POSH LATE SHOW HAS FERGIE IN RAPTURES
PETERBOROUGH manager Darren Ferguson felt his homework paid off after masterminding a win over Lincoln that moved his side up to third in the table.
Late strikes from Louis Reed and leading scorer Ivan Toney did the damage for Posh, while Reed saw red at the death after receiving a second yellow card.
For Ferguson it was pleasing to come out on the right side of a tricky fixture.
“We had to work hard because Lincoln are a good team with a good gameplan, but that’s exactly what we worked on,” he explained.
“I’m satisfied that our players trusted each other and didn’t lose their discipline because for long periods we were left frustrated. Two wonderful quality goals have won us the game though.
“Until that point Lincoln sat deep and therefore there weren’t many chances despite us having a lot of possession.
“It’s a very important win with the others around us not playing, especially after the missed opportunity last weekend against Wycombe.”
Lincoln’s Tyler Walker had the best chance of the first half just before the interval after connecting with Bruno Andrade’s cross, but Christy Pym was on hand to keep the ball out from point-blank range.
The Imps will feel aggrieved that Toney’s shove on Michael O’Connor seconds into the second half went unpunished after the midfielder was left needing lengthy treatment on the pitch before being substituted with a neck injury.
The breakthrough came eight minutes from time when sub Dembele latched onto sub Tom Pett’s misplaced pass and saw his shot rebound as far as Reed, who fired into the roof of the net from 20 yards.
Five minutes later, Toney reached double figures for the season and put the result beyond doubt with a delightful lob from Niall Mason’s long ball forward.
Imps sub John Akinde nearly pulled a goal back, but Pym acrobatically kept out his header.
Lincoln City boss Michael Appleton was disappointed with the manner in which his side conceded.
“I thought for an hour we were pretty good,” he said. “We held our own and matched them in most areas in what was a good game of football.
“The goals were unnecessary though and that’s the most frustrating thing – one slack pass and one poor pass puts us under the cosh.
“I said to the players there were a lot of good things about the performance, although it’s hard to feel good when you concede goals like that.
“I’m also frustrated with the foul on Michael O’Connor, because it’s hard losing a player of his experience especially when he was playing so well.”