Match report for the away defeat in the evening clash with Peterborough United
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Craig Mackail-Smith celebrated his return to the Peterborough United starting line-up with a goal that consigned Sheffield United to yet another away defeat, a 1-0 reverse at London Road
It was the seventh successive setback on the road for Kevin Blackwell's notoriously poor travellers and after going behind five minutes before the break, they never looked like rescuing even a point.
Although manager Jim Gannon has conceded that bottom of the table Posh are destined to make a rapid return to League One, they are not going down without a fight and Mackail-Smith set the standard with a display of non-stop running and sheer effort.
Posh quickly settled to their task with Lee Frecklington crossing for Dominic Green to fire straight at Mark Bunn, before Frecklington himself sent a low drive narrowly wide.
Bunn also did well to pull down a soaring Tommy Rowe centre under strong pressure from home frontmen Liam Dickinson and Aaron McLean.
Ched Evans was booked for a challenge on Posh goalkeeper Joe Lewis in a rare United break, but hurt himself in the process and was soon replaced by Henri Camara.
Then Nyron Nosworthy's name also found its way into referee Jamail Singh's book for a foul.
Nosworthy did well to put a Dickinson cross behind for a corner, but it brought pressure on the United goal with Green's flag-kick headed against the underside of the bar by Charlie Lee.
Mackail-Smith won a scramble to get to the loose ball and his header went in past a despairing Bunn, again off the bar.
There was a crazy start to the second half with Sergio Torres, who ran out to replace Frecklington without being officially substituted, yellow-carded for his trouble before even touching the ball.
Posh did go through the correct procedure when McLean gave way to Exdous Geohaghon on 68 minutes and the long-haired midfielder was soon forcing United to pack their penalty area with his trademark long throws, although Posh never succeeded in getting a second goal to kill off the game completely. |
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