Why it's crucial Peterborough United score the first goal in a game and it's time for the support cast to make bigger contributions

A poor performance and a damaging 2-0 defeat in a lunchtime kick-off at Cambridge United was quickly followed by early goals for play-off rivals Bolton Wanderers and Derby County.

That was enough to shuffle Posh out of the play-off places and there they sat until 4.51pm when Bristol Rovers converted a 95th minute penalty to move Darren Ferguson’s men back above the Rams.

It was only a small crumb of comfort on the first dreadful day Posh have suffered for some time. To have a top six spot in your own hands with four games to go is a wonderful position given the poor run of form that led to Ferguson returning in January.

But this was a great chance missed. Kicking off early against the team who started the day third from bottom should have led to Posh putting extra pressure on their biggest rivals before they started their own awkward fixtures.

Instead it was those trying to keep Cambridge in the relegation places who were forced to respond to a rival winning three important points and none of them managed it.

Other talking points from Cambridge 2, Posh 0…

1) Scoring first is vital in Posh games so Ephron Mason-Clark’s horrible miss just a few minutes before Cambridge took the lead was arguably the game’s most decisive moment. Posh haven’t come from behind to win a game since the October 25 home success over Accrington. Posh haven’t come from behind to get a point since the Boxing Day draw at Charlton. But Posh also haven’t dropped a point from a winning position since defeat at Exeter on November 12. They haven’t lost after scoring first since the October 15 loss at Wycombe.

2) There have been enough examples of struggling sides beating League One promotion contenders in recent weeks to have ensured Posh guarded against complacency yesterday. Only the frightening Ipswich Town team have avoided banana skins. I wouldn’t blame complacency for this result though. Days when Posh pass the ball so slowly they struggle to open up average teams have arrived too often this season. If Posh don’t play quickly and aggressively they struggle and it happened at the worst possible venue on this occasion. Lethargy doesn’t always mean a lack of effort though, but It can lead to, too many soft, safe options in possession.

3) Posh missed injury victim Joe Ward for sure. When on form he tends to take a touch and deliver a cross. Jonson Clarke-Harris knows when the ball is on its way. Ephron Mason-Clark and Kwame Poku can take too many touches before delivering meaning defenders have time to get set. It was pleasing to see Posh boss Darren Ferguson didn’t blame Ward’s absence for the loss at Cambridge though. Posh have enjoyed an injury-free run of late and Ward was the only absentee of significance yesterday. It’s doubtful any side has a full strength starting XI at this time of a season. Cambridge were missing two first-choice members of their back four yesterday and still kept a clean sheet rather comfortably. Bolton had a makeshift bck three on the pitch at Oxford and found a way to win.

4) When star men like Mason-Clark and Clarke-Harris have off days like yesterday, others need to step up. Instead Harrison Burrows couldn’t find space and when he did receive possession he inevitably went backwards, apart from one optimistic punt at goal from about 40 yards out. And Kwame Poku clearly didn’t enjoy being shunted out to the wing to cover for Ward, although when he was switched inside he fared little better. Posh now need to respond as they did after losing badly at home to Cheltenham, this time by winning well away from home at Accrington Stanley on Tuesday. With Ipswich looming at London Road next Saturday this really is a must-win fixture no matter how Derby and Bolton fare at Exeter and Burton respectively on the same night.

5) It was strange to see Mason-Clark switch wings for the second-half. He’d enjoyed a good first-half battle against former Peterborough Sports loanee Liam Bennett from the start and he muscled his way past his marker to generate the only Posh scoring chance of the first-half. But he was despatched to the other side for the second-half to play in a very advanced wing-back position and promptly disappeared. Another problem with Ward’s absence is it stops Posh switching smoothly to three centre-backs and wing-backs.

6) Don’t ever underestimate the influence of our referees on results and final reckonings. Ross Joyce was excellent in the first-half at Cambridge. He ignored flops designed to win soft free kicks and kept the play moving, but in the second-half he flipped into a whistle-happy official which suited the team in front. Posh were so bad it’s doubtful the nailed on caution for Ryan Bennett and the obvious late penalty for a foul on Clarke-Harris that Joyce ignored influenced the result, but certainly a goal with a few minutes left might have made Cambridge nervous. I must admit I held my breath when a caution for dissent for Jack Taylor led to the midfielder applauding the official, but by then Joyce had moved away to caution Posh goalkeeping coach Mark Tyler, before only adding 4 minutes on at the end of game when there had been NINE substitutions and several minutes of timewasting from the home goalkeeper. Our referees are so illogical and appear to be poorly trained and advised. For further proof look at the ludicrous decision to show Bolton goalkeeper James Trafford a yellow card in the first half at Oxford yesterday after he hacked a player down who would have had an obvious goalscoring opportunity. That one decision had massive ramifications at both ends of the table.