Saunders heartache after Posh late show
A DISBELIEVING Dean Saunders will look to rally his devastated Crawley players for some final-day heroics after they suffered late heartbreak at Peterborough.
Conor Washington and Michael Bostwick scored in the last three minutes for Posh after Josh Simpson had appeared to give Crawley a priceless win in their fight against relegation.
Washington and Bostwick had earlier scored to cancel out Marvin Elliott’s opener for Crawley who also saw Mathias Pogba make it 2-2.
Having seen his side drop into the relegation zone ahead of a crucial match against fellow strugglers Coventry City, a disappointed Saunders said: “It’s just unbelievable. We had it won with three minutes to go. That’s football isn’t it? They did not look like scoring. I thought we were in control.
“They are devastated in the dressing room. When you need a bit of a luck we didn’t get it.
“I would have been devastated with a point and all of a sudden we have come away with nothing.We are still alive though and it looks like we have to win next week to stay up.
“You just have to put the belief back in.We scored three great goals and defensively we were not all over the place.
“It was just three unbelievable strikes.”
Elliott had given his side the lead after firing in Izale McLeod’s low cross.
Peterborough equalised after Bostwick’s 25 yard free-kick hit the post with Washington putting in the rebound.
Bostwick scored after the break as he fired low from 25 yards, but Pogba equalised after cushioning in a volley from eight yards out after a longthrow from Kelly Youga was flicked on to him by McLeod.
McLeod was the provider again as he found Simpson in lots of space down the left-side of the area to strike low.
Bostwick then scored from the edge of the area before Washington secured the dramatic winner, turning in a rebound after Gabriel Zakuani had headed against the post. Peterborough interim manager Dave Robertson, who gave 16year-old Leo Da-Silva-Lopes his debut, said: “I said we wanted to go out with a bang and we have done that. It was exciting.
“I think Leo has done well. He grew into the game and he understands he needed to play a little bit quicker. They got after him early on.
“To win a game like that with two under-18s and a 16-year-old is fantastic.
“The decision [about who will manage next season] will be made over the next couple of weeks.”