Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony defended his side’s performance, as they were well-beaten by Bradford City.
While the 2-0 scoreline doesn’t reflect the Bantams’ dominance, they were much the superior side in every way at Valley Parade on Saturday afternoon.
The result is a blow to Peterborough’s aspirations of finishing inside the Play-Offs, while it enhances Bradford’s hopes of reaching the end of season competition, at the very least.
Following the defeat, MacAnthony replied to a supporter on X, launching a strong response to his team’s showing in West Yorkshire.
“You’ve had a good day against a team who played Tuesday in awful conditions on heavy pitch, who is missing over 5 first team players, lost their most experienced one before game.”
The player in question is Tom Lees, and Posh were hit hard by that late blow, as the hosts were quick out of the blocks. After an early effort was cleared off the line, Alex Bass failed to cover himself in glory with his part in the Bantams fifth-minute opener. But he more than made up for that error with some excellent saves in the remainder of the game, with the crossbar and post also coming to his aid.
Another point mentioned by Posh’s chairman was the pitch. But that argument wears thin, given that the home side also played on the same surface and coped incredibly well. Bradford managed an impressive 29 efforts at goal, with ten of those on target. In comparison, the visitors had just four shots, and only one of those was noteworthy.
The result extended the gap between the two teams to eight points, in Bradford’s first season back in the third tier since promotion. But in the eyes of Posh’s chairman, the result should have been expected, given the size disparity between the League One rivals.
“Don’t get all high and mighty over it. A club your size should be winning cups at Wembley & going in and out of the championship & constantly in play offs each year plus buying millions of pounds worth of players. Instead a club my size with its gates has done it consistently instead.”
Fortunately, football isn’t determined by club sizes and previous successes. You only have to look at clubs like AFC Bournemouth and Brentford to recognise that isn’t the case, as they battle it out in the Premier League against far more illustrious opponents.
Peterborough Reflect On Missed Opportunity
Back to League One, and that loss for Peterborough is a painful one in the context of the table. After the highs of the 6-1 thrashing of Wigan last week, which cost Ryan Lowe his job, they backed up that performance with a smash-and-grab victory in midweek. Defeating Mansfield Town was a big blow in the Stags’ faint hopes of a top six finish, while it enhanced Posh’s aspirations.
Victory in West Yorkshire would have taken them to within two points of Bradford, but they were fortunate the scoreline wasn’t higher. Luke Williams’ outfit have now lost three of their last five matches, slipping down a couple of places in the table after big results for Reading and Stevenage.
As discussed on The Stacey West’s League One Show last night, that result also reignited Bradford’s automatic promotion hopes. While the gap to Lincoln City in second place stands at 10 points, they are only one point adrift of Stockport County and four behind Bolton Wanderers. With both those sides certainly in the race, and with the Bantams having two games in hand on the latter, the fight for the top two positions is far from over.
The same also goes for the Play-Off race, ahead of a critical set of midweek fixtures.
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