Posh are into the third round of the Carabao Cup for the first time in 10 years after a penalty shoot-out success at Portsmouth.
Peterborough United are into the third round of the Carabao Cup after a penalty shoot-out win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park – the second successive win from the spot in the competition – as Darren Ferguson’s young charges created a hugely proud night in the club’s history.
Posh had gone into a 1-0 lead thanks to a strike from David Ajiboye before the hosts found an equaliser through Christian Saydee. Charlie O’Connell saw red for a second yellow card, but Posh defended resolutely and came out on top from 12 yards with Ajiboye scoring the decisive penalty kick.
Goalkeeper Fynn Talley was called upon to make a smart stop on four minutes to push over a deflected Terry Devlin effort as the hosts made a lively start to the cup-tie. At the other end, Talley’s opposing number Ryan Schofield did well to get down to keep out a low left-footed effort from David Ajiboye after a strong run from the former Sutton United man.
Ricky-Jade Jones was a whisker away from the breakthrough on 13 minutes after an intelligent cut-back from Ajiboye, but his shot took a slight deflection and went inches wide of the post. Talley made a fine double stop on the quarter hour mark, first keeping out a deflected Robertson shot before bravely denying Lane with the follow-up.
Talley showed good hands on 20 minutes in the wet conditions to hold a drive from Robertson from the edge of the box as Pompey pushed for the opener. Posh found the breakthrough on 29 minutes, a corner from the left by Corbett was met by Fernandez, his header went away from goal, but United kept it alive and AJIBOYE was there to bundle the ball home.
Posh had appeals for a spot-kick waved away on 32 minutes as Tshimanga was wiped out by Schofield, looked an obvious one but the referee was unmoved. Robertson was cautioned for a foul on Joe Tomlinson on 39 minutes. Kai Corbett whipped the resulting free-kick wide of the near post.
Fernandez and O’Connell were both cautioned a minute before the break, the first offence was a foul, the second for dissent. Pompey drew themselves level on 51 minutes as a ball into the box by Lane found SAYDEE and he used his strength to hold off the defender and fire past Talley.
Just before the hour mark, Posh were reduced to 10-men as O’Connell was shown a second yellow card on the halfway line and a subsequent red. The hosts brought on three first team players including Colby Bishop as the second half reached the midway point.
Lane fired over on 74 minutes following a deep Kamara cross as Pompey tried to make their extra man count. Darren Ferguson made his first change on 79 minutes with second year scholar Harley Mills replacing Dornelly, who himself was making his first start.
Jones latched onto a poor back-pass by Raggett on 86 minutes, but the striker saw his weak effort comfortably saved by Schofield. As the tie moved into four minutes of added time, substitute Pack saw a low free-kick pushed around the post by Talley with Raggett heading the resulting corner well wide.
The final whistle blew and given the age of the side out there and the fact they played for over half an hour with 10-men, that was a tremendous effort from Darren Ferguson’s charges. A penalty shoot out followed.
The penalty shoot out swung different ways with Ryan De Havilland seeing his spot-kick saved, but misses for Abu Kamara and Joe Morrell secured progress into the third round for Posh.
Portsmouth: Schofield, Swanson (sub Poole 61min), Towler, Robertson (sub Bishop 66min), Saydee, Raggett, Sparkes, Devlin (sub Morrell 88min), Lane, Mottoh (sub Kamara 61min) Stevenson (sub Pack 89min) . Unused subs: Norris, Oglivie, Folarin, Quarm.
Posh: Talley, Knight, De Havilland, Ajiboye, Jones, Tshimanga (sub Titchmarsh 84min), Fernandez, Tomlinson, Corbett, O’Connell, Dornelly (sub Mills 79min). Unused subs: West, O’Brien-Brady, Overton, Holley, Toynton, Freeman, Beech.
Half-time: Portsmouth 0-1 Peterborough United
Full-time: Portsmouth 1-1 Peterborough United (Posh win 5-4 on pens)
Attendance: 6,594 (189 Posh fans)
Referee: Charles Breakspear