Peterborough United vs Derby County. Sky Bet Championship.
Weston Homes StadiumAttendance10,477.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Peterborough and Derby County at the Weston Homes Stadium as goals from Harrison Burrows and Siriki Dembele completed a dramatic comeback for Darren Ferguson's Posh
Saturday 14 August 2021 20:00, UK
Peterborough mounted a dramatic stoppage-time comeback at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday, as they came from a goal down to beat Wayne Rooney's Derby 2-1.
The Rams had been restricted by Posh - who have suffered a testing first week back in the Championship - for long periods and their plans were hit when Colin Kazim-Richards was stretchered off with a suspected leg injury shortly after half-time.
Teenager Jack Stretton came off the bench in place of the striker and thundered in from the edge of the area after the hosts struggled to clear Graeme Shinnie's corner (77).
But at the start of an 11-minute period of stoppage-time, Derby were caught napping and Joe Ward took advantage, teeing up an unmarked Harrison Burrows to slide in the equaliser from close-range (90+1).
They sealed a hard-fought three points as another Ward delivery caused panic in the penalty area, allowing in-demand forward Siriki Dembele to set himself and guide a superb effort past Kelle Roos to spark sheer elation (90+10).
The first week of Peterborough's first season back in the Championship after eight years away had not gone as swimmingly as some might have expected, with seven goals shipped across a league and a cup game, none scored and a league-low four shots mustered in the 3-0 defeat to Luton.
As proceedings got under way against Derby, it seemed, perhaps, that the previous seven days had provided an early wake-up call. They looked well-organised and kept a Rams side brimming with experience at bay, with Tom Lawrence's hopeful shot from just beyond half way one of precious few attempts.
With 33 minutes gone, Jonson Clarke-Harris - last season's League One Golden Boot winner - collected possession, turned and put his laces through a shot from 35 yards that looked to be heading through Roos' legs before an unorthodox save denied him.
There was more concern for the visitors within minutes of the restart, as Kazim-Richards was forced off after riding the challenge of Frankie Kent. He limped to the advertising hoardings before holding his head in his hands as the severity dawned upon him.
Stretton was soon at the heart of the action and the loss of the Rams' talisman was soon forgotten - albeit briefly - as the 19-year-old seized on an attempted clearance to rifle the visitors ahead with 13 minutes left to play.
No sooner had Rooney's grimace become a smile, Posh brushed his team aside. Ward was the architect on not one but two occasions, sweeping the ball across the box for Burrows to slot home, before delivering a similar ball that, after it got stuck between the legs of Nathan Byrne, was tucked away by Dembele.
Peterborough's Darren Ferguson: "The players deserve a lot of credit to turn it round and a get result. We knew the injury time would play a big part in the game as it would get the team going who were behind. That was us and as soon as we got the equaliser I felt something good could happen.
"Harrison got himself into a great position to bring us level and it was a really good, composed finish from Siriki at such a key moment in the game. We have a great record of coming back in games and it's vital we are able to keep doing that and picking up points at home. The Championship is a relentless league and I stressed to the players it was important to get some points on the board from this game so I'm delighted with how we did it."
Derby's Wayne Rooney: "I never felt in any danger at all throughout the 90 minutes, but unfortunately lapses in concentration and individual mistakes have cost us in injury time. It's frustrating to concede two goals in the way we did after being the better team overall and deserving the win, but that's football. You don't keep your concentration you get punished.
"We put a lot of work in and yet we go away with nothing to show for it. As a manager you can cope with players making mistakes. What you can't deal with is them not trying and every single one of our lads gave everything for us."
Peterborough are next in action at 7.45pm on Tuesday, August 17, when they host Cardiff at the Weston Homes Stadium, while Derby travel to the MKM Stadium to face Hull at the same time the following evening.
