Posh Punish Punchless City – Peterborough 2-0 Imps

City came away with nothing yesterday from their visit to Peterborough United, with two second half goals from the hosts leading to defeat.

Mark Kennedy made a few changes to the side that started the game at Leyton Orient on Tuesday. Lukas Jensen remained in net, while we went slightly more defensive in the back five. Alex Mitchell came back into the side to play alongside Paudie O’Connor and Adam Jackson, which meant Sean Roughan moved out to left wing-back. Jack Burroughs started at right wing-back with Lasse Sorensen missing out due to injury. Ethan Hamilton and Ethan Erhahon remained in midfield, while Danny Mandroiu started in attack for the first time since his injury, alongside Hakeeb Adelakun and Reeco Hackett. Mide Shodipo also made the bench for the first time since signing a permanent deal on Friday evening.

I felt it was a game of two halves, and during the first half, I believed we had the upper hand against Peterborough. In my opinion, we created more dangerous opportunities through half chances etc, it’s also worth noting that they did miss a clear goal-scoring chance. Despite them dominating possession, I never felt that we were consistently under pressure. While their build-up play was decent, our defensive organization seemed strong, and we seemed capable of thwarting their offensive threats. Admittedly, we had some moments of sloppiness, but it felt like the familiar pattern we’ve seen in recent weeks was repeating itself – performing well in the majority of the field but struggling to make an impact in the final third.

We all know why we aren’t performing in the final third – the injuries to Tyler Walker and Ben House. I feel like I’m talking about it every week and I need to stop because it’s not an excuse anymore. They are injured and that’s not going to change.

Nevertheless, we had the superior scoring opportunities. The stats indicate that we could have, and perhaps should have, been ahead 2-0 by halftime, which aligns with what I thought straight away when the full-time whistle went. We had 10 shots but none on target and that is a stat, which will lead to people saying we haven’t been good enough in the final third.

During the middle part of the half, we showed a fair degree of dominance and generated numerous scoring chances, something we didn’t do in either games against Peterborough last season. Jackson, despite rising highest, directed a header wide from a corner. Shortly after, a moment of carelessness from Posh allowed Hamilton to float a beauty of a pass over to Mandroiu. His first touch was top class – as we have come to expect from the Irish – he took the defender out of the game and then fired a graceful chip over the goalkeeper, only to see it rebound off the crossbar. As it came bouncing off the bar, both Adelakun and Hackett had their attempts blocked and eventually cleared.

Five minutes later, Hackett, who was impressing, worked his way into the box, before firing a shot at goal that was deflected wide. From the resulting corner, Roughan had an unmarked header that he sent over the crossbar. The young Irishman really should have scored, and out of all the chances we had, that had to go in the back of the net. We always struggle when we travel to Peterborough but we control of the game for a good period and had several promising opportunities to score. If we had converted one of those chances, it might have changed the course of the game, and who knows what could’ve happened.

Aside from that, I thought that we maintained a certain level of control when we weren’t in possession, which is something Kennedy’s sides have become known for over the past 18 months. Their best opportunities tended to occur when we had pushed men forward, but overall, our scoring opportunities had clearly been superior to theirs, and that genuinely gave me hope that we might get something out of the game.

Their goal just killed us off completely, and what’s really frustrating is the mistake that was made in the middle. Mandroiu is easily our most talented and influential player – I won’t take that away from him – but he’s got to work harder for the team. He made a really poor decision to not release the ball, which leads to him losing it and then he doesn’t make the effort to run back and show that energy and passion that the fans want to see. He’s got to do better but unlike what many others are saying, it’s not all on him. The defenders have to close down the Posh man before he gets his shot off. Unfortunately, after such a positive first-half performance at a tough place to go, we gift Peterborough a goal and we never looked like coming back after that. The second goal came as we entered the last ten minutes, and although we didn’t need it, that was the moment we all knew we’d lost the game.

The Lincoln squad undeniably possesses talent; there’s no question about it, and their attitude is top drawer. I understand that the absence of House, Walker and Jack Vale is a massive issue and, to some extent, can account for certain performances and outcomes. However, in the second half, the problems we faced had little to do with the absence of a striker. As Mark Kennedy pointed out, it boiled down to a lack of effective decision-making on that particular day. We ultimately lost the match 2-0, a result that many of us had anticipated, but after the first 45 minutes, there was a real chance that we could have been leading 2-0, which would have shifted the momentum in our favor, silenced the home crowd, and put us on the path to a historic victory against a team regarded as local rivals. It had the potential to be a special day, but it quickly turned into a defeat and that’s why there has been so much frustration from supporters over the last 24 hours.

We are in a tough situation at the moment, but I trust this squad will come out of that situation and be stronger because of it. The game on Tuesday will be important to get minutes into Shodipo and other fringe players, who will be hoping to secure a place in our starting team against Burton next Saturday. I don’t want to dwell too much on this result as it’s always a tough place to go and get a result. Posh will be up around the promotion picture this season, so we’ve just got to pick it up and go again.

Hopefully we can bounce back on Tuesday, before getting three points on Saturday. Up the Imps!