Posh 2 (Barnett, Mcann) Preston NE 0 Like Rotherham and MK before them Preston NE faced the boys in blue with a, hitherto, unbeaten record in League 1 this season. Like Rotherham and MK that run came to an end at 5.50pm on a Saturday afternoon. Preston started brightly enough, creating the first shot at goal within the first 5 minutes, but it was Posh who drew first blood a couple of minutes later as Grant McCann fired a shot goal-wards from distance. Declan Rudd may well feel he could have done better, diving to his left he made a decent enough stop but only succeeded in pushing the ball a few yards away from his goalmouth and Tyrone Barnett was quickest to react to the loose ball, gratefully accepting the chance to break his duck at London Road. Buoyed by the goal Posh began to play as we know they can, ball on the floor, moving it quickly from player to player and around the pitch leaving the Lilywhites players chasing shadows at times. Chances came but Rudd was able to make good saves to atone for his earlier error. Then the moment came that probably left Rudd feeling he should have stayed in Preston. Another shot from distance by McCann, yes it was hit with pace and swerved, but it should have been a fairly routine save for any competent keeper, somehow the ball went straight through Rudds hands and rolled agonisingly (for Rudd) into the back of the net, leaving the Preston keeper on his knees, head in hands, probably wishing the pitch would open up and swallow him. With the keeper's confidence temporarily shot Posh pushed forward and should have scored on more than one occasion, instead opting to dilly-dally on the edge of the area instead of shooting - it had worked twice before why not try again? If you don't shoot you don't score. Apart from a couple of good saves Bobby Olejnik was a virtual spectator during the first half. As Posh trooped off to a well-deserved round of applause at half time we all expected them to come back out fired up by Fergie's team talk and go for the jugular. It was not to be. Preston made 2 changes at half time and came at Posh with a vengeance. When we did have the ball the Posh tempo was too slow, passes misplaced or we ended up playing head Tennis either side of the centre circle. Otherwise all the good play was from Preston as they pushed forward, first to any loose ball and Bobby was the busier of the keepers, having to make a number of saves. on the occasions when he was beaten the woodwork twice came to our rescue. Former Bolton and Premiership player Kevin Davies was reputed to be on the pitch though little was seen of him thanks to fine defending and marking by Gaby Zakuani. Paul Taylor was the catalyst for much that was good about Posh in the first half, his strength on the ball and dribbling skills causing problems for the Preston defenders. Jack Payne was another player to have a good game, let us hope his injury is not too serious. For once we had a decent referee who, to his credit, tried to keep the game flowing where possible, though how he or his linesman failed to see the constant fouling on Britt Assombalonga I do not know - a shame his great strike on goal was ruled out by the off-side flag. Posh were good in the first half, average in the second (mainly because Preston got stuck in and did not give them time on the ball), in the end what should have been a much harder game became a routine win thanks to the Posh woodwork and the generosity of Declan Rudd.
Another good 3 points for you OPP. Having a vested interest in Rudd, what do you think of him, and do you think he might make the grade at a higher level?
Jekyll and Hyde performance for him today Maestro, should have done better with the first goal and totally at fault for the second. In the second half a woeful kick out skidded along the pitch to the halfway line and was almost put straight back into the net by Assombalonga, yet he also made a number of good saves as well, without him Preston would have been 4 or 5 down by the break. I think once his confidence is restored he will go on to be a good keeper.
I'm better than Joe Lewis! Seriously, I would need to see more of him to decide. Rudd's performance today was very Lewis-esque, but Joe Lewis failed to progress enough at Posh (though a lot of the problem IMO was down to inadequate coaching). Joe's replacement, Paul Jones, started very well but then deteriorated. Since we changed our goalkeeping coach the keepers we have used have looked far more competent.
Rudd's a decent keeper pulled off some great saves this season sadly though when keeper cock up, usually results in a goal, good fair report Oldposhpete
