 Posh 3 20th
February - Posh 1 Boston United 1 10th February - Posh 3 Wrexham 0 Posh breezed to their first win for two months against a poor Wrexham at London Road to move off the bottom of the form tables and back into the top half of League Two. Adam Newton put in a very decent shift with two assists, the first of which saw him run almost the length of the pitch and deliver the sort of cross defenders hate. The ball fell for Aaron McLean to open the scoring and to give Posh a rare lead at half-time. Early in the second half, Craig Morgan floated a long ball behind the lumbering Steve Evans for George Boyd to run onto and slot past John Ruddy for his first goal in Posh colours. Posh controlled the game from thereon and Newton's second assist came from another dangerous cross which Evans poked passed Ruddy whilst debutant Craig Mackail-Smith was being knocked out of the way in the six yard box. Mark Tyler's goal was only threatened from a headed corner which struck a post in the final few minutes and the final whistle was greeted with a cheer of relief from the fans. Surely it won't be another two months until the next victory? mylo 5th February - Craig Mackail-Smith sees sense. Well, Barry Fry's forthright statement did its job and Craig Mackail-Smith has graced London Road with his presence. The all-important photograph of him in a Posh shirt can be found on theposh.com and he commences training with his new team-mates tomorrow. He is also looking forward to making his debut against Wrexham at London Road on Saturday. So welcome to Posh, Craig. We look forward to you continuing the form you showed for Dagenham & Redbridge before your week's 'sabbatical'. mylo 3rd February - Ten League games - nine defeats, one draw. Bristol Rovers 3 - 2 Posh. At least the fans who made the trip to Bristol saw plenty of goals, but the cold hard fact is that Posh have now taken just one point from the last 30 available and have slipped to 14th in the league. Posh gave away two goals before launching into a spirited fightback and drawing level with second half goals from Danny Crow and Aaron McLean. The tide appeared to be turning, but a late goal from Campbell saw Posh face the journey home sans points. What with football being a funny old game it would surprise no-one if Posh finally broke the winless streak next Saturday, at home to Darren Ferguson's former club, Wrexham. But before all that, we await the next instalment in the thrilling Craig Mackail-Smith saga. In a stark statement, Barry Fry has given the former Dagenham man until Monday morning to show his face or face legal action. If you haven't read the bizarre tale of pushy dads, unlicensed agents and solicitors with cancer, don't miss this thread on our forums. TMitC
1st
February - Posh snatch draw from the jaws of victory and Craig Mackail-Smith
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