Posh U21s beaten by The U’s.
Peterborough United U21s fell to a 3-0 defeat to Colchester United U21s in the opening game of their Professional Development League campaign on Tuesday afternoon at the Weston Homes Stadium.
The visitors carved out the first opportunity of the game inside the opening minute as a cross into the box was met by Donnell Thomas, but his header went over the bar. Hisham Chiha created the first chance for Posh on five minutes as Dennis Kelmendi’s low cross found the midfielder, but his low-driven effort was straight at Tom Smith.
Gabe Overton had a good opportunity to break the deadlock on 10 minutes as Benjamin Arthur played the forward through on-goal, he advanced into the box and forced Smith into a good save with his feet.
Both sides struggled to create opportunities for the rest of the first half, with the visitors going close in the closing stages as Jake Hutchinson was picked out in acres of space inside the box, but Jake West produced a good save to deny The U’s forward.
Overton saw his effort on the half-volley pushed away by Smith six minutes after the restart but moments later, it was Colchester United who broke the deadlock as Kaan Bennett advanced into the box before slotting the ball home into the far corner.
The visitors doubled their lead just four minutes later as Thomas picked up the ball, charged into the box and fired a low-driven effort past West. Posh searched for a way back into the game as David Kawa’s low cross found Kelmendi, but his effort was tipped around the post by Smith.
Posh made two changes on 66 minutes as Harry Titchmarsh and Aaron Powell were replaced by Ben Challinor and Harley Mills. A lofted ball over the top from Charlie O’Connell set Overton through, but his attempted chip just dropped over the bar and behind the goal.
It was three on 72 minutes as a corner into the box was kept alive by their defender and Oscar Thorn was on hand to tap home from close-range. The U’s were awarded a penalty in the final stages of the game as O’Connell was penalised for a trip on Kenny Mupomba, but Chay Cooper sent his spot-kick over the bar.
Posh XI: West, Dornelly (Bodnar, 75min), Arthur, O’Connell, Powell (Mills, 66min), Chiha (Dreyer, 88min), Titchmarsh (Challinor, 66min), Kelmendi, O’Brien-Brady, Kawa, Overton (Winters, 75min).