Peterborough United dropped to 11th in League One after a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Wrexham, with a former Posh hero piling the misery onto boss Darren Ferguson.
Jack Marriott was instrumental in their downfall, opening the scoring for Wrexham with a deflected effort after receiving a pass from George Dobson. Max Cleworth then doubled the visitors’ lead with a powerful header from a Tom O’Connor corner.
The home side struggled to break down a solid Wrexham defence, which recorded a third clean sheet in four games. Despite a stronger second-half performance, Peterborough could not find the back of the net, with their best chance falling to Malik Mothersille in the first half, only for his effort to be denied by the crossbar.
Chris Conn-Clarke came close for Peterborough in the second half with a curling shot that narrowly missed the target, but it was a frustrating afternoon for the hosts, who were unable to capitalise on their opportunities.
Paul Mullin, making his second appearance for Wrexham after surgery, nearly added a third goal for the visitors with a long-range effort that just missed. He also had a clear chance to extend the lead further, but his volley went wide following a promising run by Ryan Barnett.
The defeat marks Peterborough’s second in the league this season, while Wrexham celebrated their first away win, climbing two places in the early table.
“I felt we were in control of the game, had a lot of possession but didn’t do a lot with it to be honest,” said Posh boss Darren Ferguson.
“I don’t think their goalkeeper had a shot to save, which is not a good stat. We kept going but we just couldn’t find a way. We knew the first goal would be important. They’ve just sat in and let us have the ball and we couldn’t find a way of breaking them down.
“Our speed of play was too slow and we just didn’t have the quality at the top end of the pitch.”
Writer’s View
This was a tough one for Posh fans. Being 11th in the early table isn’t an issue—there’s a lot of football to play—but the fundamentals from their success over the last two seasons were missing. The one thing they’ve relied on is a fluid attack, pace, and power with plenty of goals. They barely laid a glove on the organised Wrexham outfit and paid the penalty.
Posh have also lost talent at the bottom end of the pitch, and that is showing. They’ve conceded six goals, and only five teams in the division have conceded more, with three of those in the bottom four.
It’s not panic stations just yet, but there’s a real feeling that this year, their usual play-off push might not be such a formality.
