It was the final match of the season and the only thing riding on this match was who would finish above who in the League.
Posh fans knew exactly what they were in for as soon as the teams were announced as 33-goal League One Golden Boot winner Jack Marriott was named on the bench! With the impending departure of Marriott for a multi-million pound figure, you could understand the thinking behind the move but for the near 600 Posh fans that had travelled down to the south coast, it was disappointing not to see Marriott play for one last time.
As far as the match went, Posh competed for the first 10 minutes or so but as soon as Pompey’s top scorer Brett Pitman had nodded them in front, that was the end of the contest as the majority of Posh players started packing their bags ready for their summer holiday!
Pitman went on to score a second after just 25 minutes of the match and should’ve had a third in the first-half but saw his effort go over the bar from just three yards!
Teenage striker Idris Kanu had the daunting task of filling in for Marriott and although he chased things, he once again showed that he should be nowhere near the first team squad and if he is kept on, he needs to go out on loan to get regular games under his belt.
Kanu was substituted at half-time alongside January recruit George Cooper to give another January signing Joe Ward a chance to shine alongside Danny Lloyd as Posh boss Steve Evans gave players a final chance to prove they should stay at the club next season.
Posh were slightly better in the second half but with endless punts forward to small players, it was pointless. IS this the sort of football we can expect from Evans next season? If so, we need much better (and taller) players to at least challenge the high balls.
Pitman had another chance to finish the season off with a hat-trick but his header was directed straight at loanee Jonathan Bond who was making his last appearance for Posh.
Fratton Park
Sky Bet League One
5/05/2018 6:30 pm
Attendance: 18118
Referee: John Busby
| Portsmouth | Peterborough United | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Pitman (13, 25) | |||||||
| Bass | Bond | ||||||
| Thompson | Shephard | ||||||
| Clarke | Taylor | ||||||
| Burgess | Baldwin | ||||||
| Haunstrup | Hughes | ||||||
| O'Keefe | Edwards | ||||||
| Evans | Grant | ||||||
| Close | Da Silva Lopes | ||||||
| Naismith | 77 | Maddison | |||||
| Pitman | Cooper | 45 | |||||
| Lowe | Kanu | 45 | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| McGee | Tyler | ||||||
| Hawkins | Forrester | ||||||
| Kennedy | 77 | Doughty | |||||
| Ronan | Anderson | ||||||
| Donohue | Lloyd | 45 | |||||
| Chaplin | Ward | 45 | |||||
| May | Marriott | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 12 | Goal attempts | 8 |
| 5 | On Target | 2 |
| 5 | Corners | 4 |
| 16 | Fouls | 9 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 57 | % | 43 |