24/01/2024 15:58
Peterborough United have completed the line-up for the quarter finals of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy after coming from behind to beat Crawley at London Road.
The tie between the pair had been cancelled last week due to a frozen pitch, with the two teams meeting to discover who would earn a home tie against AFC Wimbledon in the next round.
Peterborough went into the game on the back of a third successive League 1 victory, which had seen Posh maintain a spot in the automatic promotion places – a point behind Portsmouth but with a game in hand.
Crawley meanwhile were returning to action for the first time since 13 January after the weekend trip to Wimbledon fell foul of the freezing conditions.
Despite sitting mid-table in League 2, it was the visitors who took the lead when Nick Tsaroulla curled in from the edge of the box to finish off a slick move.
However, Peterborough battled back into the game, with full-back Harrison Burrows cutting in from the left and hitting a shot that deflected over ‘keeper Corey Addai off the leg of Tsaroulla.
Peterborough hit the front before half-time when Ephron Mason-Clark picked up a loose pass from the visiting defence to strike the ball beyond Addai, giving the home side a 2-1 lead at the break.
Danilo Orsi and Klaidi Lolos both went close for Crawley whilst Joel Randall missed a chance to wrap things up for Peterborough in the second half, before Romoney Crichlow smashed a close range effort against the bar.
Crawley also grabbed a late equaliser when a slip in defence allowed Jack Roles to fire in a shot that was turned away by Jed Steer before Randall missed another opportunity to then add a third at the other end.
Despite the miss, Peterborough progress to the next round, which takes place next week.