The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
The worst feeling of Grant’s career
POSH - A FEATURE ON THE MOST HEARTBREAKING DAY IN THE CLUB’S RECENT HISTORY
Posh headed to Crystal Palace on the final day of the Championship season on Saturday, May 4, 2013 confident they would complete a great escape from relegation.
They’d lost their first seven matches of the season and enjoyed just a handful weeks outside the bottom three.
But victory in the final home match of that season, 1-0 over Sheffield Wednesday courtesy of Grant McCann’s free-kick, had moved Posh out of the relegation zone.
They now had 54 points and no team had ever been relegated from the Championship with that many.
Posh just had to match Barnsley’s result against fellow strugglers Huddersfield to survive on goal difference.
All looked good when Lee Tomlin fired Posh in front in the first-half and then Nathanial Mendez-Laing shot Darren Ferguson’s side back in front in the second-half.
But then it all went horribly wrong. Palace substitute Kevin Phillips equalised seven minutes from time and Mile Jedanik headed a winning goal for the home side in the 89th minute.
Barnsley and Huddersfield were drawing 2-2 and, aware that Posh had fallen behind, they played out the final minutes very passively to ensure Ferguson’s men were relegated.
“Without doubt it was one of the worst experiences of my career,” McCann (pictured) stated. They were given a late free kick for a challenge by Dwight Gayle that was never a foul.
“I remember telling (Palace defender) Damien Delaney that they were secure in the play-offs and we were safe so why don’t you just hit the free kick down the line?
“Yeah, no problem he said, but then he didn’t take it, someone else crossed it and they headed it in. It was sickening. After the game I met up my wife and her parents and I couldn’t speak I was that disappointed.
“I honestly felt we would stay up after beating Sheffield Wednesday. And so did the fans as they all ran on the pitch in celebration.
“But we didn’t go down because of that one game. The bad start cost us. I wasn’t actually in the team at the start of the season, but we suddenly started to click after we signed some decent players.
“Saido Berahino came in and was quality off either foot and then George Thorne and Gayley arrived. When Dwight turned up we were asking ourselves is this really the player to keep us up? He was a quiet lad, but you could tell after a couple of training sessions he was going to be special. He was quick and he was always on the move. He could make you look stupid as a midfielder because we’d play a pass and he’s already gone somewhere else.
“Dwight was a phenomenal finisher as well. The club’s knack of finding top strikers had continued.
“We were an excellent Championship side in the second half of the season. I think we were a top 10 side in form after Christmas.
“But that feeling at Palace will stay in the memory for ever.
“I don’t want it to, but it will.”