Peterborough 2, Middlesbrough 2

Nov 30 2009 The Journal

GORDON Strachan refused to point to a late stonewall penalty that wasn’t given as an excuse for his side’s disappointing 2-2 draw at basement boys Peterborough.

Middlesbrough defender Sean St Ledger was chopped down in a crowded box in what the Strachan insisted was an “obvious” spot kick 10 minutes from time. But he declined to blame that watershed moment as blundering Boro dropped two precious Championship points at London Road.

“There’s no point in debating that,” he said. “It was so obvious. But I don’t want to see headlines blasting the referee because we had enough chances to win the game.”

St Ledger insisted he should have been given what may have been a crucial penalty after he was sent tumbling by Aaron McLean.

“The ball was rolling free after the penalty and we both went for it. He dived in and caught me and I went flying. For me it was 100% a penalty,” said St Ledger.

A double strike by on-loan Stoke hitman Dave Kitson handed the initiative to Boro but he narrowly missed out on claiming a hat-trick, while Leroy Lita was twice denied after good efforts and Adam Johnson fired just over.

But it wasn’t just missing chances that prevented Strachan celebrating his first win in four games since taking charge at the Riverside.

Costly sloppy lapses in concentration at the back as Boro failed to deal with the aftermath of set pieces twice handed rock bottom Posh equalisers that their spirit and persistence deserved.

“Of course it is frustrating when you have the lead in football matches but don’t go on to win them,” said Strachan, with his side now 13 points behind Newcastle after a stuttering run since Gareth Southgate left with the team one point off the pace. “We just have to work on that aspect of the game and improve our awareness in moments of danger.”

Despite the draw Strachan saw reasons to be positive. “There was far more right with our performance than wrong”, he insisted. “We played a lot of good football and we had more than enough chances to win the game.

“In fact, we have created so many chances we could quite easily have won three of the four games I’ve been in charge for. The football Gods weren’t with us today.”