Lewis Darlington

Posh U21s shared the points with The Clarets on Monday afternoon.

Peterborough United U21s secured a point in the Professional Development League after a 1-1 draw to Burnley U21s on Monday afternoon at the Burnley Training Centre.

The hosts carved out the first opportunity on 12 minutes as Jez Davies dragged his effort from the edge of the box straight into the hands of Matthew Laycock. The Clarets struck the woodwork on 19 minutes as Joe Westley rose the highest from Marcel Lewis’ corner and his header hit the crossbar.

Laycock was called into action shortly after as he denied Lewis from close-range to keep the scores level. The deadlock was broken on 35 minutes as Lewis whipped in a free-kick and Dan Sassi had beaten his marker at the near-post to head home the opener for the hosts.

Posh were inches away from grabbing an equaliser on the stroke of half-time as Kai Corbett’s cross was cleared off the line by Alex Healy-Bryne. However, Posh brought the scores level within a minute of the second half as Corbett played a lovely ball through to Lewis Darlington and he slotted the ball past the keeper.

The Clarets were close to restoring their lead just before the hour mark as Lewis saw his free-kick strike against the crossbar. As the game entered the final 15 minutes, Seb Thompson saw his effort well saved by Laycock before Westley’s rebound was blocked by the Posh defence.

Corbett searched for the winner for Posh as he sent a low free-kick to the near-post, but Charlie Casper was quickly across to tip the ball around the post. Sassi had an opportunity to nick the three points in the dying seconds of the game, but his sliced effort from Joe Bauress' cross went wide. 

Speaking on the game, Ryan Semple said: “Overall, it’s probably a fair result. We started brightly and was on the front foot, got into some good areas but just lacked that final ball. After about 25 minutes, we lost a bit of control and they grew into the game and they took the lead. We spoke at half-time about being a little more aggressive when we are pressing and we came out quickly in the second half and saw us grab the equaliser, which was a good move involving Kai and was great for Lewis to score.

“The rest of the half saw both sides struggling to control the game, it was quite end-to-end and we both had a few chances. It ended as a draw and I think that was reflective of the game. The under 18s players also got some good minutes in the end. Harry Titchmarsh and Matt Laycock started, Benjamin Arthur got half an hour, Ben Challinor got the whole second half and Reuben Marshall got about 20 minutes. So, it was good for those under 18s players to get that experience against a strong side.”

Posh XI: Laycock, Dreyer, Powell, Harris, Lamb, Butler, Mensah, Titchmarsh, Darlington, Chiha, Corbett.

Subs: West, Arthur, Challinor, Dornelly, Marshall.