Posh Women Development Squad

Posh Women Development Squad beaten by Thrapston Town Ladies.

A young Peterborough United Women’s Development Squad fell to a 3-2 defeat to Thrapston Town Ladies on Sunday afternoon in the East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League, with six, including five from Emerging Talent Centre, named in the matchday squad.

Posh started the game well and created their first opportunity inside two minutes as Maddison Moore’s shot was tipped onto the crossbar by the goalkeeper. Aliyah Palmer latched onto Edyn Osker’s diagonal cross, but saw her first-time effort fall wide of the post. 

Minutes later, Ellie Scotland drove forward on the right, but fired her shot well over the crossbar. The deadlock was eventually broken on 18 minutes as Scotland’s deflected cross fell kindly to Taya SMITH, who headed calmly over the on-rushing goalkeeper.

Thrapston Town equalised five minutes later as their striker met a pass on the edge of the area and fired a shot into the top right corner, giving debutant Sophie Dellar no chance in goal. Thrapston almost took the lead immediately after a corner wreaked havoc with the ball eventually being cleared away. 

On 40 minutes, Thrapston were awarded a penalty after Alice Macnicol was judged to have handled the ball from a corner kick scramble and their striker stepped up and slotted the ball into the back of the net.

The second half started quietly, but it was Posh who carved the first chance once again as Scotland’s cross was headed on by Smith, who saw her effort saved by the keeper. Moments later, Osker saw a close-range free-kick tipped over the crossbar by the goalkeeper. 

It proved unfortunate that Posh did not make the most of these chances as Thrapston extended their lead on 75 minutes as a through ball on the right was met by their striker who fired low past diving Dellar into the bottom corner. Posh fought back and made it 3-2 on 85 minutes as SCOTLAND collected the ball on the edge of the area and curled an effort into the top right corner. 

Manager Shaun Harley spoke after the game, “We’ve created an abundance of chances and had the better of the play. The two goals scored we worked hard for, but the disappointing thing is the three goals we conceded were errors on our part. The players will bounce back and gain a lot from experiences like this. We had five players from the ETC playing today and they should be proud of their performances. They played well against a fully-grown first team, which only bodes well for their future progress.”

POSH XI: Dellar, King, Barnes, Wheatley, Macnicol, Moore, Osker, Curson, Scotland, Palmer, Smith.

Subs Used: O’Connor, Goodwin, McMichael.

Written By Lauren Shiels.

Photo credit: @lucytibbsphoto