On the way to the ground yesterday, there was a lot of chatter about how we might do and what some fans (me and Dad) wanted to see.
Dad was suffering from history apathy; knowing we’ve been awful against Peterborough for years, he thought it a draw and wanted James Collins to start. Me? I thought I knew how bad they were, and predicted a bold 2-1 win, if James Collins started.
When James Collins did not start, I wondered if we’d have enough, especially with their fans singing their hearts out so early. I do chuckle at the song ‘Everywhere we go, making all the noise’ chant, because I was at London Road earlier in the season and the one place Peterborough don’t make all the noise is at home. Mind you, I can see why, because for every single positive comment I make in this report, the fact remains this is by far the worst Peterborough United side of the Darragh MacAnthony era. They were awful: spineless, weak, lacking direction and with zero confidence. Darren Ferguson said they’re in a relegation battle, and there’s no doubt he is absolutely spot on, given that performance.
That said, I do not want to play down our performance, and while we always temper the bad with the good and the good with the bad, I’m not going to focus on the quality of the opposition. Okay, they haven’t won in the league since December 14th, but they still have good players. They don’t always play a team like us, who, in recent years, they’ve had a wonderful record against. We forget about things like form when it’s Peterborough (or Mansfield, Grimsby, Scunthorpe as well, once upon a time). We think about the ghosts of past games, the 5-1 thrashing in 1997, losing a three-goal lead in 2021. We imprint that version of the opposition on the game, rather than the one we have.
I thought the first ten minutes were decent, both sides looked evenly matched. We had a bit of pressure, they had a bit of the ball, and on 12 minutes, we got a free kick. I said to Dad, “Whoever concedes the first goal today loses”. With that, Bayliss whips in a deliver and Paudie’s header back results in a heavily deflected Dom Jeffries goal. At one nil, I genuinely never had a doubt as to what happened next.
I don’t mean a five-goal haul, but that immediately I felt that would suck the life out of Peterborough, and finally, we had a home goal to celebrate, our first since December 21st. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Then, for a good ten minutes, the pendulum swang the other way. Peterborough got a free kick, a very dubious one, I might add, and struck the post. Their fans started making ‘all the noise’ once again, and I doubted myself. We creaked a little, we groaned a little and you could feel the Christmas tension back around the ground. De Havilland, the only Posh player who would get into our squad on yesterday’s performance, looked lively and it all felt a little ominous.
At a break in play I nipped to the loo to get a (soft) drink and as I stood at the bar I heard the stand erupt. I rarely miss a goal, and that feeling of 5,000 people above you in absolute rapture was so, so good. Okay, I missed one of the best free kicks taken at the Bank since Jorge Grant scored against Posh in 2019, but it almost didn’t matter. It sounds odd, but that noise happening above, that utter delight at knowing I was going to walk back into a stand full of celebrating people, it was strangely calming. At that point, Posh were dead and buried and no mistake.
We were just so good in reality. We pressed them high and they coughed up the ball on numerous occasions. I don’t know what has happened to Tayo Edun, the best left wingback in the division a couple of years ago, but he looked a shadow of his former self. The Peterborough backline looked shakier than Michael Barrett (niche), and I sensed we smelled real blood. However, we were still calm in our possession, still going back when people wanted us to go forward, still being patient and methodical in how we built up. The difference between this game and the others over Christmas was we did it well, and the opposition didn’t have an answer.
Jeffries got a goal, but he showed an incredible engine getting up and down the left, while on the right, Tendayi was almost flawless. Tom Bayliss is a player I was delighted we signed, and he looked like the player we’ve needed for months. He made one run, which, admittedly, he took out of play, but it was an attacking midfielder getting on the ball and driving forty yards, pressuring the defence. With Draper smashing into those weak centre-halves, I felt more chances would come. They didn’t, not in the first half at least, but with a two-goal lead when the half time whistle went, I didn’t feel nervous.
That’s crazy, when you think about it. We’re 2-0 up against a side we haven’t beaten in six years, a side that have scored 14 goals in that time compared to our five, and I didn’t feel worried at all. This Lincoln City looked like the one from last March, the one that hammered Barnsley, Cambridge and Bristol Rovers. The differences were minimal as well – none of the players were new faces, we weren’t trying anything different, we just did it better. Yet, those factors combined to make me feel like we were just going to be fine.
Ethan Erhahon helped. He got the sponsors Man of the Match and there’s little doubt in my mind they got it right. He’s purring right now, and he treats that ball like Yeoman Wardens treat the Crown Jewels. He barely put a foot wrong and when we needed to get left to right, or we needed a smart turn to take the pressure off, he was there.
You must be logged in to post a comment.