Peterborough 1-0 Fleetwood Town
Conor Washington’s goal on the stroke of half time was all that separated the two sides at an evenly contested affair in Cambridgeshire.The former Newport County man beat the Town defence and slotted under Chris Maxwell for his second strike of the campaign.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Graham Alexander’s men as they carved out a number of opportunities, and could on another day have come away with something to cheer about.
The manager elected to make two changes to the side that drew at home to Bristol City last weekend, with Antoni Sarcevic and Jamie Proctor replacing Matty Blair and David Ball.
Ball returned to face his former employers but had to be content with a place amongst the substitutes.
Town, without a win in six, started well and a cross from Sarcevic was headed back across goal but confusion between Stephen Dobbie and Gareth Evans meant the chance was wasted.
A promising opening buoyed Town and they broke quickly through Evans; his cross found an unmarked Josh Morris who drilled a goalbound effort which was cleared off the line by Michael Smith.
The Blackburn Rovers loanee later tried his luck again but Posh goalkeeper Ben Alnwick dealt comfortably with his 25 yard effort.
The Cod Army continued to create chances, and Sarcevic tested Alnwick when he cut in from the right and forced the former Tottenham Hotspur man into a smart save at his near post.
Alnwick was again to the rescue for his side, denying Dobbie low down in a one on one situation after the Scotsman had been played in by Proctor.
It took the home side until a minute before the break to register their first real chance of the game as Chris Maxwell tipped Marcus Maddison’s strike around the post.
However, in added time of the first half, Maxwell was beaten when Washington capitalized on a defensive error and slid the ball beyond the Welshman.
Posh captain Jack Payne very nearly doubled his side’s advantage 10 minutes into the second half when his dipping volley crashed onto the roof of the net.
In reply, Evans screwed a right footed drive just wide of Alnwick’s near post as Graham Alexander’s men looked to get themselves back into the contest.
Payne again looked to cause damage with his efforts from distance, this time firing high over Maxwell in the Town goal.
With an hour on the clock, Alnwick denied Morris with a fine finger-tip save as he pushed his free-kick wide of the post.
The home shot-stopper was certainly the busier of the two; firstly palming away Conor McLaughlin’s strike before denying Proctor.
Stephen Crainey was dismissed for the Cod Army with ten minutes remaining after picking up his second yellow card of the afternoon for a challenge on Maddison.
Despite their efforts, there was no way back for Town as they fell to a narrow defeat at London Road.