Late Goals Flatter Posh

Three goals in the final eight minutes of the opening pre-season friendly might have taken the shine off a solid Stamford showing as Posh ran out 5-1 winners.

Daniels boss Graham Drury believes building a good relationship with League One neighbours Peterborough United will be to the benefit of all parties.

A crowd of 937 flocked to the Zeeco Stadium on Wednesday night to watch Stamford take on their professional counterparts.

But Drury felt that the night was a massive success for all concerned as the Daniels returned to action for the first time since their play-off heartbreak a couple of months ago.

Drury said: “It was a very good night.
“I was over the moon with the crowd. It was better than last year which was great and I appreciate the supporters from both clubs coming out.
“We also appreciate Steve sending a strong side and, after speaking to him, he was impressed with us. It’s good to build relationships with professional clubs.
“I thought we grew into the game and grew in confidence until the tiredness kicked in. The final scoreline was a bit harsh on us.
“We were well in the game at 2-1 and started to really play with some confidence which was a pleasing thing.
“We’d only had the chance to work with the players for three hours in training on Saturday and in that only 20 minutes was on our shape without the ball because we knew Peterborough would have a lot of possession.
“We played with two shielders in front of a makeshift back four and I thought we shuffled across well when we had to.
“Their first goal came from distance and, apart from Dan Haystead making a couple of saves, they didn’t have many real chances in the first half.”

The Daniels went into the contest missing the unavailable Jordon Cooke and Olly Brown-Hill while Ben George and Chris Salt were not risked as they continue their recovery from injury which forced frontman Callum Ball to play centre-half.

Trialists for the home side included defender Josh Eggington who was with Gresley last season and pacy live wire Sam Mugisha who has previously played for Rushall Olympic, Chasetown, Slough and Stafford Rangers.

Posh, predictably, started on the offensive as they fielded their strongest side for the opening 45 minutes.

They took the lead after just five minutes with a sweet strike from summer signing Siriki Dembele who fired home the opening goal from distance.

Matt Godden sent a looping header over the home crossbar while Haystead was called into action to make a fingertip save to thwart Danny Lloyd.

Liam Adams had the home side’s best chances as he curled a decent effort narrowly wide before shooting over early in the second half after Mugisha’s cross had created the opening.

Posh doubled their lead just before the hour mark when striker Matt Stevens took advantage of a poor clearance from Haystead to rifle home.
Adams was foiled by a smart stop from Posh custodian Aaron Chapman who raced from his line to narrow the angle after an astute pass from Jake Duffy had created the opening.

Haystead atoned for his earlier error with an excellent save to turn a goalbound effort from George Cooper wide before the Daniels halved the deficit with 16 minutes remaining.

Adams was bundled over in the box by a Posh trialist and leapt up to convert the resultant spot kick and reduce the arrears.

However, a classy chipped finish from Cooper restored Posh’s two-goal advantage after 82 minutes and the League One side then added a further double strike before the end.

Stevens struck home his second two minutes later before Joe Ward completed the scoring after 88 minutes to ensure a winning return for former Stamford boss Steve Evans.

Evans said: “I thought Stamford were decent. It was a privilege to come back to the club.
“I’ve always been treated with the utmost respect by the people at the top end of this club and the people that follow them. I’ve always brought teams to Stamford in pre-season because I think it is a great club.”