Posh finish 2018 with a big bang

Steve Evans isn’t supposed to do ‘tactics’.

It will be 4-4-2 and see what happens according to some who are still objecting to his presence at the ABAX Stadium.

This set-up, performance and result would have caught many by surprise then.

Ivan Toney’s second hattrick of the month and cen- tre-back Rhys Bennett’s fourth goal of the season inevitably hogged the headlines, but moving forward, some clever tinkering with players and formations were equally important to see.

Evans fielded winger Siriki Dembele as a striker, pushed defensive midfielder Alex Woodyard into an advanced role, employed a high press and oversaw several different midfield formations in the same game as Posh romped to another decisive away victory.

The result confirmed the success of the planning as well as confirming the status of Ivan Toney as one of League One’s most dangerous forwards.

Toney scored with two close-range headers and a strike into an unguarded net, but his movement was never anything less than menacing and he combines his ability as a forward with a willingness to run hard and far for the team. Even defensively as one superb tackle early in the second-half after an 80-yard dash was a match highlight for those who wanted proof the players are highly motivated for this promotion push.

Toney was denied a fourth goal by a brilliant tip onto the bar from Accrington ‘keeper Connor Ripley who also denied Dembele the goal his display deserved.

Bennett had turned a 2-0 half-time lead into the guarantee of three points midway through the second-half and he was a key man in a dominant defensive effort which included an improvement at left-back courtesy of Tyler Denton’s rare start.

Goalkeeper Conor O’Malley also played well when called upon as Posh finished 2018 with a bang.