Hardly hair-raising, but a big Posh improvement

Southend boss Phil Brown reckoned the end-to-end nature of the second-half of this game was bad ‘for my hair and my heart,’ which rather over-stated the actual level of excitement.

Sure, and especially compared to a tepid first-half, there were fun and games in both goalmouths before the final whistle was blown on a draw, but the football was too inaccurate and imprecise to stay in the memory for too long.

Southend goalkeeper Mark Oxley was a deserved winner of the Roots Hall man-of-the-match though, and he, as well as Posh skipper Jack Baldwin, was a major reason why both teams felt they’d missed out on two extra points.

‘Baldwin’s error’ is becoming as common a Posh phrase as ‘goal for Marriott’ this season. The captain’s woeful attempt to play out from the back - just 60 seconds after seeing a sloppy backpass intercepted - was pounced upon by Marc-Antoine Fortune who gleefully claimed his first goal of the season in the 10th minute.

Posh were poor before the break, but lively after it. Once Jack Marriott had scored from close range on 55 minutes, it became the Oxley show for a while. He made great saves to thwart Marcus Maddison and substitute Callum Chettle, but Posh still seemed happy to have avoided a fourth straight League One defeat.

The home ‘keeper was a clear man-of-the-match.

Marcus Maddison in action for Posh at Southend.