Midfielder Joe Hood scored the winner as the Posh under 18s came from 2-0 down to beat local rivals Cambridge United 4-3.

The Peterborough United under 18s concluded their pre-season friendly programme with a 4-3 victory over Cambridge United at the Mick George Training Academy on Saturday morning with midfielder Joe Hood netting the winner on the hour mark.

Posh had found themselves 2-0 down to the U's inside the opening quarter of an hour, but battled back to level the scores before taking the honours following an entertaining encounter in front of a decent crowd.

Manager Kieran Scarff utilised the majority of his squad over two days with a younger starting XI on duty at Mansfield Town 24 hours earlier with the score-line exactly the same.

Scarff said: 'On Friday we were at Mansfield and there were a number of 16s involved in that fixture and I was really pleased with the performance they put in. It was topped off by the fact that under 15 player Jack Gurney came off the substitutes bench and scored twice. It is great to see him making an impact at that level. Casey Douglas and Cameron Gale were also on target. With a young side, to come away with a 4-3 win was pleasing.

'We managed to get 90 minutes into the rest of the squad against Cambridge on the Saturday morning. We were 2-0 down after about 10 minutes and that was frustrating. We had actually started the game well and missed two good chances before they scored, but some poor decision making defensively cost us the goals.

'The lads, to their credit, retained some composure and belief and carried on creating chances and got themselves back to 2-2 after just after half hour. Alfie Connor scored from a set-piece and then substitute Dion Moore equalised. We conceded a poor goal that we will be working on in training to eradicate.

'To go 3-2 down could have been a kick in the teeth, but the players kept their heads high and Moore made it 3-3. We spoke at half-time about the positives, but we were disappointed with the goals we conceded because we should not be conceding that amount of goals. There were some things said and in the second half we were dominant.

'Other than a half-chance at the start of the second period, I don't remember Cambridge having a shot on target. Our passing and movement was good and that was pleasing. Some players continue to impress and Joe Hood took his goal very well, finishing well from Ollie Humphrey's cross.

'Joe has had a very good pre-season and so has Ethan Lee. I have been very impressed by them. Some of the others have been a bit inconsistent, but we are in a good place fitness-wise. Everybody is fit bar Harry Baldry who is not far off from returning from a long-term injury,' Scarff said.

The Posh under 18s open their league account with an away fixture at Stevenage.

Posh: Barton, Robinson, Goode, Humphrey, Connor, Keating, Hood, Lee, Da Silva Lopes, Stump, Penfold (Moore played the final hour).

Images copyright: Joe Dent / www.theposh.com.