Peterborough United and Bolton Wanderers delivered a superb six-goal spectacle to end the League One season

Just fleetingly the visitors to the Weston Homes Stadium threatened to upset the odds in the race for automatic promotion by scoring twice in the opening nine minutes, but an early goal for second-placed Derby County against relegated Carlisle meant there was then little to play for, other than pride for both teams.

It didn’t seem to matter in an explosive second-half which featured some outstanding counter-attacking football from Posh who went in in front with two goals from Malik Mothersille and one from Joel Randall, only to concede a late equaliser following a defensive error and a rather fortunate ricochet.

It finished 3-3 which was probably a satisfactory outcome. Certainly a Wembley re-match would be a mouth-watering prospect, not that anyone in either camp will be thinking about that just yet.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson picked his strongest possible side with the exception of injury victims Kwame Poku and Ricky-Jade Jones. The latter picked up a knock in the Tuesday game at Cheltenham.

Posh made eight changes to the team that delivered a poor display in Gloucestershire with Jadel Katongo, Mothersille and David Ajiboye the only survivors from the wreckage. Centre-back Romoney Crichlow was left out of today’s squad altogether.

Bolton’s slim chance of a top two finish ensured they fielded a strong side, one that included former Posh men Ricardo Santos and Kyle Dempsey, with ex-London Road loanee Nathanael Ogbeta on the bench.

Posh expected a strong start from a Bolton team keen to put as much pressure as possible on Derby, but they still wilted in the face of it, conceding twice in the first 10 minutes.

Posh ‘keeper Jed Steer made a decent second-minute save to keep out a close-range Dion Charles header, but the corner was recycled efficiently and Dempsey nodded it home from close range.

Bolton’s second goal arrived from the penalty spot after referee Bobby Madley decided Hector Kyprianou had used too much contact to challenge Randell Williams in a non-threatening area and Charles slotted home the spot-kick to add to the two he scored in this fixture last season on his way to a hat-trick.

Madley’s threshold for a foul had been set very low, but to be fair he stuck to it when awarding the visitors a succession of free-kicks for flops of variable seriousness.

It was proving a bit harder for Posh to win a free-kick, especially Ephron Mason-Clark who was manhandled throughout the first-half. Even a crack in the face didn’t win a free-kick.

Posh looked like they could cause Bolton issues defensively. Mason-Clark freed Mothersille on 18 minutes, but his finish was weak.

And four minutes before the break a superb pass from Harrison Burrows sent Mason-Clark away. There was no Bolton player close enough to foul him this time, but he steered his shot disappointingly wide of the target.

Pleasingly Madley went off at the interval and a football match was allowed to break out. And a quite superb spectacle it became as Posh fought back thrillingly with some some outstanding counter-attacking football.

They exposed the lack of pace at the back with Ajiboye and Mothersille particularly troublesome. The pair combined five minutes after the break after Hector Kyprianou’s superb pass freed Ajiboye who centred for Mothersille to convert from close range.

Shots started to rain in on the Bolton goal. Most were blocked or deflected wide, but Posh again breached a cumbersome backline to equalise midway through the second-half. Mason-Clark was the provider, finding Randall who sprinted away and delivered a quality dinked finish over Bolton ‘keeper Nathan Baxter.

Posh were now dominant and, urged on by a passionate home crowd, managed to get in front with a high-class goal. The pass from Burrows to Randall was exceptional and Randall’s cross was so perfect Mothersille couldn’t miss after taking up a perfect position.

There were still 11 minutes to go and Bolton used only three of them to get level. Ogbeta supplied the cross, but it should have been easy clearance for Josh Knight. Instead the centre-back missed the ball completely and it hit visiting substitute Cameron Jerome and flew into the net.

A minute before the third Posh goal, another Bolton replacement Dan Nlundulu had poked a presentable chance over the bar and in added time a superb Burrows cross found home substitute Jonson Clarke-Harris whose goalbound header was deflected over the crossbar.

The draw was probably fair and no-one should have been surprised to see the two top-scoring sides in the division provide a sumptuous six-goal thriller. Let’s hope they get to do it again in a couple of weeks.

Posh: Jed Steer, Harrison Burrows, Ronnie Edwards, Josh Knight, Jadel Katongo (sub James Dornelly 58 mins), Archie Collins, Hector Kyprianou, Ephron Mason-Clark (sub Emmanuel Fernandez, 87 mins), Joel Randall, David Ajiboye (sub Jonson Clarke-Harris, 81 mins), Malk Mothersille.

Unused subs: Nicholas Bilokapic, Ryan De Havilland, Jacob Wakeling, Michael Olakigbe.

Bolton: Nathan Baxter, Josh Dacres-Cogley, Gethin Jones, Ricardo Santos (sub Caleb Taylor, 80 mins), Eoin Toal, Randell Williams (sub Nathanael Ogbeta, 68 mins), Josh Sheehan, George Thomason (sub Aaron Morley, 66 min), Kyle Dempsey, Dion Charles (sub Cameron Jerome, 74 mins), Aaron Collins (sub Dan Nlundulu, 74 mins).

Unused subs: Jack Iredale, Zac Ashworth.

Goals: Posh – Mothersille (50 mins & 79 mins), Randall (67 mins).

Bolton – Dempsey (4 mins), Charles (pen, 9 mins), Jerome (82 mins).

Cautions: Posh – Randall (foul).

Bolton – Dacres-Cogley (foul), Thomason (foul), Toal (foul)

Referee: Bobby Madley 4 (sub Scott Tallis, 46 mins 7).

Attendance: 11,643 (approx 2,000 Bolton).