Posh Women Development Squad put in a strong performance but were beaten 4-3 by Thrapston Town Ladies.
Peterborough United Women Development Squad were narrowly beaten 4-3 by fellow East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League side Thrapston Town Ladies on Wednesday evening at Woodford Community Sports Complex, with manager Shaun Harley pleased with the performance shown in their first pre-season fixture.
Aliyah Palmer scored twice as Posh fought back from a two-goal deficit in the first half, but the hosts claimed the narrow victory in the final seconds of the game.
Thrapston Town took an early lead on four minutes after a small defensive error allowed their forward to slot away her left-footed strike into the bottom corner. The hosts doubled their advantage on 34 minutes as the forward converted from close-range despite the best efforts from Neive Corry, who produced a good save for the initial shot.
As the first half came to a close, the hosts were awarded a penalty after the referee spotted a handball inside the box, but the taker was denied by the heroics of Corry. Harley made wholesale changes at the break, and five minutes into the second half, Posh grabbed a goal back as Anderia Oliveria calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net after finding herself one-on-one with the keeper.
However, the hosts reinstated their two-goal advantage on 53 minutes as a low cross was tapped home from close range. That lead didn’t last long - two minutes in fact - as Oliveria created space and played it across to Palmer inside the box, who cushioned the ball into the back of the net.
Posh were back on level terms just before the hour mark as Palmer grabbed her second of the game after her low-drilled effort from the edge of the box found the bottom corner. Despite a strong second-half performance, it was Thrapston Town who enjoyed the spoils as their forward found the back of the net in the final seconds of the match.
Manager Shaun Harley said after the game: "Tonight was the first time the players have played together as a team and to put in a performance like that was impressive. We may have lost the game, but the players showed great determination and belief to fight back despite it only being a pre-season friendly. The main focus over the next few weeks is to continue to improve fitness as the players have only been back for three weeks, but tonight’s performance gives me a lot of encouragement ahead of the new season.”
Posh XI (First Half): Corry, Barnes, Gussin, Macnicol, Murphy, Johnson, Richard-reeves, Oliveria, Podd, Gore, Scotland.
Posh XI (Second Half): Corry, Barnes, Rasaq, Harley, Murphy, Johnson, Sharman, Oliveria, Moore, Gore, Palmer.
Subs Used: Freeman.
By Taleasha Layton.