Posh U21s into the next round of Senior Hillier Cup after victory over The Saints.
Peterborough United U21s progressed into the next round of the Senior Hillier Cup after a 3-0 victory over Brackley Town on Tuesday evening, with Will Van Lier netting on his first start since returning from injury.
It was a much-changed squad for the under 21s on the visit to St James Park, with a number of trialists used on the evening and the players, who weren’t involved in the Premier League Cup clash against Sunderland the night before, also featuring for Posh.
The deadlock was broken on 16 minutes as Van Lier picked the ball up on the edge of the box, and with the ball on the bounce, the midfielder lofted the ball over the goalkeeper and into the top corner.
Posh doubled their lead on 73 minutes as the ball was through to Tyler Winters, he evaded the challenge of a defender before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper. It became three just three minutes later as Trialist D advanced into the box and converted from just outside the six-yard box.
Speaking on the game, Ryan Semple said: “It was a professional performance from everyone. After having the game on Monday, we had some players that played periods in that, getting home in the early hours of the morning and then going again at Brackley. We also had a few younger players in there alongside some trialists, so I thought it was very professional and it didn’t seem like it was the first time the majority of these players had played together before.
“I thought we took control of the game pretty quickly, had a spell just before the break where we were under a little bit of pressure, but managed that well. We scored a good goal ourselves and then the second half was very comfortable. Will [Van Lier] came on against Barnsley last week, featured on Monday night at Sunderland and then played about just an hour against Brackley Town, he was sharp and took his goal very well. Most importantly, with the time he has been out injured, it was great to see him out there and see him happy.”
Posh XI: Trialist A, Trialist B, Thomas, Fox, Mills, McGlinchey, Lamb, Van Lier, Trialist C, Winters, Trialist D.
Subs: West, Challinor, Rose, Trialist E, Kelmendi.