"Bellamy is a nutter, he'll hit you with his putter, na na na naaah"
Two goals for everyone's favourite footballer as the Posh lose to the Hamsters
With Peterborough the visitors to Roots Hall on Saturday here's how the local press felt they played in their last two friendlies after last season's promotion. Last week at home to Premiership side West Ham and then drawing with neighbours Corby at the weekend. Finally, Big Fergie on Little Fergie.
(Match Report from Alan Swann of the Peterborough Evening Telegraph)
Peterborough United 0 West Ham United 2
He has a character that only his mother could love, but Craig Bellamy remains a decent footballer. The Welsh international striker, booed throughout by Posh fans just for being Craig Bellamy, responded with two high-class finishes as West Ham eased to victory in last night's friendly at London Road. (Ha, ha, don't you hate that when it happens?)
He proved to be the difference between two good quality-passing sides. Bellamy's goals saw The Hammers 2-0 up at the interval even though Posh had created far more goalscoring opportunities.
In fact Posh keeper Joe Lewis just had to pick the ball out of the back of the net twice in the opening half, while Robert Green was forced to stretch to tip a superb overhead kick by Aaron Mclean wide of the post, leap high to push Craig Morgan's header over the bar, use his feet to thwart Chris Whelpdale's drive and jump to divert George Boyd's audacious chip over the bar.
Posh played some outstanding attacking football, notably on 10 minutes when Mclean, Boyd and Craig Mackail-Smith linked up brilliantly forcing Matthew Upson to throw himself into the way of Mclean's shot.
Posh boss Darren Ferguson sent on arguably his current first-choice side at the start with Shane Blackett's pace at the back preferred to Chris Westwood's experience, but even an Olympic sprinter would have struggled to keep up with Bellamy. He was caught offside about a dozen times, but still escaped onto two long balls to score his goals.
As early as the second minute Scott Parker found him beyond the Posh defence and he scooted round Lewis to score and two minutes before the break he supplied a classy lobbed finish after reaching Lucas Neill's long punt forward.
West Ham did Posh proud by sending a powerful side which included £5 million summer signing, Valon Behrami, a Swiss international who proved within a minute that he would fit into the Premier League by delivering an outrageous dive to win a free-kick.
It remained an entertaining end-to-end encounter after the re-start and Whelpdale should really have pulled a goal back straight away, but he sent a free header from a Russell Martin cross wide of a post.
Posh skipper Craig Morgan then produced a fine block to deny Carlton Cole a tap-in after another surging run from Bellamy. Cole's presence for the entire 90 minutes ensured The Hammers were never likely to score a more commanding victory.
The mass substitutions employed by Posh around the hour mark predictably disrupted their flow, although newcomers Paul Coutts and Shaun Batt showed some neat touches as did Alfie Potter. Boyd struck the foot of a post with a 20-yard volley with his last contribution before becoming the seventh Posh substitution.
Performances rather than results are key at this stage of the year so Posh can reflect on a good night's work, certainly on the pitch at least. Off it, questions might be asked as to why a crowd of under 5,500 caused a 10-minute delay to kick-off.
Posh: Joe Lewis, Russell Martin, Tommy Williams, Shane Blackett (sub Chris Westwood, 60 mins), Craig Morgan (sub Kieron Charnock, 74 mins), Dean Keates (sub Paul Coutts, 60 mins), Charlie Lee (sub Micah Hyde, 66 mins), Chris Whelpdale (sub Shaun Batt, 60 mins), George Boyd (sub Alfie Potter, 74 mins), Craig Mackail-Smith, Aaron Mclean (sub Scott Rendell, 60 mins).
West Ham: Robert Green (sub Marek Stech, 74 mins), Valon Behrami (sub Joe Widdowson, 66 mins), Lucas Neill, Anton Ferdinand (sub Jack Collison, 87 mins) Matthew Upson, Scott Parker, Julien Faubert, Mark Noble, Kyel Reid (sub Junior Stanislas, 83 mins), Carlton Cole, Craig Bellamy (sub, Freddie Sears, 74 mins).
Referee: Kevin Wright (Cambs).
Goals: West Ham - Bellamy (2 mins & 42 mins).
Attendance: 5,352
Yes, that's Chrissy Powell in his role as PFA Chairman with the Posh striker Aaron Mclean as he received his award for Divisional Team of the Year (League 2). Clarkey and Captain Adam could be in for a tough time.
Not many clues in the next report, obviously a second string side as they wait for the visit of Man. Utd. next week, but look who scored, our old friend Josh Low!
(Report from the Northampton Evening Telegragh)
Corby Town 2 Peterborough United 2
Corby Town came from behind twice to earn a draw against Peterborough United at Rockingham Triangle. The Steelmen trailed just past the half-hour mark when Posh striker Danny Crow converted a penalty - only for Steve Diggin to level with a spot-kick at the other end.
The Coca-Cola League One side's reserves went 2-1 up through former Northampton Town and Leicester City midfielder Josh Low on 63 minutes.
But with 11 minutes to go Jon Stevenson made it 2-2 in front of 308 fans.
Coming on Tuesday - The Battle of the Fergies. Daddy speaks
Darren Ferguson, allowed to stay up past 10pm on Tuesday night by his dad
(Article highlights from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph)
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he will field a team packed with stars for the mouthwatering clash against his son Darren's Posh side. England internationals Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick are all likely to feature at London Road.
Ferguson said: "I am very interested to see how Peterborough have developed since the last time we were there. Then I brought a very young side, but this time I will be bringing a very strong side which should give me a chance to have a good look at Darren's team. We play Espanyol today and I will be bringing a very similar side to Peterborough. We will be very strong on Monday and I am looking forward to a good game."
Posh sold out the North and Family Stands before yesterday's purchasing deadline and expect a crowd in the region of 12,000 for Monday's match. No tickets will be sold on the day of the match.
United are bringing their Premier League and European Champions League trophies to London Road and Ferguson is confident his son's Posh side could win some silverware of their own this season.
Ferguson added: "It was a fantastic achievement for Peterborough to get promoted and it will be very interesting for me to see how they get on next season. I don't want to put too much pressure on Darren but I think Peterborough will do well in League One. Of course there are some good teams with history like Leicester and Leeds, but I don't think Peterborough will look out of place."
"Darren has a lot of good young players who are getting better and they have a great chance of being involved in the promotion race. They play football the right way and are a very nice team to watch. I watched them five or six times last season and the most enjoyment I got was watching them against MK Dons. The quality of both games was excellent, it was way above the standard of that league. They were terrific games."