Batt Impressive In Posh Victory
Peterborough United earned a comfortable 3-0 victory at Blue Square Premier League side Oxford United with Shaun Batt in very good form ahead of the start of the Coca-Cola Championship campaign.
Posh could have been ahead inside the opening two minutes after George Boyd's centre just eluded Aaron Mclean in the six-yard box before Toumani Diagouraga fired well wide of the target as the ball ran loose 25-yards from goal.
The goal did arrive on three minutes as the pace of Shaun Batt saw him burst into the box and rather than panicking, he calmly looked up, spotted Tommy ROWE who had the simple task of guiding the ball into the empty net. Batt had a chance to double the lead after a glorious pass from Boyd, but the striker saw his effort saved by Billy Turley.
A weak shot from Mclean was easily saved by Turley on 18 minutes as Posh continued to press and moments later Mclean squandered a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 after a low centre from Martin, but he stabbed his shot wide from close-range.
Oxford came close to levelling the scores on 28 minutes as Creighton's looping header struck the outside of the post after a deep free-kick from Kevin Sandwith.
Batt then headed a Paul Coutts corner kick wide of the target under severe pressure from Rhys Day. Sandwith saw a 25-yard free-kick saved by Joe Lewis on 32 minutes as Oxford again went close through a set-piece.
Coutts was denied at the second attempt by the experienced Turley after the midfielder found some space 30-yards from goal.
The home side had the ball in the back of the net on 55 minutes as Green stabbed home from close-range after an intelligent header across the six-yard box by Day, but the offside flag cut short the celebrations.
On 65 minutes, Darren Ferguson's men doubled the lead as a slick build-up concluded with BATT finishing superbly from an excellent cross from Martin.
A cross-shot from Midson struck the post before Lewis was in the right place to deny Murray, whose rebound deflected kindly off Morgan. Mclean then had the ball in the back of the net after a glorious pass from Boyd, but the assistant referee felt the striker was in an offside position when he received the ball.
Lewis made a smart stop to deny a skidding Murray effort on 71 minutes after the former Derby midfielder found a bit of room 30-yards from goal. Goalkeeper Lewis limped out of proceedings a quarter an hour from the end after colliding with the onrushing Clist.
A deflected Batt cross crashed against the upright on 79 minutes with the rebound falling kindly for goalkeeper Turley. Substitute Torres was inches away from converting a Frecklington cross after throwing himself at the inviting centre, his diving header just clearing the crossbar.
Frecklington then sent a curling effort past the post after getting away with a fairly blatant tug on Dannie Bulman in the build-up. Posh added a third on 83 minutes with MCLEAN rifling the loose ball into the back of the net after Frecklington had been denied by the legs of Turley.
Oxford: Billy Turley, Adam Chapman, Kevin Sandwith, Dannie Bulman, Mark Creighton, Rhys Day, Sam Deering, Simon Clist, James Constable, Adam Murray, Marcus Kelly. Subs: Luke Foster, Shane Killock, Chris Carruthers, Ryan Clarke, Matt Green, Jack Midson.
Posh: Joe Lewis (sub McKeown 75min), Russell Martin, Charlie Lee (sub Pearce 75min), Craig Morgan, Gabriel Zakuani, Toumani Diagouraga (sub Frecklington 63min), Paul Coutts, Tommy Rowe, George Boyd, Aaron Mclean, Shaun Batt. Unused subs: Dominic Green, Romone McCrae, Lee Frecklington, Danny Andrew, Danny Mills, Sam Gaughran, Billy Crook.
Referee: Matt McLaughlin
