Two wins in a week for the under 18s before cup defeat on spot-kicks.
The Peterborough United under 18s kept up the pressure on local rivals Northampton Town at the top of the Youth Alliance League with a 3-1 victory over Cambridge United but were on the wrong end of a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals of the cup against the same opponents at the weekend.
Midfielder Archie Jones, striker Brad Rolt and a trialist were on target in the league success and manager Matthew Etherington was pleased with the way his side controlled the game for large periods despite a number of changes to the starting line-up.
“We were good in the first half, came into the break 2-0 up and controlled long periods. Cambridge had a go in the second half, but they didn’t cause us too many problems and ended up running out comfortable winners.
“We have beaten them twice in the league now and all you can do is keep winning the games as they come. Local derbies matter, it doesn’t matter what age they are or what competition it is. It was a good victory for us.”
Posh: Allen, Mensah, Rudette-Gregory, Powell, Peters, Trialist, Rudman, Ruzvidzo, A. Jones, Harris. Rolt.
Last midweek, Posh were 4-0 winners over PSL in the David Joyce Cup with goals from Nathan Rudman, Nicky Gyimah, Brad Rolt and Shaun Keane. “Myself and Simon were not at this fixture,” Etherington said. “We left a few out, but we wanted to play a strong side.
"We were comfortable. PSL didn’t have a shot on target. We went 3-0 up and dropped off a bit in the second half, we could have won by a lot more and in truth that is the same throughout this season.
“I don’t want to be too critical, but we have to strive for more ruthlessness to go on and score more goals. We are capable of that, but it is something we need to continue to strive for. The lads know they can score goals,” Etherington added.