Maddison strike gives Peterborough the win

Town: Dean Henderson, Joe Riley (Stefan Payne 70), Ben Godfrey (Lenell John-Lewis 86), Omar Beckles, Shaun Whalley, Abu Ogogo ©, Carlton Morris, James Bolton, Jon Nolan, Aristote Nsiala, Alex Rodman
Subs: Craig MacGillivray, Arthur Gnahoua, Lenell John-Lewis, Bryn Morris, Ebou Adams, Christos Shelis, Stefan Payne

Peterborough United: Jonathan Bond, Andrew Hughes, Ryan Tafazolli, Jack Baldwin ©, Gwion Edwards, Marcus Maddison (Jermaine Anderson 81), Jack Marriott, Leo Da Silva Lopes, Michael Doughty, Steven Taylor, Anthony Grant
Subs: Conor O’Malley, Liam Shephard, Ricky Miller, Danny Lloyd, Idris Kanu, Jermaine Anderson, Callum Chettle

Referee: D. Webb
Assistants: I. Dudley and S. Lewis
Fourth Official: D. Middleton

Attendance: 5606 (622)

Marcus Maddison’s wonder strike brought Town’s unbeaten run to an end at the ABAX Stadium. Maddison volleyed in from 40 yards after catching Dean Henderson off his line. Frustration seemed to get to Town at the start of the second-half as they picked up four bookings in quick succession. Town then threw men forward at the end, but it wasn’t to be their day as Peterborough stood firm. However, Town remain top of League One courtesy of Wigan’s 1-1 draw with Blackburn.

Team News:
Town make two changes to the side which beat Fleetwood Town last Saturday. Junior Brown’s knee injury has ruled him out for the rest of the season, so Joe Riley comes in at left-back. Mat Sadler is ill, so Omar Beckles comes into the side alongside Toto Nsiala. Louis Dodds is also ruled out with a calf problem meaning that the 18-man squad is made up of every fit player currently available. Ebou Adams and Christos Shelis are the men to come onto the bench.

First-Half:
It was a relatively quiet opening 10 minutes, with neither ‘keeper having to make a save, but the home side certainly got into the better positions. Marcus Maddison had a shot charged down by Beckles, whilst Nsiala, Riley and Godfrey all had to make challenges to stop the likes of Jack Marriott and Gwion Edwards from shooting.

With 14 minutes on the clock, Peterborough took the lead from an incredible Marcus Maddison strike. Maddison has a knack of scoring spectacular goals and this one was no different as he spotted Dean Henderson off his line and volleyed goalwards from just in front of Paul Hurst’s technical area. The ball swerved appreciably in the air and the power on the strike meant that Henderson couldn’t get back to make a save.

Town responded well to going behind and were almost level five minutes later as Alex Rodman won a free-kick on the left-hand side. Shaun Whalley swung the ball in and Carlton Morris made a great diagonal run to glance a header goalwards, but Jonathan Bond got down brilliantly well to his left to tip it round the post.

Maddison was looking really sharp and he could have had a second on the half-hour mark when he found himself in acres of space just outside the box. He struck a left-footed shot, but this time he didn’t quite connect and it went straight at Henderson who beat it away. Henderson was then forced to beat another effort away a minute later, as Jack Marriott shot from a tight angle.

At the other end, Jon Nolan was looking the most likely Town man to get on the scoresheet. He had a couple of shots from the edge of the box at Jonathan Bond’s goal, the first going inches wide of the post, whilst the second – a volley – went straight into the Peterborough number one’s hands.

Just before the end of the half, Alex Rodman tried his luck from distance as Town surged forward, but his effort went just wide and Town were forced to go into the break 1-0 down.

Half Time: 1-0

Second-Half:
Early in the second-half it seemed as if Town were getting frustrated as both Shaun Whalley and Jon Nolan were given yellow cards for a couple of rash challenges.

Abu Ogogo was then shown a yellow card for a couple of poor challenges. The first was in the centre circle, but the referee waved on the advantage. Ogogo then proceeded to foul Jack Marriott, which brought an end to the play and referee Webb got his book out for the third time in the half.

Town’s frustration continued to boil over and Ben Godfrey became the fourth Town player in 20 second-half minutes to be shown a yellow card when he unnecessarily patted an injured Peterborough player on the head.

With just 20 minutes to go Paul Hurst made his first substitutions of the afternoon and they completely changed Town’s formation. Both full-backs – Joe Riley and James Bolton – were brought off and replaced by Stefan Payne and Bryn Morris. Morris went into the centre of the park, with Godfrey slotting in alongside Beckles and Nsiala as part of a back three.

Town were now throwing men forward and they managed to force a couple of corners, but the Peterborough back three were defending well and Shrewsbury couldn’t get a clear sight of goals.

With just under five minutes remaining Town went to two at the back as Lenell John-Lewis replaced Ben Godfrey and the big striker almost made the difference when he headed Shaun Whalley’s corner towards goal, but a Peterborough man was on the line to clear away.

At the other end, Peterborough were looking to play on the break and Jack Marriott could have wrapped it up when he got away from Nsiala, but Henderson made a good save and Toto was back on hand to throw his body in the way of Gwion Edwards’ follow-up shot.

With six added minutes shown, Town had time to find an equaliser and they threw bodies forward in search of it. The best chance fell to Shaun Whalley, but his shot was blocked by a Peterborough man and Town had to accept that it wasn’t going to be their day.

Full-Time: 1-0