Nine Men Yet Posh Secure Vital Victory
The weather was miserable, the rain was lashing down and the wind was swirling around the Proact Stadium, yet that was just one element that Graham Westley's men had to overcome.Tom Nichols netted his first Posh goal on his debut, but it was the resilliance that was required, that and good old fashioned bravery to secure three much needed points in Sky Bet League One.
Michael Smith and Ricardo Almeida Santos were both sent off, both for second yellow cards as Posh ended with nine men and a defender in Gabi Zakuani with just one full training session under his belt after a long spell on the sidelines.
Yet, Posh hung on, thanks to some wonderful blocks and a goalkeeper who brushed aside unwanted abuse from the home faithful to keep a wonderful clean sheet.
The first 10 minutes at a blustery and wet Proact Stadium were very stop start with referee Mr Coote speaking to a number of individuals following a succession of early Chesterfield corner kicks.
Lee Angol saw a shot blocked on 18 minutes after a neat touch from Oztumer, but the wind was winning in these early exchanges.
Moments later, Shaq Coulthirst was presented with a decent opportunity after a fine pass from Angol, but he saw his shot saved by the legs of Lee. Taylor then cut inside onto his left-foot, but his shot looped into the arms of the keeper via a deflection.
On 21 minutes, Angol blazed over from distance after ignoring a decoy run from Smith down the right. Alnwick made his first save on 25 minutes as he scooped a Novak effort away to safety after Bostwick was caught in possession.
Smith went into the book for a late challenge in Chesterfield's defensive third for a foul. On 36 minutes, Posh came close to a breakthrough as Coulthirst fed Oztumer 20-yards from goal, but he saw his left-footed curler smack the bar, Angol nodded the rebound into the back of the net, but the assistant referee's flag ruled out the effort for offside.
As the half moved into two minutes of added time, Coulthirst produced a fine turn to get himself into the box, but he dragged his shot wide of the far post.
Chesterfield made a substitution at the break with Simons replacing Ebanks-Blake in attack. Donohue fired a free-kick into the wall as Forrester went into the book for a foul.
Posh found the breakthrough on 55 minutes as a corner from Oztumer floated to the near post was flapped at by Lee and NICHOLS prodded home for a goal on his debut.
However, moments later, Posh were down to 10-men as Smith was shown a second yellow card for a foul on the edge of the box. Posh immediately made a double change with Samuelsen and Beautyman introduced.
Toffolo was cautioned on 72 minutes for obstruction with Almeida Santos also in the book for time wasting. And that was costly on 77 minutes as he was shown a second yellow card for a harmless looking incident on the half way line.
Gabriel Zakuani replaced Nichols moments later as Posh tried to hang on. On 82 minutes, Posh nearly doubled the lead in bizarre circumstances as a huge clearance from Alnwick took a wicked bounce with Lee tipping it over at the other end.
Gardner saw a shot cleared off the line and Zakauni made two fine blocks as Posh tried desperately to hold on. Bostwick then produced a fine block out of nowhere to deny Liddle's effort from the edge of the box.
Seven minutes of added time was indicaated by the fourth official as the home fans tried to will their team on and thankfully Graham Westley's men did just that.
Chesterfield: Lee, Herd, Hird, Ebanks-Blake (sub Simons 46min), O'Shea (sub Gardner 80min), Novak, O'Neill, Donohue, Anderson, Talbot (sub Ariyibi 70min), Liddle. Unused subs: Chapman, Banks, Maguire, Dimaio.
Posh: Alnwick, Smith, Almeida Santos, Bostwick, Toffolo, Forrester, Taylor, Oztumer (sub Samuelsen 60min), Angol (sub Beautyman 60min), Nichols (sub Zakuani 79min), Coulthirst. Unused subs: Henry, Fox, Coulibaly, Nabi.
Half-time: Chesterfield 0-0 Peterborough United
Full-time: Chesterfield 0-1 Peterborough United
Attendance: 6,544 (707 Posh fans)