‘Special’ Alfie May takes plaudits as Cheltenham sink Peterborough

Alfie May is “a special player” according to Cheltenham boss Wade Elliott after a stunning brace in their 3-0 win at Peterborough.

May’s astonishing first was a volley from the halfway line to make it 2-0 after 21 minutes and he smashed in another from the edge of the box to round off the scoring 16 minutes from the end.

“Alfie is a special player and the two goals are top drawer,” Elliott said.

“You talk about him being the talisman of the club and you’d never take goals like that for granted, but his work-rate epitomised the collective effort.

“He’s infectious and when he plays with that enthusiasm and spark, it transmits through to everybody.

“His first was a hell of a finish. Even the touch to set it up, not just the finish. I was watching it all the way and I was worried it was going to bounce any other way, but that would have been a travesty.

“His second was another great hit from the edge of the box and I felt we deserved it. It was well-earned.

“You know they are going to chuck everything at you but we managed it, dealt with it and when we got our moments, we were clinical.”

Cheltenham took the lead in the 15th minute when Will Ferry’s corner from the left was volleyed in by defender Tom Bradbury for his first EFL goal.

May then lit up London Road, controlling a flick-on from Ryan Jackson after Sean Long’s throw-in and smashing into the net from fully 50 yards, with goalkeeper Will Norris off his line and unable to recover.

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson immediately made a double substitution and skipper Jonson Clarke-Harris had the ball in the net before half-time, but the offside flag was raised.

Joe Ward clipped the top of the bar for Posh with a shot in the 28th minute as it remained 2-0 at the break.

Cheltenham frustrated the home side for much of the second half, before May thumped in his second – and his 50th EFL strike for the club – after a long throw from Jackson was cleared to him near the edge of the box and the Robins are now seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Posh manager Darren Ferguson blasted his players for allowing their standards to drop.

“It unfolded in the warm-up, which was awful and they got warned,” Ferguson admitted.

“I said it would be a much tougher game than what they’ve had recently because it’s games like these you have to get yourself up for it and be mentally correct, but we were way off.

“The players were unprofessional and they went away completely from the game plan. We are not good enough to just go and do our own thing.”