The Grinch has witnessed a Christmas miracle in the city

Peterborough Sports manager Jimmy Dean now believes miracles do happen at Christmas.

His side shot up to a barely believable second place in the Premier Central Division with a 5-4 success in a remarkable contest against Barwell at the Bee Arena on Saturday.

Sports led 4-1 at half-time, but were pegged back to 4-4 before ice-cool Dan Lawlor converted his second penalty of the match to seal a 5-4 win and second spot ahead of a mouthwatering clash at AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Boxing Day.

But there was still a touch of the Grinch about hard-toplease Dean after the game.

“I wasn’t that impressed by our performance,” Dean said. “The match just emphasised what I’ve been saying all season.

“When we are at it, like we were in the first half, we are a match for anyone, but when we step off it, like we did in the second-half we get punished.

“It’s absolutely mad to see us in second place at this level though. Miracles really do happen at Christmas.

“We are savouring it, but we won’t lose sight of the fact that it’s a very tough league. We can’t just turn up and expect to win this season.

“Rushden will be a hard game in front of a huge crowd for this level and then we have Biggleswade at home on January 1 and they are also play-off contenders.”

Avelino Vieira also scored twice against Barwell after Paul Malone had opened the scoring. Remarkably they were ace striker Vieira’s first Premier Division goals of the season.

“It was Avi’s first start since the end of August and I was delighted for him,” Dean added.

“It’s not that I don’t fancy him at this level,” Dean added. “He’s a player I actually trust completely, but he’s been injured for much of the season.

“Avi has been with us since we started this journey in the United Counties League and in all honesty I think he’s better suited to playing at step three than at step six. At this level he gets great service and he can bring others into the game.”

Both of Sports’ holiday games kick off at 3pm.

Avelino Vieira scored twice for Peterborough Sports against Barwell.