HAVE A BRITT OF THAT... POSH SINK O’S AT DEATH
Rowe hits the winner late on
DARREN Ferguson knows it’s about time his Peterborough side got a bit of luck, and a spectacular last minute turnaround against Orient was just the tonic his faltering team needed.
Goals in the dying moments from Britt Assombalonga and Tommy Rowe sent the travelling Posh fans into raptures when it looked like David Mooney’s opener had done enough for the home side.
And Ferguson knows a first away win in eight league games on the road has put his charges right back in with a chance at the playoffs.
He said:“I thought we played very well. We worked on our shape and we looked solid against a really good team that’s full of confidence and we thoroughly deserved the win.
“I think it could perhaps be a turning point because we’ve had a lot of hard luck stories this season but we’ve come back against a team that’s flying high and the fans were outstanding.
“I thought the character of the team was the main element of what we've been after and that came through in leaps and bounds.
“It’s not been ideal this season but we're still there fighting and have a chance of having a good season.”
It was Peterborough who had the better of the early exchanges and for much of the first half they did not look like a team having trouble on the road.
Danny Swanson had their first chance on eight minutes when he broke through the midfield but his low shot was easy for on-loan keeper Shwan Jalal.
The Bournemouth loanee was called into action again after quarter of an hour but Rowe could only head straight at the O’s debutant.
The visitors continued to press and could have had a penalty on 28 minutes when Elliot Omozusi appeared to handle the ball under pressure from Nicky Ajose, but referee Lee Probert waved Ajose’s appeals away.
But it was the hosts who had the best chance of the half ten minutes later when Dean Cox crashed a volley onto the post from Scott Cuthbert’s deep cross from the right.
Peterborough should have opened the scoring on 62 minutes but Assombalonga’s low shot was brilliantly tipped onto the post by Jalal.
The home side took the lead against the run of play with 20 minutes to go when Mooney headed in a Cox free kick, and it looked like the O’s were heading back to the top of the league. But with two minutes to go, Assombalonga nodded home his 22nd goal of the season from Nathaniel Knight-Percival’s header
across the six-yard box.
In the final minute of the game Peterborough pushed on and, when Leyton Orient failed to clear their lines, Rowe was on hand to fire home, leaving O’s manager Russell Slade to rue the damage done to his team’s season.
“It was another part of the journey we're on and this game can be hurtful,” Slade said. “It was a hard game but we got ourselves in front and from that position we should see games out.
“The goals were disappointing. We gave away a free kick for the first and for the second we gave the ball away cheaply in the middle of the park.
“We came up against a good side and they showed it. If they had lost the game it would have been unfair on them.
“I thought we started really well but they came into as the first half wore on and it was a tight game where you thought the first goal could be the clincher.”