Roddy McGlinchey

Posh U21s fall to a heavy defeat against The Hornets. 

Peterborough United U21s suffered a 7-0 defeat to Watford U21s at Vicarage Road Stadium on Friday afternoon in the Professional Development.

The Hornets created early opportunities as Ryan Andrews’ cross towards the near-post was met by Matheus Martins and he fired his first-time effort wide of the post. Sam Dreyer then produced a fantastic block on 10 minutes to deny Adrian Blake’s effort from inside the box before Laycock tipped over a deflected header from the resulting corner.

Posh carved out their first chance on 15 minutes after a good move down the right-hand side as Lewis Darlington fed the ball to Benjamin Mensah and his cut-back found Joel Randall inside the box, but he couldn’t direct his effort on target.

The hosts opened the deadlock on 27 minutes as Adrian Blake drove into the box and slotted the ball past Laycock, with Aaron Powell helping it over the line. The Hornets doubled their lead just six minutes later as a low cross into the box found Matheus Martins and he fired his effort past Laycock.

Ryan Semple made a change at the break as Ben Challinor replaced Harry Titchmarsh. However, the hosts extended their lead within minutes of the second half as James Collins raced behind the Posh backline before lofting his effort over Laycock.

It became four on 50 minutes as Martins advanced towards the edge of the box before curling his effort into the bottom right-hand corner. Martins grabbed his hat-trick five minutes later as Posh failed to clear their lines inside the box and the Hornets forward found the far bottom corner. 

The Hornets were awarded a penalty on 66 minutes after Mackenzie Lamb was penalised for a foul, but Laycock guessed the right way to save Blake’s spot-kick. The hosts found their sixth goal of the afternoon on 71 minutes as the ball was fed to Collins inside the box and he slotted the ball home.

Posh were forced down to 10-men on 80 minutes after Lamb was unable to continue after picking up an injury. The hosts added a seventh on 86 minutes as Andrews’ cross found Adian Manning and he fired his effort past Laycock.

Challinor was shown a straight red card in the closing stages of the game after a heavy challenge on Manning as Posh ended the game with nine-men.

Posh XI: Laycock, Mensah, Dreyer, Watts (Lamb, 61mins), Powell (Mills, 74mins), McGlinchey, Titchmarsh (Challinor, 46mins), Randall, Darlington, Trialist (Marshall, 61mins), Corbett.

Subs Not Used: Lakin.