The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Injuries no excuse as Boro slip to defeat at Leicester Belgrave
Injury-ravaged Peterborough suffered a disappointing Midlands East One defeat at Leicester Belgrave on Saturday.
With the amount of injuries and unavailabilities it wasn’t a surprise that Boro struggled to get a hold of the game and Belgrave ran out 17-12 winners.
The first half was very disjointed and Boro were guilty of poor decision making and even worse ball retention at crucial times.
Boro did score first when Ryan Morris went over from 20 metres out, Byron Van Uden converting.
Belgrave kept in the game and fed off Boro’s mistakes and scored a converted try of their own, making it 7-7 all at half time.
The second half was even worse for the away side who have gone away from the structured game they had so much success with in the first half of the season.
Belgrave scored two more tries off Boro’s mistakes, with one being converted. With the scoreline at 17-7 Boro did manage to finally get some cohesion and scored a unconverted try through Rob Jacobs, bringing his personal tally to 18 for the season, to give themselves
a chance of winning with the score being 17-12 and time running out.
But like the rest of the game Boro squandered a couple of chances and with the final whistle had to settle for a losing bonus point.
Head coach Shane Manning was disappointed with his side’s performance, and
says they are going to have to up their game against high-flying Derby this weekend.
“We have a really long list of injuries at the moment but still should be beating sides like Belgrave,” said Manning.
“We need to get back to what works for us as a side, the lads know it but they just aren’t putting their best foot forward at the moment for some reason.
“Our backs are against the wall and some of the lads really need to stand up and be counted. Derby at home next week is going to be a really tough game.
“We beat them comfortably at their place but we aren’t playing near that standard at the moment. Hopefully we can dig deep and show some fighting spirit.”
Peterborough Lions • had a day to forget as they were thrashed 81-19 at leaders Bedford Athletic.
It’s a result that leaves Lions second from bottom in the table.
On Saturday they entertain Belgrave.