Posh knocked out of the Papa John’s Trophy after 2-1 defeat at Tranmere Rovers.
Peterborough United were beaten 2-1 by Sky Bet League Two side Tranmere Rovers in the quarter-finals of the Papa John’s Trophy with a late Jonson Clarke-Harris penalty not enough to force a penalty shoot-out.
Darren Ferguson’s men were close to an opener in bizarre circumstances on four minutes as a back-pass rolled over the foot of goalkeeper Joe Murphy and onto the inside of the post, Ricky-Jade Jones flicked it back towards goal, but the keeper got back to scramble the ball to safety.
Posh were not happy moments later as an Eisa shot appeared to strike the hand of a Tranmere defender before it drifted wide for a corner kick. Prior to that, Nathan Thompson saw a goalbound shot blocked by Sid Nelson.
Jones had a great chance to find the breakthrough on 19 minutes, but he took a heavy touch after Mo Eisa had closed down a clearance and the keeper smothered his effort. Nya Kirby flashed a shot wide of the upright on 21 minutes for the home side as they took advantage while Flynn Clarke was on the floor following a heavy collision.
The hosts opened the scoring on 37 minutes as Danny LLOYD fired a free-kick through the wall and into the back of the net. Hamilton fired over from 25-yards at the other end after Clarke had poked the ball into his path.
Posh made a triple change at the break with Mark Beevers, Sammie Szmodics and Joe Ward replacing Thompson, Clarke and Kanu. Pym made a fine stop with his legs to keep out a crisp drive from Morris on 53 minutes as the hosts came close to doubling the lead from a tight angle.
Murphy was called upon to make a decent stop to push a curling effort from Szmodics to safety on 62 minutes as Posh prepared to make a fourth change. Ward tested Murphy with a low effort with his right-foot moments later as Ferguson’s men started to put some pressure on.
Posh made a double change, their final substitutions, just before the 70 minute mark with Jonson Clarke-Harris and Reece Brown replacing Burrows and Reed. Posh were a whisker away from levelling the scores as a Szmodics cross was diverted onto a post by a defender with Murphy pouncing on the loose ball.
The hosts went straight down the other end and netted the second as Khan’s delicious cross was headed home at the back post by an un-marked LEWIS. Clarke-Harris fired a free-kick over the top after Eisa was felled. Eisa was felled again moments later, this time in the box by Khan with CLARKE-HARRIS converting the spot-kick.
Ward saw a late shot blocked as Pym came up for a corner, but it was not to be as Tranmere held on for a spot in the semi-finals of the competition.
Tranmere: Murphy, Khan, Ray, Nelson, Ridehalgh, MacDonald, Lewis, O’Connor, Kirby (sub Hayde 80min), Morris (sub Walker-Rice 88min), Lloyd (sub Woolery 59min). Unused subs: Davies, Ellis, Burton, Nugent.
Posh: Pym, Thompson (sub Beevers 46min), Mason, Blake-Tracy, Burrows (sub Clarke-Harris 69min), Kanu (sub Ward 46min), Hamilton, Reed (sub Brown 69min), Clarke (sub Szmodics 46min), Eisa, Jones. Unused subs: Gyollai, Barker.
Half-time: Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Peterborough United
Full-time: Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Peterborough United
Referee: Sam Barrott