DOMINANT POSH PUSH THROUGH
BROMLEY 1 PETERBOROUGH 3
PETERBOROUGH UNITED survived a potential upset with a come-frombehind win against plucky National League Bromley.
A red card on the stroke of half-time left Bromley rueing what might have been as their goal and man advantage was extinguished by a classy Peterborough United, who in truth dominated large parts of the game.
Posh manager Steve Evans felt the win was no more than his side deserved. He said “Aside from Bromley’s goal I thought we dominated the game, we equalised on half-time and my team talk changed as a result. I thought our play in the second half was special to watch. Whether Bromley had 10 or 11 we were totally dominant, Aaron (Chapman) gave them a helping hand for the goal but other than that we were dominant”.
Roger Johnson had Bromley dreaming of an upset, heading home Frankie Sutherland’s free kick five minutes before the interval. However Frankie Raymond’s sending off followed by a Matt Godden double and a Joe Ward effort in the final five minutes of the tie saw Peterborough safely into the next round.
Peterborough dominated possession in the first half but failed to make it count. Godden had a header saved by David Gregory and Jason Cummings broke the offside trap only to shoot straight at the Bromley custodian.
Posh were made to pay for those wasted opportunities when Johnson headed home Sutherland’s free kick, although Chapman’s misjudgement played a key role.
In first-half injury time a clash on the far touchline between Raymond and George Cooper saw referee Kevin Johnson issue a red card.
From the resultant free-kick an unmarked Matt Godden volleyed into the top corner from 10 yards out to change the complexion of the game.
With a man advantage Peterborough made easy work of the second half, nullifying any Bromley threat.
Godden got his and Peterborough’s second 10 minutes after the restart sweeping home Jason Naismith’s cross.
Naismith saw a fierce drive from the edge of the penalty area tipped over the bar by Gregory before the excellent Joe Ward smacked a long range effort against the crossbar.
Peterborough finally made the game safe four minutes from time a fine one-touch move started and ended by Ward saw the winger slot past Gregory to seal the win. Bromley manager Neil Smith was philosophical in defeat, saying: “Up until the sending off, we had done everything we planned for. We had the opening goal and just needed to get to half time. The free-kick we gave away was needless and the red card made it worse”