Posh Women were beaten 2-0 by Sporting Khalsa at Guardian Warehousing Arena.
Peterborough United Women suffered defeat in their opening game of the FA Women’s National League Division One Midlands campaign after two goals in the second half from Sporting Khalsa condemned Dan Lawlor’s side to a 2-0 loss on Sunday afternoon.
After a quiet opening 10 minutes to the game, it was Posh who came the closest to breaking the deadlock as Kayleigh Aylmer’s corner found Jess Driscoll and her header was kept out by Natalie Hall. Keir Perkins and Cassie Steward, who began the game as a strike partnership, linked up as the former pass found Steward inside the box, but her effort was saved by the keeper.
Sporting Khalsa carved out their first opportunity of the game on the half-hour mark as Woolston outran the Posh defence to get onto a through ball and Neive Corry got down low to keep out her effort. The hosts went close again in the closing stages of the half, but were thwarted by an excellent sliding block from Lucie Mugridge after Sporting Khalsa looked to convert from close-range on the rebound.
The hosts ended the first half as the stronger side and produced the best chance of the game on 41 minutes as Angel Craig-Tappa shot was inches wide of the far post after a mistimed clearance from Elloise Copson allowed the forward through.
Perkins had an excellent opportunity straight after the break, but her lofted effort just went wide after some brilliant skill from Driscoll to evade her marker before picking out the Posh captain. Dan Lawlor made his first change on 55 minutes as Faith Horner replaced Stacey McConville.
At the hour mark, Posh believed they should have been awarded a penalty as Jess Evans broke through on-goal, one-on-one with the keeper but was pushed to the floor, however, the referee waved away any appeals.
Posh made two further changes in quick succession as Cassie Steward and Kayleigh Aylmer were replaced by Tara Kirk and Evie Driscoll-King. The deadlock was broken on 67 minutes as Sporting Khalsa’s Lucy Taylor handed them the lead after nicking the ball from Niamh Connor inside the box before firing past the Posh keeper.
Corry produced a wonderful diving save from a 25-yard free-kick to keep the deficit down, but the hosts doubled their advantage shortly after as Becky Hall flicked on the corner at the near-post past Corry.
Posh XI: Corry, K. Steward, Copson, Mugridge, Connor, Aylmer (Driscoll-King, 63 min), McConville (Horner, 55 min), Evans, Driscoll, Perkins, C. Steward (Kirk, 65 min).
Subs Not Used: Hendrick, Oliveria.