Injury-hit Wanderers dug in to stop the rot and end their campaign on the road with a first point in five games, writes Pete Oliver.
With their season effectively coming to an end over the Easter weekend on the back of successive defeats, the Whites showed some real resolve to prevent the Vertu Trophy winners from signing off at home on a high.
The Whites conceded one penalty and survived another thanks to Luke Southwood’s second-half save. But after an equaliser from birthday boy Chris Forino, Steven Schumacher’s men deserved some reward from a positive performance which could have been a winning had they taken a couple of late chances in a sustained late push.
Perhaps indicative of recent weeks the pivotal goal wouldn’t come but Wanderers at least showed a togetherness and collective spirit to not allow the season to completely fizzle out with a home game against Stevenage to come next week to hopefully finish on a winning note.
With a dozen senior players unavailable and nothing tangible to play for Wanderers made six changes to their starting line-up following the loss at Lincoln City which had finally ended their lingering play-off hopes.
Schumacher also had four youth-teamers on the bench and after handing 19-year-old Sam Inwood a league debut saw the defender make an assured start – which he built on throughout an impressive 90 minutes – in a bright opening from the Whites.
Szabi Schön provided the one good piece of injury news and on his return from a five-match absence created an early chance for John McAtee with a lovely pass in behind the Posh defence.
McAtee took the ball in his stride and forced a decent save out of Will Blackmore, who then blocked from Joel Randall and saw another effort from the ex-Peterborough man fly just wide.
Wanderers played with a decent tempo as they looked to avoid fifth successive defeat but then fell behind to almost a first attack from a Peterborough side which also mixed things up after securing their League One safety last weekend.
Malik Mothersille’s run into the penalty area had the Whites on the back foot and even though Jay Matete’s contact was minimal, referee Ruebyn Ricardo saw enough of a pull to award a spot-kick and a yellow card to Matete.
Mothersille rolled his penalty past Southwood, who was back in the Wanderers’ side and moments later saved a Mothersille header before Gustav Lindgren lifted the rebound over the bar from close range with a great chance to make it 2-0.
And to Wanderers’ credit, they made the most of that let-off to level with just over half an hour gone. Randall looked as though he might silence his former fans as the Whites tried to make a successive corner count but instead it was Forino who pounced on a loose ball to drill home a deserved equaliser on his 25th birthday.
Neither side then settled for the status quo, even if the lack of jeopardy took some of the edge off in end-of-season type conditions.
Wanderers kept plugging away as McAtee had a shot blocked on the break but after home boss Darren Ferguson had sent on the departing pair of Kwame Poku and Rickay-Jade Jones for a London Road farewell Posh were given another penalty and the chance to regain the lead.
It was another soft one as Mothersille fell over the legs of George Thomason but this time the forward’s stuttering run-up found him out as his effort lacked the conviction to beat Southwood, who guessed left and made a smart save low down to his left.
Schumacher made a change of his own as he sent on Aaron Collins to try and find a winner and the Whites’ top scorer claimed a penalty of his own – not given – when he went down in the box.
Wanderers – with teenager Daeshon Lawrence on for his debut – had a real go to try and win it as they saw a succession of shots charged down but Mothersille remained the central character as he again had the chance to settle it but from Poku’s lovely run and cross skied a volley over the bar.
At the other end Collins was denied by Blackmore and put a couple of efforts wide as Wanderers also tried to turn one point into three to give their final week of the campaign some momentum. And with a couple of minutes to go they should have done it but having wriggled free and got past Blackmore, McAtee’s attempted finish hit the post to deny the visiting fans behind that goal something to celebrate.
Wanderers: Southwood; Jones, Forino, Inwood, Murphy (Rice 90+4); Matete; Schön (Lawrence 78), Thomason, Lolos (Collins 74), Randall; McAtee (Abimbola 90+4). Substitutes: Baxter, Collins, Irwin, Hogan.
Booked: Lolos, Matete, Forino, Thomason, Randall
Peterborough United: Blackmore; Johnston, Hughes, Nevitt, Mills (Dornelly 74); De Havilland, O’Brien-Brady; Odoh (Poku 61), Conn-Clarke (Kyprianou 73), Mothersille (Shofowoke 89); Lindgren (Jones 61). Substitutes: Steer, Dornelly, Mendonca.
Booked: Mothersille, De Havilland, Odoh, Kyprianou.
Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo