The Peterborough United second string were beaten 3-1 by Colchester United at London Road in the latest Totesport Football Combination League fixture, but on a positive note, Sergio Torres made his return from a long injury lay-off.
Sergio Torres, making his first appearance for several months in Posh colours, looked lively in the early moments at London Road and his impressive run created room for Alex Austin, whose cross picked out Jamie Day at the back post, the winger took a touch before firing his effort into the legs of defender Bradley Hamilton.
Danny Mills tested goalkeeper Mark Cousins on 12 minutes after good work from the lively Day before Torres, another to catch the eye early on, beat two defenders before his cross was palmed away to safety.
A minute later, the visitors were in front after poor defensive play from Posh allowed CORCORAN to find space in the box and tuck the ball past James McKeown. Ben Wright fired over on the quarter hour mark after a cross from Torres was cleared by David Fox to the edge of the area.
While Posh were down to 10-men as Dove received treatment, the visitors took advantage, making it 2-0 through Steven GILLESPIE, who fired past James McKeown from close-range after a neat interchange with Simon Hackney.
Posh were awarded a spot kick on 23 minutes as Day was upended by Batth inside the box and WRIGHT stepped up to coolly convert the spot-kick. Sam Gaughran wasted a good shooting opportunity by curling an effort straight at Cousins on 35 minutes after a good ball from Dove created space down the left hand side.
A poor pass from Crook was seized upon by Gillespie at the other end and goalkeeper McKeown had to dash from his line to push a shot around the post, however from the resulting set-piece, GILLESPIE made no mistake, heading into the corner after finding some unbelievable space in the six-yard box.
Goalkeeper McKeown made a smart save to deny a fierce Fox effort on 39 minutes before the offside flag denied Gillespie with the rebound, although in fairness to the Posh shot-stopper, he made a good reflex stop to keep the ball out in any case.
McKeown denied Gillespie on 57 minutes, while Day fired wide of the near post at the other end as both sides made a decent start to the second period. McKeown then pushed a fierce Elito shot around the post as the U's continued to threaten going forward.
Wright wasted a good chance on 63 minutes, firing high and wide of the upright after good work from Mills. The impressive Gillespie curled a shot inches past the post on 72 minutes as Colchester went in search for a fourth goal.
Posh: McKeown, Austin (sub Piergianni 55min), Griffiths, Geohaghon, Gaughran, Torres (sub Davies 67min), Dove, Crook, Day, Mills, Wright (sub Adjei 78min). Unused subs: Cole, Newell.
Colchester: Cousins, Hamilton, Knudson, Corcoran, Vincent (sub Lartey 60min), Henderson (sub Rafter 75min), Elito, Hackney, Fox, Batth, Gillespie. Unused subs: Ajim, Sanderson, Cussack.
