A gr-eight start to the summer

Posh manager Darren Ferguson described the first friendly of the summer for his side as ‘tasty’ and it wasn’t a compliment.

An outclassed Bedford tean used the contest at the Eyrie as tackling practice, but they often struggled to arrive before the ball had left a Posh player’s foot.

Words were exchanged between the benches in the first-half, but ultimately there was no real harm done, apart from to the home side’s pride after an 8-0 shellacking.

It could have been an even bigger drubbing as Mo Eisa missed a second-half penalty, one that ultimately cost him a hat-trick, while home ‘keeper Andy Street made some fine saves and Ryan Broom saw a first-half shot miraculously cleared off the line.

Posh were 4-0 up after 27 minutes and no mercy was shown after the entire starting line-up was changed at half-time with four more goals arriving in the final 20 minutes as the difference in fitness levels as well as in quality became apparent.

Jorge Grant took six minutes to open his scoring account for the club after a shot from Ricky-Jade Jones had rebounded kindly off a post.

Grant added a second from the penalty spot after Nathan Thompson and the impressive Jones had found the target.

Eisa struck twice in a matter of minutes late on before Harrison Burrows did the same within the fin al 10 minutes. Burrows’ first goal was the best of the day as he followed a fleet-footed dribble with a precise finish.

Posh fielded three at the back in both halves which is a nod to the likely preferred formation at Championship level.

Different combinations were tried, but the class of Grant really shone through.

Posh first-half: Pym, Thompson, Knight, Fernandez, Butler, Kanu, Grant, Edwards, Broom, Szmodics, Jones.

Posh second-half: Cornell, Kent, Beevers, O’Connell, Ward, Barker, Hamilton, Powell, Burrows, Dembele, Eisa.