Posh Under 21s continued their pre-season campaign today as they faced Norwich City Under 21s side at the Lotus Training Centre in a pre-season friendly. In a tough encounter, Posh were beaten 5-1 by the Premier League 2 outfit. A young Posh side, made up of Under 21s and Under 18s along with a number trialists, faced a stern test against strong opposition and despite a positive first 60 minutes a flurry of late goals put them on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Posh took an early lead following a goal-line scramble where Max Beech found the bottom corner to open the scoring. The lead lasted until 29 minutes when the hosts equalised with a well struck effort past the trialist in the Posh goal. Heavy pressure ensued from the home side before the break but a strong defensive display in the final 15 minutes of the half from the Posh backline kept the scores level at the break. A quiet start to the second half was impacted when the home side made changes. They took the lead from the penalty spot in the 71st minute. As the game entered the final 20 minutes the Canaries began to take control, adding a further three goals.
Under 21s Manager Ryan Semple pointed out that he felt there was a ‘clear distinction’ between the performances in the first 60 minutes and the final half an hour.
Speaking about the first hour the gaffer, drawing out positives, said: “For the first hour I thought we were good, we got our goal, we created some good openings and defended really well when we needed to.
“Norwich City are an excellent team and caused us problems, they grew into the game late on when our boys started to feel the effects of our busy pre-season schedule.”
Posh Under 21s travel up north next Saturday where they will face a tough challenge from Liverpool’s Under 21s. Semple spoke about the upcoming test after today’s match. Looking ahead to the fixture against another high level opposition he said: “We will work again this week, firstly we will close off today and look at what we have done well, what we haven’t done well and look to improve on those things as we move forward.”
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