The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
A ‘win or bust’ battle for City against relegation rivals Sheffield at the Gate
City of Peterborough are in ‘win or bust’ territory when they host fellow National Midlands Division One strugglers Sheffield Hallam at Bretton Gate on Sunday (2pm).
A win for rock-bottom City could lift them out of the relegation zone as long as Deeside Ramblers are beaten at an outof-sorts Cambridge City.
But failing to win their penultimate match of the season would probably condemn City to the drop.
City are currently a point behind Sheffield and two points behind Deeside, positions that remained unaltered last weekend as all three teams were defeated.
A poor start to the game at Bowdon cost City dear as they slipped to a 6-3 defeat. They were 3-0 down after the first quarter and 4-1 down at halftime, but they entered the final quarter just a goal behind before the home side raced away again in the final stages as City were caught pushing for an equaliser.
Nick Beattie, Nathan Foad and skipper Joe Finding scored the City goals who finish the season at mid-table University of Birmingham on April 2.
City manager Graham Finding said: “We gave it a good go after a poor start when Bowdon probably thought it was game over.
“But we steadied the ship in the second quarter and we were in the ascendency in the third quarter meaning we went into the final quarter with a chance of a result.
“We had to go for it, and in pushing high to try and force an equaliser also created opportunities for Bowdon. Sadly they got the all important next goal, and a further late strike for them resulted in a scoreline that didn’t reflect how close and competitive a match it had been.”
City of Peterborough Ladies pushed East Premier Division champions Bishop’s Stortford all the way before accepting a 3-2 defeat at Bretton Gate. Captain Tierney Augustine and Jemima Dodds scored the goals for City who are sixth ahead of their final game of the campaign at thirdplaced Harleston seconds on Saturday.
Laura Thompson-Wright
scored twice as City seconds went down 5-3 at North Norfolk in Division One and Kirsten Hackett also scored twice as the thirds beat Pelicans
2-0 in Division Two.
Spalding Men clinched the East Division One title with a 1-0 win at Wisbech, while fellow club champions Spalding Ladies dropped their first East Division Two points in a 1-1 draw with Cambridge City Fourths.
Jacob Baker scored the title-clinching goal for the men after just six minutes.
Georgina Maplethorpe scored for Spalding Ladies.