‘We needed that third goal’ – Darren Ferguson rues dropped points

Posted Wednesday, October 28, 2020 by PA

Darren Ferguson bemoaned his high-flying Peterborough side’s inability to finish off bottom club Burton as their five-match winning run ended with a 2-2 draw at London Road.

Brewers striker Kane Hemmings equalised twice after goals from Jonson Clarke-Harris and Joe Ward.

Ferguson said: “We’re disappointed we’ve not won it, but sometimes I’ve seen games like that where we would have lost it.

“I thought we started both halves very well, especially the second half. The real key moments of the game are the first 15 minutes of the second half. We needed to get that third goal – we were very dominant and that was probably the most control we had in the game.

“I never felt comfortable. Even though they are bottom I knew it would be a tough game. There was nothing wrong with the players’ mentality and there was no complacency. We had good energy about us but the decision-making in the first half was not good enough and we weren’t aggressive enough.

“We sorted it out in the second half but their second goal was poor.

“I said to the players I’m disappointed we’ve not won, but in the whole scheme of things we’re going well.”

Clarke-Harris scored his fifth goal of the season on 20 minutes, heading in Frankie Kent’s volley from 10 yards out.

Burton equalised on 32 minutes after Indiana Vassilev’s left-wing cross was flicked by Niall Ennis to Hemmings, who curled in from inside the area.

Posh re-took the lead three minutes after the break – Ward’s cross was headed against the post by Kent, with the ball coming out to Mark Beevers who was fouled by Sam Hughes. Clarke-Harris’ penalty was saved by Kieran O’Hara, but Ward followed up to score the rebound.

Hemmings then struck on the hour for his fourth goal in as many matches, netting after Vassilev’s effort hit the post.

Brewers boss Jake Buxton, who handed Wolves loanee Ennis a first start, said: “I’ve just told the players do not underestimate that point. The performance and character were tremendous and with the ball we played some great football and looked a threat.

“I saw glimpses of what I want from my side.

“Our forward players were a threat and teams will be petrified of the pace.

“We’ve bought players in with the right character, and when the chips are down they don’t look to blame anybody else.

“I believe on Saturday against Wimbledon we performed to a good standard, and tonight is a good building block for Saturday against Blackpool.

“I spoke to (Doncaster manager) Darren Moore about Niall. He said he works his socks off and that will do for me. I could see from the games we’ve watched he’s a talent and a threat going forward.

“He’s a top-class character with a willingness to work, and you’ve seen from his performance today he’s going to cause full-backs problems.”