The First Time Ever I Saw Your Ground: Peterborough United, London Road and the ABAX stadium

John McCormick writes: It was an easy walk from our house to the railway bridge where, if you timed it right, you could be enveloped by the steam emitted from the likes of the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard as they thundered up and down the line between London and Newcastle (our thoughts never went further north). Only now, while looking for material to embellish this tale, have I found out what class of engine they were.

Pete Sixsmith, of course, knew. Is there nothing this man cannot turn his hand to?

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Peterborough United vs Sunderland: the stakes are high

There IS a prize and you know what it is

We did what was necessary against Doncaster Rovers. We are still masters of our own destiny. But that could change if we falter against Posh.

With so few games left, there is no further leeway. The results of others have to be matched. If they are, we go up automatically, without the ordeal of playoffs.

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Portsmouth, Luton, Barnsley and Sunderland, plus Charlton – the League One breakaway group?

Part one of  our mid-season review looked forward to the Christmas games.

Part two looked at what had happened up to New Year’s Day.

Part three was meant to go out after the Luton game. Repetitive strain injury decided otherwise and I still have to take care so here’s what I’ve managed, with a focus on a couple of comments I made towards the end of that second part:

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Salut!’s Seasonal Summary. Part Two: from Bristol to Blackpool

By now you should have read part one of this series, the preview of the Christmas period which I wrote for the SAFC programme. You might even remember some of the words I wrote, especially the conclusion:

“Christmas and early January remain crucial, which for us means holding our own away and completing doubles over Bradford and Shrewsbury at home. I’m not one for predicting results or tempting fate, and am all too aware there are no easy games in this league but I think we can do that, and I can see us still being in contention when the decorations come down.”

 

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Sixer’s Sevens: Peterborough United will be happy with that point

Pete Sixsmith  sent a text with about 20 minutes to go: “Oviedo red card. Correct and totally unnecessary” and I began to wonder  how we could hold out against a team that scores at will when we have only one clean sheet to our name. We couldn’t, but we did manage to match them and finish with a point. Should it have been three though, and will tonight come back to haunt us? We’ll find out as this season unrolls.

However, Pete’s instant seven word post-match text suggests there will be more talking points and they won’t all be about Brian Oviedo.

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Sunderland vs Peterborough ‘Who are you?’: from Posh Spice to posh football

James Bloodworth: ‘Don’t know about posh football but it’s certainly effective’

Monsieur Salut writes: as a boy, I briefly loved Peterborough United almost as much as I have most of my life loved Sunderland. There was the romance of a little club battling against official woodentops for entry into the Football League despite astonishing non-league success. Finally, they made it – and continued to excel. I’d even travel to northern grounds to see them – York, Darlo, Newcastle – and I saw them win each time. Now we meet in similar positions at or near the top of League One. Let James Bloodworth* take up the Posh story, including the bizarre tale of Victoria Beckham objecting to a nickname given to the club 53 years before she was born …

Salut! Sunderland:  what a fabulous start to the season, I remember seeing you as a possible promotion contender pre-season, but what has gone right?

James Bloodworth: fabulous is an understatement! Steve Evans has been allowed free reign to bring in his players: a luxury not many of his predecessors have had. It’s not the free flowing football that we became famous for in lower league circles over the past decade, but it’s effective! We had 19 signings over the summer, which is absolutely mental and the fact they’ve all gelled and created a solid, hard to beat unit is nothing short of miraculous.

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The First Time Ever I Saw Your Team: Peterborough United

John McCormick writes: The time’s right and I saw all of the players Pete mentions below, including George Kinnell, but I have only the most fleeting memories of this game.  So fleeting that the scoreline rings no bells with me, and surely it should.

Could it be that I wasn’t there and I’m suffering from false memory syndrome because I can’t bear to have missed such a score?

There’s no such doubt troubling Pete Sixsmith. He was there. He saw it. And he hasn’t forgotten:

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SAFC vs Peterborough prize Guess the Score: more than a mug at stake

Jake: ‘Like a cup final? Nah, much more important than that!’

If Sunderland beat Peterborough on Tuesday night, that would be our result of the season so far.

Posh have been playing outstanding football and are still second, two places above us, despite unexpectedly dropping two home points against Blackpool while we, slightly disappointingly, could only draw at Coventry, What greater test of the Jack Ross revolution could there be at this stage of our own season?

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